Do you remember REAL french fries, made from whole potatoes ??

[Happyflowerlady]

Tonite, we went out for hamburgers at Frizzles. They have a Senior special on Tuesdays, and you can get a cheeseburger, fries, drink, and ice cream dessert, all for $2.99. It is a regular size cheeseburger, with all the fixin's and for a fast food place, an excellent burger.

So, while I was dipping my french fries in the ketchup, I started thinking about the good old days, when french fries were actually made right there at the hamburger drive-in, and made from freshly cut potatoes.
How I loved those fries ! Sometimes, they were just a little underdone, and I liked them even better then, when they were kind of crunchy.

The ones now are made from cooked, processed, frozen molded potatoes, and they just don't hold even a faint candle to those we used to get that were freshly made.
One place even had a circular potato cutter, and that was where I had my first taste of a "curly fry".
The World that used to be...

 

[Pappy]

Oh my gosh, the memories on your post, HFL. We had a Red Barn not far from our house and would take the kids there sometimes. We also had the old McDonalds where you got served at the window because there was no inside seating.
Hamburgers were 15 cents then.
There was a couple other places that I can't remember. Maybe I'll think of them later.
Thanks for the flashback.

 

[Capt Lightning]

We call them 'chips' over here. My father cooked fantastic chips - patatoes cooked in beef dripping - nothing else.
When I make them now, I use sunflower oil.
In the supermarkets, there is a lot of confusion between 'chips' and 'fries'. The 'fries' tend to be like the ones Happyflowerlady decribes - processed and coated with a thin batter. The 'chips' usually are potatoes coated with oil.

Sad to say, the best chips / frites I have tasted recently have been in Germany!

 

[Mrs. Robinson]

I remember when McDonalds made their fries from fresh potatoes-you could stand there and watch them being mad. I keep wondering when it was they changed that and how did they manage to put that one over on us? I don`t remember a time when there was suddenly a change-does anyone?

 

[That Guy]

My mom had one of these for making them at home.

 

[Happyflowerlady]

I remember when McDonalds made their fries from fresh potatoes-you could stand there and watch them being mad. I keep wondering when it was they changed that and how did they manage to put that one over on us? I don`t remember a time when there was suddenly a change-does anyone?

I think that the change -over just gradually happened.
At first, all the french fries were made by hand at the place where they were served; but then frozen French fries became popular, and restaurants (especially the emerging fast-food places) started buying their fries ready to cook, just frozen.
We all pretty much said that they were just not the same as fresh; but got used to eating the frozen fries. Eventually, the food processing companies starting making fries from the left over parts of potatoes by grinding them and then forming them into those crinkly-looking fries, and flash-freezing them.
Since they were even cheaper, fast food places now served the crinkly fries that were processed. Eventually, we just ended up with what we have now, pretty much all processed potatoes formed into sticks.

Occasionally, you will find a place that buys potatoes and makes their own French fries; but it has gotten to be a rare find nowdays.


HappyFlowerLady

 

[Daisy]

That Guy, I still have a potato cutter just like the one you posted!

I make homemade fries occasionally, but here's the trick: Submerge the cut potatoes in boiling water for a few minutes, drain and let dry. Then fry them up, being careful they don't spot too much due to moisture. Cooked this way, they will be crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. So good! I like to dip mine in Ranch or Thousand Island dressing, but catsup is okay, too.

 

[That Guy]

That Guy, I still have a potato cutter just like the one you posted!

I make homemade fries occasionally, but here's the trick: Submerge the cut potatoes in boiling water for a few minutes, drain and let dry. Then fry them up, being careful they don't spot too much due to moisture. Cooked this way, they will be crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. So good! I like to dip mine in Ranch or Thousand Island dressing, but catsup is okay, too.

That's right. I remember that technique while helping in the kitchen. Not a goop dipper, myself. Just some salt and I'm happy. Oh, of course the requisite cheeseburger and chocolate malt to compliment the meal...!

 

[i_am_Lois]

It's rare you can buy good (old fashioned) fries when out dining. Where I grew up in Philadelphia, everyone dipped their fries in ketchup. Then I moved to Delaware. Everybody there uses a bottle of vinegar.. with a hole pierced through the cap, to sprinkle vinegar all over the fries. No Ketchup! I tried it, sort of reluctantly, but found the flavor interesting. I remain a ketchup girl though. The best fries I found in Delaware were from Thrasher's Fries, located on the boardwalk in Rehoboth Beach.
View attachment 6462

 

[GmaEllen]

Yes I remember those and crave them as well. You are getting a deal with your lunch I believe there. Awe the good old days.