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French Fried Potatoes
Peel, clean and cut into pieces one-half inch square and two and a half inches long four good-sized sound potatoes. Wash well in cold water and drain thoroughly.
Have some boiling fat in a frying pan; plunge in the potatoes and fry for ten minutes, being very sure that the fat is thoroughly boiling before the potatoes are plunged in. Lift up with a skimmer, lay on a dish; let rest for one minute, replace in the boiling fat and fry for three minutes more; lift up with a skimmer, lay on a kitchen towel and dry thoroughly. Sprinkle the equivalent of a teaspoon of salt over them, dress on a hot dish and serve. French fried sweet potatoes are prepared exactly the same way, and both should be promptly served after having been prepared.
A clear early description of the two-stage fry that still defines a good chip. The original gives no fat temperatures, which is the one thing worth supplying.
- The hinge: two frys, two temperaturesThe first long fry cooks the potato through; the second short one sets the crust. Modern practice puts the first at about 325F and the second at 375-390F, and the difference between the two is what keeps the interior soft and the outside crisp.
- "Boiling fat"Fat does not boil; the phrase means fat hot enough to bubble vigorously when the potatoes go in. Judge by thermometer rather than by sound, and never fill the pan more than a third full.
- Ten minutes is longTen minutes at 325F suits the thick batons specified here, half an inch square. Thinner cuts want five or six minutes, or they will collapse before the second fry.
- Drain, do not rest on the dishLift onto a rack or a paper-lined tray rather than a flat dish, where trapped steam softens the surface. The one-minute rest in the original is essential and can safely stretch to an hour or more if you are frying in batches.
- Dry the potatoes before fryingAfter washing, blot them properly. Surface water spits violently in hot fat and lowers the temperature sharply.
- Fat choiceLard, beef suet and clarified drippings were the usual period fats. A fat with a high smoke point works best; peanut and refined sunflower oil behave well, as does beef tallow, while extra-virgin olive oil smokes too low.
- SaltA full teaspoon over four potatoes is generous by modern taste. Salt the moment they leave the fat, while the surface is still greasy enough to hold it, and add more at the table if wanted.
- Sweet potatoesThey brown faster because of their sugar content. Watch the second fry closely and expect it to take less than the three minutes given.
- YieldFour good-sized potatoes serve four as a side dish.
Deep frying in a shallow open pan of fat was ordinary domestic work in the period, well before thermostatically controlled fryers, which is why the instructions dwell so insistently on the fat being hot enough before the potatoes go in: a cool pan meant grease-soaked potatoes. The name "French fried" is traditionally explained as referring to the method of cutting and frying rather than to any single French dish, though that explanation is folk tradition rather than documented fact. The reminder to serve promptly reflects a kitchen with no way to hold fried food crisp.