I was 11 (1965) when the first McDonald's came to my hometown. The fries were wonderful! I don't eat them anymore, they are nothing like they used to be.
Oh goodness, their current "healthy" apple pies are inedible. The apple pies I remember from my youth were crispy on the outside with real apple pieces inside. Of course, you had to wait five or six hours for them to cool down to avoid "Lava mouth."
My hat off to you mama. As a young boy I had a learning disorder called dyslexia and still do to this day. Because I enjoyed cooking with my mother she found a way to use recipes out of Julia Childs cookbook to inspire me to read and also cook. To this day I am forever grateful for Julia Childs recipes but most of all and mother‘s patients to find a way to teach her child to overcome an obstacle in life. Perhaps this is why I’m chubby. I eat extremely well. LOL.
I had a similar reading problem. It was very difficult to read anything I was not actually interested in understanding. Turns out cookbooks were of great interest to me as a child. Cookie recipes mostly.
My eldest has dyslexia but it is my youngest who has learning difficulties and it is he who gets excited about what I'm going to cook for dinner, lunch or breakfast. I'll read out a recipe and he's there measuring out ingredients, learning cooking techniques and taste testing. We are both foodies and it is through cooking that he has learnt more about Maths, Reading and Spelling than in his classroom.
thanks for sharing that, i can feel the love....it might be of interest, if you didn't know this, her first book, Mastering The Art Of French Cooking, (co written with her friend whose name escapes me) took 10 years to write because Julia's friend was an old fashioned master chef who never measured anything so in order to publish the book, Julia had to experiment for years in order to figure out proper measurements for publication. when the book was published Julia, who lived in Boston, was invited to be a guest on the local PBS station book review. at the time, PBS contest was dry and boring, entirely academic blather. she showed up with pots and pans, cooked and fed the host a French omelet, and the station received a flood of letters -- 27 in all, so they offered her a job and suddenly PBS became interesting. she carried PBS on her back for years, productively and financially, and we (and PBS) owe her a great deal. from her OSS work in WW2 to her incredible contribution in the creation of public television, Julia Child is a true American hero
@@hpharridan Could you imagine this today? LOL. "TWENTY SEVEN PEOPLE LIKED THIS!!!!GIVE EM A SHOW!!!!' Now we see a YT channel with less than 50K and they are considered fairly small time. You are right PBS was basically kept afloat with Julia and Mr. Rogers a little later.
About 12 years ago, my (fit) 70+-year-old mother was hospitalized for 6 - 7 days, with pneumonia. Driving out of the hospital parking lot, she said, "Can we stop at McDonald's for some french fries? ...I woke up this morning craving McDonald's french fries." 10 minutes later, she had those french fries and immediately said, "God, I feel so much better!".
I remember the good ol’ days when my mom cooked French fries in bacon fat that she saved in the refrigerator. We enjoyed and didn’t even think about feeling guilty about it. That was 70+ years ago, we ate everything and lots of fruits and vegetables. Still kicking and healthy.😎
@Praise Jesus, Repent or Likewise Perish LOL, what does Jesus have to do with McDonald's French fries? Is he going to feed 5,000 people with one order of fries or something? To henceforth be known as "The Miracle of the Fries" 😂🙏
@@Mike-DuBose He could if he wanted to. Look at the Universe and other wonders he's created. It's been scientifically verified that there was a designer that finely tuned our universe to support life. It's irrefutable. And, then, there's DNA. Scientifically proven to contain information and instructions. There's only one place you get information and instructions: intelligence. Call it God, Allah, Yeshua, or whatever but there is literally no doubt there is a higher intelligence in the mix.
I’m one of those darn millennials you hear about, and I save my bacon fat and cook things in it. Mostly fried chicken, once I’ve got enough saved up. It’s not like I eat that every day, though. Like you say, you’ve got to eat your vegetables! And why wouldn’t I? They taste so delicious! Because I put bacon fat in them? Eh, sometimes, yeah! No evangelizing from me today. I like to stay on topic. I find it alienates people when you interrupt a conversation to start preaching at them. It gives Christians a bad reputation, all around.
@@rkba4923 "It has been scientifically verified that there was a designer"? Would you mind directing me to the information concerning which scientists were involved in this study, their testing methods, and who peer reviewed this research?
agree with what she says... I worked as a manager at McD's during the time when they switched from beef tallow to whatever the "healthier" oil was. the taste was never the same.
