Years ago I read about Calvin Trillin’s pursuit of the perfect pommes frites as he and his young family spent a month in the south of France. Before I read Travels with Alice I had believed that McDonald’s French fries as the ne plus ultra of the potato. I had never heard of of a twice-fried fry. I began my own search for the perfect homemade French fry. (One of the most popular national foods in Belgium is the ubiquitous frite. Perhaps it is time to consider emigrating.)
It would be delightful to while away the summer, wandering from café to bistro to neighborhood frites stand sampling all of the pommes frites available. Alas, I have to keep my nose to the grindstone here, so no foreign travel for me. But between the library and the Internet I am assured of many tasty experiments in home frying.
McDonald’s fries are uniform, crisp, pillowy soft inside and are a delightful conveyer of salt and grease. They have a moment of perfection when they are exquisitely hot and delicious, before they cool and congeal and collapse and stiffen and are about as appealing as the Wicked Witch of the East’s feet. I dare not contemplate the calorie content or the future of my cardiovascular system. This is a highly amusing video: https://dailyoftheday.com/this-is-how-mcdonalds-makes-their-fries/
McDonald’s uniformly cut fries are cooked frozen in vast vats of oil. Thousands of baskets are sizzling in the hot fat as I peck this out. (Back in my misspent youth they used a combination of vegetable oil and beef tallow as the frying agent!) The magnitude of their production is mind-boggling. We have one large Russet potato for two medium-size people who are cooking pommes frites at home on a Saturday night, with tasty steaks, a bottle of nice red wine with a side salad and some raspberries with whipped cream for dessert. No McSteak or McCabernet Sauvignon or McFramboises avec McCream.
I trolled the library for ideas as I often do, and staggered home with Thomas Keller’s “Bouchon”, a book from which one could craft a coffee table. And this is what I found:
FRENCH FRIES
POMMES FRITES
Large russet potatoes (2 per person), washed
Peanut oil for deep-frying
Kosher salt
And there was the answer to the question I have had for years – what kind of potato to use for frying? I tend to look at potatoes and register only two kinds: new red potatoes and baking potatoes. (I have ignored fancy fingerling and blue potatoes heretoforth.) I am sure I have baked Russet potatoes, and used them for potato salads and for Pommes Anna and hash browns, even concocted au gratin potatoes, but never considered the water or starch content of individual varieties of potato before – so thank goodness for chefs who make it their business to study the science of cooking!
Here are the instructions for Thomas Keller’s Pommes Frites:
“Set out a large bowl of cold water. Using a potato cutter, a mandoline, or a knife, cut each potato into sticks 1/4 inch thick and 4-1/2 inches long and place in the water. Discard any cuts that are irregular; they’ll cook unevenly. When all the potatoes have been cut, change the water several times until the starch has been rinsed from the potatoes and the water remains clear. (The potatoes can be refrigerated in the cold water for several hours.)
For the first frying:
Fill a deep fryer or a large heavy pot with 3 to 4 inches of good peanut oil for the best flavor and heat to 320°F.
Remove the potatoes from the water and drain well on paper towels. Place a handful of potatoes in the hot oil, using a basket insert if you have one; shake the basket a few times or stir the potatoes. Do not crowd the potatoes; there should be at least twice as much oil as potatoes. Fry until the potatoes are cooked through, 5 to 6 minutes; they shouldn’t be any darker than a very pale gold. Remove the fries from the oil and drain on paper towels. Repeat with the remaining potatoes. (The blanched potatoes can be held for 2 to 3 hours at room temperature.) Reserve the oil in the fryer or pot.
For the second frying:
Reheat the oil to 375°F. Add one portion of the fries at a time and fry for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the potatoes are a deep gold with a crisp exterior. Quickly drain on paper towels, sprinkle with salt, and serve.”
Here we deviated – we messed with the perfect recipe just a wee bit because of an article in New York Magazine last week: “Battle of the Baseball-Stadium Concessions.” Writers Robin Raidfield and Rob Patronite had the onerous task of comparing concession foods at Yankee Stadium and Citi Field – Yankees versus the Mets. Things have changed since I last went to a Yankees game. I was happy then with a hot dog and a potato knish. Now I would have to decide between Italian sandwiches (Parm’s Fresh Mozzarella Sandwich vs. Mama’s of Corona’s Grilled Vegetables and Mozzarella Hero) and steak sandwiches (Lobel’s USDA Prime Beef Steak Sandwich vs. Pat LaFreida’s Original Filet Mignon Steak Sandwich). And now the French fries at baseball games are gourmet fare as well:the Yankees have Garlic Fries and the Mets have Box Frites’s Garlic Fries. The Mets won. And from that comparison we devised our Saturday Night Pommes Frites idea.
Once the steaks had come sizzling off the grill and were resting and the wine was poured, we finished the second wave of cooking the frites. We drained the golden fries on paper towels, salted them and then tossed them into a bowl with a crushed garlic clove, a handful of minced parsley and a dusting of freshly shaved Parmesan cheese. We scooped the frites up into parchment paper cones and deposited them into the ancestral Stuben water goblets, which normally only leave the cupboard for annual ritual holiday feasts. And not only were the goblets pretty, they helped the frites stay crisp and toasty oasty warm. Delightful.
The following recipe suggests using duck fat – I’m sticking with peanut oil. You might want to keep it in mind for duck season, though.
https://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Bistro-Pommes-Frites-Bistro-French-Fries
“I like L.A. It’s like a mini break. For a writer, it’s hilarious. Like the food. Where I come from, we eat chip sandwiches: white bread, butter, tomato catsup and big fat French fries. It’s delicious. Here you order a crème caramel and the waiter says, “You know, that contains dairy.”
-Helen Fielding
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BobHallsr says
After running a major transportation company for 21 years, we decided to change our lifestyle and “bought the farm,” in Vermont, which eventually included a 3,000 tree apple trees and acres of small fruits and vegetables, along with a cider mill, cold storage, a country store, bakery and a 38 state mail order business. Since we were 21 miles from the nearest city, we ( mom, dad, and four children) quickly learned to make our meals from scratch direct from the gardens. One of our delightful discoveries was homemade french fries using our own spuds. They were incredible and the SECRET!
Use right from the garden or the freshest potatoes available., preferably less than a month old. It does not matter which type – FRESH is the key!
Your Affable Curmudgeon,
BobHallsr