16 Facts About French fries

French fries are served hot, either soft or crispy, and are generally eaten as part of lunch or dinner or by themselves as a snack, and they commonly appear on the menus of diners, fast food restaurants, pubs, and bars.

French fries can be made from sweet potatoes instead of potatoes.

Standard method for cooking french fries is deep frying, which submerges them in hot fat, nowadays most commonly oil.

Since the 1960s, most french fries have been produced from frozen Russet potatoes which have been blanched or at least air-dried industrially.

French fries are fried in a two-step process: the first time is to cook the starch throughout the entire cut at low heat, and the second time is to create the golden crispy exterior of the fry at a higher temperature.

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The gelatinised starch molecules move towards the surface of the French fries "forming a thick layer of gelatinised starch" and this layer of pre-gelatinised starch will turn into the crispy exterior after the potato cuts are fried for a second time.

Fries are first mentioned in 1775 in a Parisian book, and the first recipe for modern French fries is in the French cookbook La cuisiniere republicaine in 1795.

The modern style of French fries born in Paris around 1855 is different from the domestic fried potato that existed in the 18th century.

In France and other French fries-speaking countries, fried potatoes are formally pommes de terre frites, but more commonly pommes frites, patates frites, or simply frites.

Thick-cut French fries are called pommes Pont-Neuf or simply pommes frites ; thinner variants are pommes allumettes, and pommes paille .

French fries migrated to the German-speaking countries during the 19th century.

Pre-made french fries have been available for home cooking since the 1960s, having been pre-fried, frozen and placed in a sealed plastic bag.

French fries are one of the most popular dishes in the United States, commonly being served as a side dish to entrees and being seen in fast food restaurants.

Whilst eating 'regular' crispy french fries is common in South Africa, a regional favourite, particularly in Cape Town, is a soft soggy version doused in white vinegar called "slap-chips" .

French fries primarily contain carbohydrates and protein from the potato, and fat absorbed during the deep-frying process.

French fries contain some of the highest levels of acrylamides of any foodstuff, and experts have raised concerns about the effects of acrylamides on human health.