@@thatdancertho8739 No you're pretentious. First world, privileged health nuts who make overcomplicated, unrealistic recipes that are photo perfect then labeling it "easy" are the pretentious ones. Especially first world caucasian vegans who have all the time in the world to make their flax and chia seed muffin for breakfast. Screw your almond powder, nutritional yeast and "vegan egg yolks." It's easy to be a realistic vegan and not be such a self absorbed douchebag when promoting veganism and health. Eat some rice and vegetable stir fry, bitch. Being healthy is not some big operation and nothing to show off about. With those shitty recipes. Point is Julia Child isn't pretentious about her recipes, and neither was the original post. Health nuts from first world countries usually are though.
Lia Mina So I already replied to you, but I guess my comment didn’t go through because of the amount of profanity there was in it from cussing you out. Even though you deserve to be cussed out as a result of your initial hostile approach, I’m gonna have to keep it clean... for now. But what happened, why did you make a new comment? In the last one, you made three ignorant assumptions. You assumed I was white, a vegan, and a health nut. How do you get all of that out of one, three word comment from someone who doesn’t have a profile picture of themselves or any videos up? I’m not white, as of now I’m not a vegan, and I’m not a health nut. You don’t even know my reasoning behind why I said what I said (not that I need to explain myself to someone like you anyway). So how am “I” in particular pretentious? You’re calling me pretentious based off of who you assumed I was and what you assumed my lifestyle and ideals to be which is pretentious within itself. You’re a hypocrite. Also, who are you calling a bitch? Are you one of those people that just want to argue with someone for no reason? Get help.
Lia Mina Like, I’m so confused. What some people might consider easy to cook might be difficult for others. That’s not the person who’s sharing their meals’ fault. You thinking it’s over complicated or unrealistic is subjective. “Eat some rice and vegetable stir fry, bitch.” Who are you to tell people what to eat though? What’s wrong with showing that you’re healthy? Just to be clear, just because someone is vegan, it doesn’t automatically mean they’re healthy. Just in the same way, just because someone decides to eat meat and other animal products, it doesn’t automatically mean they’re unhealthy. But what’s wrong with showing that you live a healthy lifestyle? I personally rather see someone “showing off” their healthy meals and lifestyle (whether they’re vegan or not) rather than see someone flashing money and designer things. I’m confused as to why you even felt the need to bring up veganism when my initial comment had literally nothing to do with that, you brought that up along with your vendetta against certain kinds of vegans. Like I mentioned before, how do you go off on a rant about veganism from a three word comment that had absolutely nothing to do with that?
I don't know if anyone remembers long John silvers from the 70's best fried chicken pieces and fried fish. The fish was pure white the fried coating on the outside was light and crispy with little fried crunchies attached to it. They also kept these items in glass front cases that kept things warm you could see when you ordered that those cases where filled with crunchy bits of fried coating that they would serve over and under the food they gave you. Now long John silvers is nothing like it used to be.
I worked at McDonald's in the mid-60s. We had a machine in the back room to wash, peel and cut fries from fresh potatoes. We got the potatoes in 50 lb. bags. They were cooked in pure lard. The lard was filtered every morning and replaced every couple of days. The fries were 10 times better than they are now! Not even close. Golden brown and crisp-crunchy! I hope, with recent information, that they will go back to using lard for the fries...but the days of fresh cut potatoes at McDonald's are long gone.
Just goes to show you that everything we've been told about animal fat clogging your arteries and killing you is a lie, based on cherrypicked science and lobbying from sugar companies. (Look it up and you'll be surprised, and probably angry, at just how flimsy the evidence to support the low-fat diet is.)
Read the science for fuck sake, some people have great genes that allows them to eat shit, smoke and drink and they die in their 90’s. Imagine if they didn’t do that they may have lived another 20 + years and did so much more actively. If you think animal fat is good for you look at the actual statistics on heart attacks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The french fries were GREAT when made with lard/beef tallow. They made them taste AWEFUL when they changed to hydrogenated vegetable oil, which is much more unhealthy than the lard ever was.
And that vegetable oil is not something they easily get out of corn, soybeans, or canola. It started as a waste product of processing grain. They found a way to sell it as food. It is not good for any of us. It's marketed as if it's similar to what you get from olives, but it's not. And beef tallow or lard are actually good for us. Our hearts and brains run on the stuff. So much disinformation.
I fucking love her. She was a classically trained professional French Chef that wasn't afraid of shying away from modern conveniences and fast foods. She even mentions that "you are in control". Meaning that you don't have to get an extra super duper sized fries with your meals there or a 64oz soda.
Julia Child was a culinary legend that I wish I could have learned more from. Rest in peace sweetheart, the world hasn't tasted the same since you departed😭
I would much rather eat the delicious fries of the 70's once in a while as a treat, as opposed to the horrible "healthy" ones today, that I NEVER eat because they are gross & not worth wasting calories on. As always, Julia was always spot on about everything!
