Fries: Coated or Naked as the Day They Were Cut?
I will be the first to salute the magic that happens upon dredging certain foods through a drift of flour, salt, pepper and a smack of garlic powder/paprika/cumin, etc.; green tomatoes! pounded-to- translucent chicken breasts! slabs of creamy polenta! beef cubes! But cuts of potato? Nope. Do not put even a thin dusting of alter-starch between my fries and the hot oil waiting to transform them. And yet more and more restaurants are committing this heresy...How do you like your fries, naked or condomized in a dredge?
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19 Comments:
It really depends...if I have the right oil, and a stove that can get hot enough, and time to prepare them properly (cut thin and dried in towels, or with a blow-dryer) then I agree.
However, if the family just wants a bowl of fries to go with dinner, then I dust with flour mixed with a teaspoon of mustard powder and paprika and fry them as best I can on our not-great cooker. That way they get crispy, and still have flavour, though not as much flavour as a proper double-fry would give them. But good enough to mop up steak juice or go with a grilled burger.
And salt is never optional.
NotAmerican at 7:58AM on 06/18/09
Naked potatoes only need apply!
huneybumper at 8:04AM on 06/18/09
I can eat crispy shoestring fries plain, but any fatter and they need something on them, and I'd rather the shoestring fries have something on them anyway. The seasoning that normally goes on curly fries is good. So is whatever seasoning the Outback Steakhouse puts on their fries. Fake bright yellow cheese has its place. Chili's good too, on its own or with cheese. I've put buffalo sauce and barbecue sauce on them too, and if there's nothing else, I'm not above throwing ketchup on there. But no gravy, no mayo, no vinegar, and no ranch dressing...that crap stays away from my potatoes.
cycorider at 8:19AM on 06/18/09
Cut and fried once with salt ;maybe a little ketchup in the corner of the plate . That's it .... you heathens ! jfitz
jfitz at 8:31AM on 06/18/09
No gravy? No mayo?
Heathens. A scorching-hot frite with a tub of fresh mayo for dipping...
Or a mound of crispy fries covered in chili and cheese with a dollop of sour cream and fried onions...
Ketchup? Never.
NotAmerican at 9:09AM on 06/18/09
Fresh cut fries, fried crispy, and dusted with salt and sprinkled with vinegar.
I like to dip the fries in mayo (or sour cream) too but hold the vinegar in that case.
joeqboo at 11:01AM on 06/18/09
i'm irish, so i'll eat them any way you give them to me!
particularly if they're made in duck fat......mmmm!
gastronomeg at 11:03AM on 06/18/09
Whenever possible, I order/make fries unsalted with course ground pepper. Of course, Arby's curly fries are a different animal; those are awesome.
The skinnier the fry the better, with the exception of potatoes that are cut into quarters before my eyes and deep fried, served molten with a tub of cool tzatziki.
I don't mind them twice-fried or battered -- whatever it is that some restaurants do. It's pretty funky, in a good way.
Typically, I eat my fries with mayonnaise, ketchup, and a tiny bit of yellow mustard. Never with vinegar. :P
Skyline fries with their chili poured over is all right once every few years. Longhorn's Texas fries are pretty decent, with chili and sliced jalapenos on top, and ranch dressing on the side.
Cassaendra at 11:11AM on 06/18/09
I'm a french fry purist. No seasonings, and worst of all, please no batter coating. It's just weird.
Light salting.
Ketchup on the side.
dbcurrie at 12:19PM on 06/18/09
I like both ways. The main thing with me is if they are made right. I like them crisp on the outside and fluffy in the center, I do not like them limp, greasy or half raw in the center. Then I am a happy girl.
pjracz10 at 5:48PM on 06/18/09
Best fries I ever had were way back in the 60's in Brockville, Ontario Canada from an old German lady who had a chip wagon on the main street of downtown. Fresh cut potatoes cooked in super hot oil and lightly salted while piping hot. Vinegar was an option, ketchup was not.
dmcavanagh at 5:54PM on 06/18/09
I admit I have some bad memories of 'healthy' oven bake fries at home with paprika (the universal late 70s/early 80s spice). However, TGIF's used to put pepper on its fries, and they were pretty good.
It's more complicated than coated v. naked.
IMHO (from the past, since I usually eat baked potatoes now)
Good:
Shoestring=naked with salt
Steak-cut or crinkle cut dipped in ketchup
English chips=vinegar, never ketchup
curly fries with spice and ketchup or barbecue sauce
cheese fries
Not good:
ketchup on shoestring or English fries
Any spice rubs on plain fries
mayo
chili cheese fries
mustard
gravy (sorry Canadians)
As for doneness, I kind of like a variety of some underdone, some just right, some overdone.
HeartofGlass at 6:21PM on 06/18/09
naked before fried. after, they can get ketchup, mustard, gravy/cheese, malt, salt...
blizcheetah at 12:21AM on 06/19/09
Anyone dip their fries in blue cheese dressing? It is so good!
I like mine plain....no breading....w/blue cheese, or mayo, or ketchup...or loaded w/cheese, green onions & bacon....sadly they are not part of my diet at the moment. :-(
mepolo at 8:37AM on 06/19/09
i once had french fries with a thick sprinkling of chopped parsley and raw garlic. that was really great.
cybercita at 9:33AM on 06/19/09
Never met a potato cooked anyway with anything on it that I didn't like. (Yes, I grew up near a potato farm and chip factor.) My favorite all time are the carnival fries that are cooked in peanut oil and served with vinegar.
janaatwg at 10:19AM on 06/19/09
I definitely agree that they shouldn't be touched. Yesterday I had some fresh cut fries (skins and all - yum!) from Dear Franks in Glenview and they were the best I have had in awhile.
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 4:46PM on 06/19/09
Traditional:
No coatings
In size from shoestring to 1/2" x1/2" (in cross section)
Blanched in oil at about 325°
Removed from oil and drain
Raise oil temp to 370°-375°
Refry until crispy and light golden
Drain and salt immediately
Serve with malt vinegar sprinkled over or either ketchup or aioli on the side
PommeDG at 11:26PM on 06/19/09
No coatings! Blech! I will send fries back and ask for a different side if they're coated.
Salted fries...love all shapes...sometimes ketchup, sometimes mayo, sometimes malt vinegar, sometimes chili, cheese and ranch dressing (bestill my clogged arteries), but nothing is better than fresh fries from the frites trucks in Belguim. They come with mayo or this white cheese sauce (to die for) in a little paper boat and a plastic pick thingy to eat them with. I'd go back to Belgium right now just for these if I could!
scarletini at 12:52PM on 06/22/09