It’s Exhibition week in Regina, and while some may sing the praises of the midway, the craft shows or the agricultural displays, let’s face it: it’s really all about food.
And not just any old food. No, the quintessential fair foods are deep-fried, from elephant ears and miniature doughnuts to the famous, fabulous French fry.
The Belgians claim to have invented the French fry, but no one knows for sure. We do know that something very similar to the French fry was being served as early as the 1700s. What really put them on the map in North America, however, was the First World War. American servicemen stationed in France discovered them, loved them–and dubbed them “French fries.” Today, Americans alone gobble more than four and a half billion pounds of French fries every year.
French fries begin with raw potatoes. The potato of choice for most restaurant chains is the Russet Burbank, which has the right water/sugar ratio, tends to be large and elongated, is easy to peel and generally has few eyes.
To make a French fry, you first peel and de-eye a potato, then cut it into strips. Then you dip a potato strip into hot oil, typically at about 170 degrees Celsius. The heat almost immediately cooks the outside of the potato strip, creating a crust. At the same time, the water in the potato strip begins to evaporate, forming bubbles and steam. As it is forced out, it leaves behind pores through which the hot oil can enter the potato. The more water the potato strip contains, the more pores that will open, and the more oil the fry will absorb.
Temperatures at the crust quickly rise to the temperature of the oil; however, the crust protects the inside of the fry, which will only get to around 100 degrees as long as it still contains water–the energy that would be required to heat it further instead goes toward boiling away the water.
Leave the fry in the oil too long, however, and all the water will be driven out, after which the core temperature quickly shoots up and the fry becomes crisp all the way through, like a potato chip. A perfect French fry is one that has just the right balance of crust and soft, steaming core–the contrast between the two is one of the reasons deep-fried foods are so appealing.
As soon as fries are removed from the oil, they begin to change again. The water left inside the core begins to migrate outward toward the drier crust; the crust also absorbs water from the surrounding air. That’s why old fries invariably become soggy over time.
The oil in which the fries are fried is of course also crucial to their final outcome. Oil breaks down during frying. As it does so, more of it is able to make its way into the food, which become greasier. As well, food cooked in old oil tends to taste soapy.
Of course, French fry oil has also come under scrutiny for health reasons. Once upon a time, French fries were fried in solid animal fats like lard or beef tallow, high in cholesterol. To reduce cholesterol, most restaurants switched to liquid oils such as soybean and canola. However, because liquid oils break down faster than solid fats, they’re often hydrogenated–hydrogen is inserted into them chemically to make them partially solid. But hydrogenated oils, it turns out, break down into trans fatty acids, which are even less healthy than cholesterol.
Fast food chains are moving to limit trans fats in their fried products. For instance, McDonald’s, which changed to vegetable oils from animal fats in 1990, last year began using a new oil that reduces trans fat levels in its fries by 50 percent.
What else does the future of the French fry hold? How about fortified French fries? A recent survey showed that one-third of the vegetables eaten by pre-teens and one quarter of the vegetables eaten by teenagers in the U.S. are potatoes, mostly French fries. The government may well decide at some point to fortify French fries with essential vitamins and nutrients, much like white bread.
No doubt simply eating fewer French fries would be the best choice of all for most of us–but no doubt most of us won’t make that choice any time soon. That being the case, at least we can hope that in the future, our fries won’t be quite so bad for our health, while still being the flavorful treat we love.