Still can. Most Mexican restaurants the ones run by Hispanics fry their fries in tallow. I use to finish my kids fries because they would give them more than they could eat. They eat off the rest of the menu now. Taste just like McDonald's fries from the 70s.
@@richardeverett7124 Interesting!! Dang shame I hate Mexican food (and my body doesn't respond well to it either....and doesn't help I have that gene where cilantro tastes like soap!). Wish I knew this a few months ago. There was a free coupon for a new local Mexican spot, and I gave it to a friend. I could have had a fry feast! Wonder if I could call and ask, but not sure they would tell me thinking most would think it's a bad thing LOL Like I said, I'd much rather have a treat of something delicious then tons of bland, mediocre healthier food! Thanks for the info!
@@Temulon What oil you fry them in really does make a difference. Vegetable oil would taste better than something like olive oil because it's more neutral so you mostly just get the potato flavor, but beef tallow just adds another layer of goodness to it, plus this is just my theory but may make them stay crispier too since tallow solidifies while vegetable oils are liquid at normal temps. But anyway this is why I like to do things like make fried chicken (in vegetable oil, tallow is too expensive for me to have so much of) and then filter out the solids and reuse that oil to make things like fries.
@@Temulon I bought a tub of wagyu beef tallow for 30 bucks, there's just like 400 tablespoons so it would be super expensive to use for deep frying but for pan frying it's great. Peanut oil would still be better than vegetable oil though.
TOTAL AGREEMENT, HERE, JULIA!!!!!!!!!! I used to love them back when I was a child! Then, all of a sudden, they just didn't taste good, anymore. I wasn't aware, until I entered college to become a chef, that it was because they changed what they fried them in! I had just contributed it to the fact that our tastes buds renew themselves every several years or so. Come to find out, it wasn't me after all! Go figure! I hope this will stand as an account that I'm not ALWAYS wrong!!!
the irony of all this is that the animal fats the used before if eaten in moderation are not that bad for you compared to the hydrogenated oils full of of too much omega 6 which they use now.
McDonald's and Burger King first hit Chicagoland in the mid to late 1960s and they were considered a treat by kids like me back then. Now,the box has less of a cardboard taste than the food.
Thank you Every1 for wonderful comments on Julia. I have only recently discovered how famous she was And what a Great cook she was. It us a privilege 2 read all yor comments.
She is, of course, correct. Best fried onions ever: Cook some ground sirloin burgers on a medium-high heat. Remove to a plate in a warm oven and leave the beef drippings in the pan. Sauté thin slices of onion in the beef drippings plus a tablespoon of toasted sesame oil until a rich, dark-golden brown. Add a few drops of balsamic vinegar, some minced garlic and a pinch of salt during the last few minutes to deglaze the pan and add a bit more flavor and shine. Serve over your burgers with a side of fresh sliced tomato, dill pickle slices and a dollop of french or german mustard for dipping. YUM. The beef fat mixed with the toasted sesame oil gives the onions an amazing flavor, especially when combined with that splash of balsamic vinegar.
+Jean Vignes want to have a easy sidedish? just cut some potatos and carrots into the same sizes, put them into a pan, ad salt and peper and a lot olive oil, into the herd and make them brown....enjoy.
You are correct, if you're going to go to the trouble of cooking beef in a skillet or roaster, NEVER leave out the onion - slices on the side in that rendered fat will have them fighting for the last slice. hehe.
I am reading her autobiography at the moment where she is living and cooking in France. The amount of butter etc the French use in cooking but didn’t stop her living to a couple of weeks before her 92nd birthday. It’s a very interesting read. I also watched Sarah Lancashire play her in a film. One of my favourite British actresses.
The beef tallow French fries from McDonald's were served in that wonderful little paper sack that would become glistening translucent before you could finish them. Not a daily treat, but when I had them, they were the best fries on earth.
its not just fast food everything tasted better pre 1980 i remember when some vegetarian freaked out when she found out how the fries were cooked and sued mcdonalds, of course they folded like a cheap camera and now their living off an old reputation
But the thing is that we’re not talking about some ancient lost art. Get yourself some lard or tallow if you prefer and potatoes and you’re all set. And it isn’t complicated or difficult. Those awesome French fries of a bygone era are a very attainable goal.
@@DavidWilliams-so2dy A quick search of "lard vs shortening" will turn up all kinds of articles that cast doubt on the belief that highly-processed vegetable oils and shortening are healthier than lard or butter. I grew up on potatoes fried in lard and I agree with you that they are wonderful if prepared by experienced hands. And a biscuit made with lard instead of vegetable shortening is one click above one made with vegetable shortening.
