Know your french fries

Fries, glorious fries. French fries, curly fries, truffle fries, waffle fries, steak fries, oven baked fries, deep fat fried fries - all of you glorious fries, may I say a whole-hearted thank you!  Fries are nature's way of providing us with a heaven here on Earth. That fine balance of crispy outer coating, stuffed with creamy mashed tater. What more could you ask for? 

Well today, my good friend Divya and I will be discussing everything fried and filled with potato - seeing if we can come to some conclusive response as to what the champion of the fry world truly is.

Divya: First, let me introduce you to a good friend of mine. Imagine a roller coaster, long and curly. Who doesn’t love that? Now take that amazing shape, but make it 12 times smaller, fry it until it’s crispy and season with care. Lift it up to your mouth, smell that delicious smell and hear your teeth crunching against the outer layer as you bite into it. Imagine the burst of flavour, a colossal explosion of happiness. And what caused it? Curly fries. I honestly love them so much, but sadly lots  of establishments only seem to sell them during Chinese New Year (which fortunately for us all is coming up soon). Maybe this is something the government can look into rectifying some time soon! For me, the curly fry is the king of the chipped potato world.

Nishka: But what about waffle fries? I am usually more of a simple person when it comes to food, but if the food in question is fries, it’s these beauties that I am in love with. Because we all love waffles, right? That thick, soft moist cake in the most fun-to-eat shape. Imagine that potato treat, except now it is crispy AND creamy in the middle. Instead of maple syrup, it is lightly seasoned with a DIVINE combination of spice and you can even get a bunch of them in a bag to enjoy them on the go. Not many restaurants actually have waffle cut fries, but this just goes to make them even more special. They are exclusive and therefore awesome. So, if you do find some, please give them a try!

Divya: Look, if i’m being totally honest, I love all fries, but let’s move on to discuss another one of my all time personal favourites: wedges. A thick chunk cut straight from a potato, chucked into a deep fat fryer in  preparation for its one way trip to tummy town. Honestly, I don’t even consider wedges ‘fast food’, I consider them more of a delicious delicacy that you just so happen to eat quickly - a reflection of how tasty they are, rather than how quickly they can be made. And the seasoning, hmmm. The heavenly mix of pepper, salt, garlic powder, onion powder and every other goodness combined to make... wedges!


Nishka: Ok, I hear you, but let’s get back to basics with the fry that started it all: the french fry. The key to having a perfect fry here is the salt. It shouldn’t be too overpowering, but it needs to give you a taste which really brings out the flavour of the fry. It also depends on the level of crispiness. I for one, like the fry’s coating to be a bit thin and that is why the original french fry is, for me, on many occasions, the number one. One thing that works against it, in my opinion, is that it is the original fry - the first on the market place so to speak - and, as a result, is wrongly overlooked because of this. But tampering with something already special doesn't always make it any better does it? The classics are always the best, yes?

Divya: Honestly, all we can seem to agree on is that fries are too amazing to be ranked. All the fries in the world are wonderful things, so why don’t we all use that to our advantage and just live a little? Breakfast? Fries. Lunch? Fries. Dinner? No problem! So long, my health and fitness...fries!