Food History: French Fries

The history of French fries spans countries and gives us tater tots. And which is the superior fried potato, anyway?

Let's start at the beginning. French fries came from ... France, right? Oh boy, we've got a lot of history to get through. Join host Justin Dodd in a journey through the history of fried potatoes.

Food History is a series from Mental Floss where we dive deep into the culinary stories that lead to the food on our plates. If you have an idea for a dish, cooking technique, or cuisine that you’d like us to explore in a future episode, tell us in the comments.

[KissFromTheWorld]

"Show me a person who doesn't like french fries and we'll swap lies." Happy hungry! Cheers, Domenico.

[takid]

This series is my favorite.
It takes the only theory Course I've ever enjoyed, and makes it even longer.
Shout out to Dr. Costura for having the coolest class in culinary school.

[wmarclocher]

French Fries rule, but not the vegetable/canola oil crap today. Deep fry those puppies in lard and put lots of salt on them.

[lvscouter]

Growing up, my family liked French fries so much, my parents bought a propane set-up (think turkey fryer today) just so we can make enough for everyone's fill in one batch ( 4 of us, about 8 medium to medium/large Idaho russet potatoes). We probably averaged using it 3 times a week.

[empoleonmaster]

French fry grease constitutes at least 1% of my blood sooo.



Ps I saw the board game collection in the back, I absolutely love it! Have you tried Smash Up yet? It's made by the same people that made King of Tokyo, and they currently have a buy one get one half off deal. You can also play the game on Table Top Simulator (if you use the updated mod by someone with the name, lazer as part of the creator name) there's even a discord for playing it online and for free I can link you to if you're interested.

[lonestarfriend]

I'll take fries, but Sonic's tots are great. And Hugs to Justin. 🤗🤗

[ottoillian]

French fries with a little salt or with vinegar ? In Ocean City, MD. fries with Old Bay seasoning.

[apictureoffunction]

I would probably agree that hash browns are my favorite form of potato overall, but it also just depends on my mood at the time. Sometimes you're just can't beat a good baked potato with butter, salt, and pepper

[malafunkshun]

Uniting the world, one fried potato at a time!

Aloha 😉😊🥔🤙🏼

[UniqueornBacon]

Cheesy tots but chili cheese fries. Or sweet potato fries!

[old-moose]

Tader Tots hands down over French fries but good homemade hashbrowns beat both but still losses out potato cakes unless it is a cold winter's night at a football game where the hand warming winner are baked potatoes. FYI: I do love my spuds. Now on to which variety of potato is best for which use. . . let the blood bath begin. Too bad about that world peace thing. ;-) And we haven't even got to "fancy" potatoes like mashed or scalloped or . . . .

[HayTatsuko]

I love latkes, fries of all shapes and sizes, hash browns, potato wedges, and even gnocchi... but that creation of Ore-Ida will always be my favorite, whether it be the original or one of many, many knockoffs. There's something about the form factor, and the blend of crunchy browned outside and the warm, soft, savory inside of Tater Tots™ that will always beat out any other potato delight for me.

[JeanDubuc]

Best potato snack whilst playing boardgames ?

[ArachneAnathema]

French fries. I want to know when did ketchup get paired with fries?

[Apophis]

I personally prefer fries, but I actually like them not-too-crunchy.. Is that weird?

[noannellesky]

I literally clicked on this video because I am Belgian and wanted to check out whether you would say fries are French or Belgian in origin haha :P Indeed, we firmly believe we invented the "French fry" and we know for a fact that our fries are the best!

[killercaos]

I do recall the origins of Fish N Chips in England started from a Jewish man.

[lukeherrington]

Dudes as white as mayo. Does he know that Covid has ended and can leave his house?

[fireaza]

Fun French fries fact! In Japan, they use the English words "fried potato" to refer to them, but this is often shorted to just "potato". This creates confusion when talking with native English speakers.

[gryphonshire]

Fries, for sure. Always felt like tots were something somebody already chewed....