Julia Child never ate "health food", she ate meat with almost every dinner and plenty of starches like potatoes or pasta. She used real lard and butter in her cooking and absolutely loved desserts and wine. She wasn't known for her exercise routine or aerobics spending most of her time writing her books and working on new recipes. And she died 2 days before her 92nd birthday having never had a heart attack or cancer or any of the terrible things they say will happen to us if we actually enjoy ourselves and the food we eat.
Some people have higher risk for cancers and other diseases that can be exacerbated by diet and lack of exercise. I would refrain from taking too much stock in the experiences of a single individual. Some people smoke and never get cancer, others die very young for example.
@@ransom182 I think it’s all the modern “healthy” chemicals and additives they put in food so we don’t eat so many fats that give people cancer. I also think eating real food that is rich and taste good is more satisfying and ultimately leads to people eating less and being healthier. But that is just my opinion
When I clicked on this link, I was definitly expecting her to say how terrible they were, and how McDonald's was sacreligious to the world of cooking. Lol. You gotta love Julia.
It's 1972. I'm living 15 miles away from McDonald's Store Number One in Des Plaines, Illinois, and about 30 miles from McDonald's Headquarters in Oak Brook, so Ray Kroc was serious about the surrounding McDonald's locations. My parents are taking us to McDonald's this afternoon to get Big Macs, fries, and chocolate shakes. We walk in... And the scent of real seared beef is too much to be whisked away by any industrial HVAC system intent on sterilizing the air. It spills over into the waiting lines, and instantly you can see people inhaling deeper and smiling. I imagine hearing everyone increase the size of their orders in their heads. I watch these young-yet-serious older teens in crisp uniforms and paper hats concentrating on the grill, flipping those patties at the exact moment of perfection, building the new double-decker burgers they're calling the Big Mac. Freshly-made burgers, grilled to order right in front of us. The buns were steamed soft in their holding bins. The Special Sauce was in its original recipe, and it was more than just flavored mayonnaise; it was a tart foil to the rich fat in the burger patties and cheese. The young girl in front was making our shakes. Perhaps I should explain... Back during ancient times, when an ape-like creature first stood upright in the Mesopotamian Valley, raised his fist to the Heavens, and declared in a grunting yell, "I am MAN!", the ice cream machines actually worked all the time at every McDonald's. True story. And then the fries... We didn't know to appreciate them back then because we never thought they'd go away like they have, into the land of food processes replacing natural flavor and substitute frying media rather than the Good Stuff, and so we just simply enjoyed them. Crisp, salty, HOT, fluffy inside. The perfect accompaniment to a bite of that Big Mac that TASTED like a Big Mac should. What my father used to buy at McDonald's for me for $3.17 you can't get at ten times the price today. I'm 61 years old, and right now all I want is the exact same Big Mac, fries, and chocolate shake I had when I was 11. They can send me into outer space, but they can't make me the same McDonald's meal I **LOVED** half a century ago. F%&k progress.
I served her in a restaurant right around the time of this interview. She tore a bluefish filet to shreds and licked her fingers when she was done. Awesome woman!
Julia is one of the reasons I cook for myself & others. Mom & grandmother + PBS taught me the art of cooking & baking. Mc Donald's bring back those fries. Oh! I can make them myself.
i bought $100 worth of beef tallow off Amazon just to make fries about 2 months ago. Way expensive, but so worth it. Now I should be set for a couple years.
Thenexus, well said! Yours is one of the sanest comments on TH-cam. A happy disposition and a joyful attitude towards food are essential to longevity and health!
This woman was a goddess of american home food, I have learned so much about how to cook from watching her old vhs tapes. And she is very correct about beef tallow and lard vs modern oils.
"They've been kind of limp ever since..." haha This is why In-n-Out & Five Guys have the best tasting fries. In-N-Out uses freshly cut, not frozen potatoes and Five Guys uses peanut oil - so tasty!
well the thing about fries, is when freshly making them your self you should fry once take them out and put them in the fridge or freezer overnight and then fry them again.
Touche Julia! My great-great grandmother born March 4, 1899 definitely cooked with lard, ate pork, beef, and chicken, and pretty much anything she wanted....she died in 2003 (do the math lol).
Julia Child is one of the very few 'celebrities' that I would have enjoyed having a sit-down conversation with. She is a real person with a down to earth manner about her.
That is very true. When I was in Europe, I would eat their food and I could tell that it was high in fat, but, instead of putting tons of food on the plate, they put very little and it was perfect and filling. I have never did so much walking till I got there. Lost a lot of weight and gains muscle.
She was 100 percent right, the fries were not good in 1995, but since then they altered to a different oil recipe nowadays because a lot of people complained like her.
Yes it is dangerous, but processed vegetable oils also will eventually become rancid, and that's why they have to be changed every so often. Beef tallow, on the other hand, because it's a saturated fat, remains stable at high temperatures, and thus can be used for far more frying sessions than processed vegetable oils such as corn, canola, and soybean oil.
She is exactly right.... ! when I worked at McD as a kid in early 80s , the fries came in a box (frozen) that said they were fried in Beef Tallow then flash frozen - followed by the length and temp that they should be fried in before serving to the customer. I actually ate McD fries just last night and they were TERRIBLE and UNDERCOOKED.......
Here in the rural Midwest, lard was the only cooking fat used. My mom used to make french fries with lard. Incredible flavor! Both my parents and grandparents fried fatty steaks in lard. Fried potatoes and onions were cooked in lard. Pie dough was made with lard. They drank whole milk, ate eggs, butter. They all lived strong and healthy into their 90s. As did most others around here. Of course, they were VERY physically active. When you made hay, you didn't use a machine. People pitched it on with pitch forks. Ton after ton. I can't imagine the calories one burned to harvest the hay off of a 50 acre field by hand. Yet people back then did it as a matter of course. Any digging that needed to be done, such as for laying drainage pipes, ditches, basements for houses, grave plots---that was all done by men with spades.
My grand father used to eat lard sandwiches. He would literally open a tub of lard spread it on a slice of bread and eat it. He lived into his 90's. Truth is that every one's health is different. Some thing that is heathy for one person will kill the next.
@@brandons9138 One of the most comprehensive, highest participation medical studies in history concluded that dietary cholesterol and saturated fats have zero effect on serum cholesterol. The study was done in Europe, and tracked thousands of patients over the course of a decade. The American Heart Health Association _sued_ to prevent it from being published in the US. A purported health organization tried to prevent health information from being released to the American people. More recently, studies have shown that people need as much as 3 times as much dietary sodium as the FDA recommends. It's necessary for proper myelin health and neurotransmitter production. Long story short, we still don't _really_ know how the human body works. We all die. Eat what you want.
@@DarkMatterX1 Sounds good to me. I just had a meal that would cause a dietician to have a coronary event. Chicken Wings, fries and a soft drink followed by a rather large ice cream desert.
Vive la Lard! Use it for frying doughnuts, in pie crust, and to grease my pizza pan. Nothing matches it. I believe Oreo's also at one time contained lard. When I was a kid, they had a glorious crisp texture that was way better than their competitor Hydrox. These days they have no flavor or texture at all, so assuming it was switched out for vegetable oil.
We were on a road trip, and we took our dog. Since we had her in yhe car, we didn't eat in restaurants. I don't eat fast food, I was mostly getting fruit, or yogurt or a sandwich from a market. For lunch one day my husband wanted a burger. I asked for a large fry and they gave me a box of HEAVEN! They were fresh out of the fryer hot, crispy with just enough salt. I had a holy moment eating those fries. I don't think that will ever happen again.
I always find this subject interesting because I've known a number of people who lived into their 90s (one who died at 101) and I know what they ate. All of them cooked with lard and butter. On the other hand, most of their children are not making it into their 90s (70-80 for the majority). So, is it only genetics or is it the hydrogenated fats that became so popular during/after WWII?
It is the refined oils. If you look at the early 1900's, Americans ate WAY more butter than they do today. Yet everyone was slim and healthy. (It's also true they were much more physically active.) Obesity skyrocketed after the switch from butter to refined vegetable oils... plus as soon as almost everyone had a car and the advent of tech jobs replaced physical labor, we were doomed.
I grew up in a typical household during fifties and sixties,, Yes, we ate fried food and always butter, but… What I also remember are. Loads of vegetables from garden and farm produce store! Lots of casseroles, meat loaves, beef stew, huge roasting chickens,etc.! We ate three meals a da, hearty ones, and rarely snacked between meals! Also, tons of outdoor activities, long walks,(including to distant schools) bike rides, hula hoops, skipping ropes…..🫠
@@patty7791 Yes, that's another important factor. It was more common for people to grow their own vegetables. And even the ones they bought in the store were higher quality than today... This is an illuminating article I'm looking at right now that talks about soil depletion data: "The protein content in corn declined 30 percent to 50 percent from 1920 to 2001, while the starch content increased. The magnesium content of vegetables and wheat has declined by up to 25 percent. Trace minerals in vegetable crops, including manganese, zinc, copper, and nickel, have decreased over the last several decades, while toxic minerals like aluminum, lead, and cadmium have increased." "Since 1961, cereal production has increased by nearly 400 percent, yet obesity, diabetes, and other health problems have only skyrocketed. The problem is that grains, soy, and corn are low on the nutrient density scale, far below organ meats, meat, eggs, dairy, vegetables, and fruits. Farms are producing nutrient-poor foods on a wide scale-and it’s killing us." "The human body requires around 40 different micronutrients for normal function, but most Americans eat nutrient-poor diets full of processed grains, industrial seed oils, and refined sugars, by design of the agricultural system. This puts us in danger of nutrient deficiencies. Although 42 percent of adults in the United States are overweight or obese, nearly one-third of Americans are at risk for at least one vitamin deficiency or anemia. We’re overfed, yet undernourished." chriskresser.com/depletion-of-soil-and-what-can-be-done/
I still hear people talk about how the best fries are Mickey D's and I just smile cause I remember the 60's and 70's when they were the reason I went there. Now, I order a small bag and don't even finish that. Healthy food sucks - and if you think I'm wrong just check out the shelves at your local supermarket the next time there's a run on the store like there was during Covid. The rest of the shelves can be empty but the health food is still there.
I remember seeing "The French Chef" episode where she makes french fries, and I remember how she fried them twice to get that really nice golden browness that makes them really good. None of the fast food places do it that way anymore. I think Carl's Jr. was the last to still make "classic" fries, but even they have long since gone to making them the same way as McDonald's and the others.
I think that McDonald's uses frozen pre-cut fries. I'm sure she probably started out with fresh potatoes. Different cooking techniques to try and get the same result from both kinds.
@@pourattitude4206 I worked at a McDonald's in the early 70's. Real potatoes from a large bag, pealed in a drum device, sliced into fries, then fried twice using a timer.
Too find fries that use beef fat as a cooking oil is very rare in the US nowadays. Now you have to go to high-end bistros and France if you want a properly made fry. McDonalds and the US didn’t know what they had. They were giving something now considered high-end luxury for fast food prices. Now it’s vegetable oil which is characterless and the switch turned out to be even less healthy with the knowledge we have now. It takes pragmatism and rationality to see what was going wrong. Julia Child saw it 20 years ago.
I know Rally's used to cook their fries in tallow back in the day, but I haven't eaten there in a number of years, so I don't know if they still do or not.
@uberathlete There are some places near my house, specifically poutine places in Quebec, that still cook their fires in beef tallow, and trust me, they are incredible! Much more flavorful, and as Julia said, they tend to be crisper, plus, and I'm not sure about this, but I don't think beef tallow has any trans-fats. (yep, google just confirmed)
@MilesB1975: they're still quite real potatoes, and for fast food they're still not bad. But Child is right; they used to fry in a mix of 93% beef tallow and 7% cottonseed oil, and switched, with great fanfare, to pure vegetable oil in 1990. However, they also quietly changed the fries to add beef extract as a "natural flavor" in the production process, which led to several lawsuits. Those were settled, but I believe to this day McD's fries still have a tiny touch of cow in 'em.
I remember from when I was *very* going to Mcdonald’s and watching them put potatoes into this press that cut them into fries. now they get bags of frozen fries that are apparently some sort of flurry molded into french fry shapes. when I (relatively) recently discovered 5 Guys I was delighted to see them using the same press technique for their fries. and they’re *very* good.
french fies deep fried using beef tallow or lard doesn't seem common at all in the US anymore, especially not in any typical fast food setting. sometimes you see it in "gourmet" burger restaurants or gastropubs, but it's always presented as a defining or "special" feature of the fries that you can't find anywhere else (because oftentimes you can't). but it's still common in places like Belgium. Have fries in Belgium and they taste so much better, and I think the main reason is that they use beef tallow still. I feel like people often say they like McDonald's fries, at least in comparison to their major competition, but this is mostly a factor that they and all of their major competition also use supposed "healthier" oils nowadays, so it's comparing to a more substandard baseline. To be fair, despite Child's claims, the oils they use now probably *are* healthier than lard for the same reason that olive oil is healthier than butter: they don't contain nearly as much saturated fats, which contributes to "bad" cholesterol, etc. But, it's hard to deny the unhealthier stuff can be tastier, and probably not overly damaging to your health as long as you practice moderation and attempt to counteract with healthier foods.
Worrying about cholestorol is a meme based on bad science. Olive oil is relatively healthy but sun flower seed oil and other seed oils are way worse than animal fat. It's why Europeans are way healthier while obesity began skyrocketing in the US at the introduction of seed oils.
Friday nights at our home was steak and French fry night, mom always kept her french fry grease in a jar in the fridge along with saved bacon grease in another jar, she added some bacon grease to the french fry grease and what delicious french fries those were!!!! There was never a french fry left over on Fridays.
Then you would have absolutely gone nuts over them in the fifties…… we paid .10 a bag, hamburgers were .15 and LARGE shakes, .25…. When mom and dad sent us out with big brother, the one who had a license, we fed all five of us on the five dollars our parents gave him, and of course that money went for gas as well at .25 cents a gallon….. then off to the drive-in at two bucks a carload 👍
the rise in obesity coincides with the introduction of high fructose corn syrup! I'm sure many folks have commented before, that at is an important part of your diet.
When I determined that my girlfriend was the one, while at the same time realized she did not know how to cook, I bought her Julia’s book titled “the way to cook” She really got into it and the rest is history. She’s really good at cooking and I made a good choice of cook books and partners. 👍🏻 RIP Julia and thank you 😘
@@troubledsole9104 Is that what it is? That’s just part of my story of being what you call blessed. My wonderful wife, my daughter, and the old retired bird dog that I use for my YT picture ID were my support system that helped me survive pancreatic cancer. About 5% of those diagnosed survive. I wish you the best.😘
Vegetable oils oxidize at high temperature. Isn't that dangerous as well? Since I used beef tallow in my fryer, I find it much easier to clean. No glue drops.
I agree with Julia. How criticize McDonalds when they've done more to keep people fed at a reasonable price than just about anyone. You can practically find enough money on the street to get a meal there.
I've worked with beef fat in fryers - and there is no other way to get fries as good. If they go back to using it - they should bring back those lava filled apple pies as well.
+Deva7 Is that because Meryl Streep played Julia Child in a film, or is that why she played Julia Child in the first place? It's an interesting chicken and egg question.
@@EYE_GOTCHA What does that have to do with anything? Meryl Streep allegedly not being a good person doesn’t have anything to do with the initial comment. The o.p. said she resembles Meryl Streep, then you start going on about something irrelevant. What was the point? Weirdo.
McDonald's fries were truly glorious back in the 70's.
@Blackstallionsunday zombie
“Usta”? Really?
Describe them please. What modern chain would you compare them to, if any?
Ok boomer
They're still good today
@@steve293
Shut up, kid
I had the pleasure of meeting Julia before she passed away during an internship with a local TV station. Such a sweet woman.
I was 11 (1965) when the first McDonald's came to my hometown. The fries were wonderful! I don't eat them anymore, they are nothing like they used to be.
Plastic oils in them to keep them “fresh”
not much is, sadly
Yes they are. Your memory is faulty.
I agree, bring back the 1980s fries, real mik shakes and fried apple pie.
We still have the fried apple pie here in Australia. It’s so good
oh yes! the crunchy bubble blistered apple lava pies! yum!
@@theduffster1985 But not the REAL(original ingredients) apple pie so it doesn't count.
You can get the EXACT fried apple pies at KFC.
Oh goodness, their current "healthy" apple pies are inedible. The apple pies I remember from my youth were crispy on the outside with real apple pieces inside. Of course, you had to wait five or six hours for them to cool down to avoid "Lava mouth."
My hat off to you mama. As a young boy I had a learning disorder called dyslexia and still do to this day. Because I enjoyed cooking with my mother she found a way to use recipes out of Julia Childs cookbook to inspire me to read and also cook.
To this day I am forever grateful for Julia Childs recipes but most of all and mother‘s patients to find a way to teach her child to overcome an obstacle in life. Perhaps this is why I’m chubby. I eat extremely well. LOL.
I had a similar reading problem. It was very difficult to read anything I was not actually interested in understanding. Turns out cookbooks were of great interest to me as a child. Cookie recipes mostly.
My eldest has dyslexia but it is my youngest who has learning difficulties and it is he who gets excited about what I'm going to cook for dinner, lunch or breakfast. I'll read out a recipe and he's there measuring out ingredients, learning cooking techniques and taste testing. We are both foodies and it is through cooking that he has learnt more about Maths, Reading and Spelling than in his classroom.
thanks for sharing that, i can feel the love....it might be of interest, if you didn't know this, her first book, Mastering The Art Of French Cooking, (co written with her friend whose name escapes me) took 10 years to write because Julia's friend was an old fashioned master chef who never measured anything so in order to publish the book, Julia had to experiment for years in order to figure out proper measurements for publication. when the book was published Julia, who lived in Boston, was invited to be a guest on the local PBS station book review. at the time, PBS contest was dry and boring, entirely academic blather. she showed up with pots and pans, cooked and fed the host a French omelet, and the station received a flood of letters -- 27 in all, so they offered her a job and suddenly PBS became interesting. she carried PBS on her back for years, productively and financially, and we (and PBS) owe her a great deal. from her OSS work in WW2 to her incredible contribution in the creation of public television, Julia Child is a true American hero
@@hpharridan Could you imagine this today? LOL. "TWENTY SEVEN PEOPLE LIKED THIS!!!!GIVE EM A SHOW!!!!'
Now we see a YT channel with less than 50K and they are considered fairly small time.
You are right PBS was basically kept afloat with Julia and Mr. Rogers a little later.
You're full of knowledge from love😊
About 12 years ago, my (fit) 70+-year-old mother was hospitalized for 6 - 7 days, with pneumonia. Driving out of the hospital parking lot, she said, "Can we stop at McDonald's for some french fries? ...I woke up this morning craving McDonald's french fries." 10 minutes later, she had those french fries and immediately said, "God, I feel so much better!".
This woman lived to be 92 and cooked with butter, lard, and beef tallow...
Mr.Aschliman... bacon...cheap beer...bowling ally food... lived to be 96
A Japanese lady named Kane Tanaka passed away last week. She was drinking cokes and eating chocolate right up to the end
Amen!!
@red_array what is data? Her blood cholestoral readings and death certificate?
Your point?
I remember the good ol’ days when my mom cooked French fries in bacon fat that she saved in the refrigerator. We enjoyed and didn’t even think about feeling guilty about it. That was 70+ years ago, we ate everything and lots of fruits and vegetables. Still kicking and healthy.😎
You were right to. Animal fats are way healthier than processed seed oils.
@Praise Jesus, Repent or Likewise Perish LOL, what does Jesus have to do with McDonald's French fries? Is he going to feed 5,000 people with one order of fries or something? To henceforth be known as "The Miracle of the Fries" 😂🙏
@@Mike-DuBose He could if he wanted to. Look at the Universe and other wonders he's created. It's been scientifically verified that there was a designer that finely tuned our universe to support life. It's irrefutable. And, then, there's DNA. Scientifically proven to contain information and instructions. There's only one place you get information and instructions: intelligence. Call it God, Allah, Yeshua, or whatever but there is literally no doubt there is a higher intelligence in the mix.
I’m one of those darn millennials you hear about, and I save my bacon fat and cook things in it. Mostly fried chicken, once I’ve got enough saved up. It’s not like I eat that every day, though. Like you say, you’ve got to eat your vegetables! And why wouldn’t I? They taste so delicious! Because I put bacon fat in them? Eh, sometimes, yeah!
No evangelizing from me today. I like to stay on topic. I find it alienates people when you interrupt a conversation to start preaching at them. It gives Christians a bad reputation, all around.
@@rkba4923 "It has been scientifically verified that there was a designer"? Would you mind directing me to the information concerning which scientists were involved in this study, their testing methods, and who peer reviewed this research?
agree with what she says... I worked as a manager at McD's during the time when they switched from beef tallow to whatever the "healthier" oil was. the taste was never the same.
Except it turns out the tallow is actually better than the 'healthier' oil is
She was a REAL cook. She cared more about the taste than about impressing the health nuts.
The way only Julia Child could 😉
melissavalentine569 Pretentious ass comment.
@@thatdancertho8739 No you're pretentious. First world, privileged health nuts who make overcomplicated, unrealistic recipes that are photo perfect then labeling it "easy" are the pretentious ones. Especially first world caucasian vegans who have all the time in the world to make their flax and chia seed muffin for breakfast. Screw your almond powder, nutritional yeast and "vegan egg yolks." It's easy to be a realistic vegan and not be such a self absorbed douchebag when promoting veganism and health. Eat some rice and vegetable stir fry, bitch. Being healthy is not some big operation and nothing to show off about. With those shitty recipes. Point is Julia Child isn't pretentious about her recipes, and neither was the original post. Health nuts from first world countries usually are though.
Lia Mina So I already replied to you, but I guess my comment didn’t go through because of the amount of profanity there was in it from cussing you out. Even though you deserve to be cussed out as a result of your initial hostile approach, I’m gonna have to keep it clean... for now. But what happened, why did you make a new comment? In the last one, you made three ignorant assumptions. You assumed I was white, a vegan, and a health nut. How do you get all of that out of one, three word comment from someone who doesn’t have a profile picture of themselves or any videos up? I’m not white, as of now I’m not a vegan, and I’m not a health nut. You don’t even know my reasoning behind why I said what I said (not that I need to explain myself to someone like you anyway). So how am “I” in particular pretentious? You’re calling me pretentious based off of who you assumed I was and what you assumed my lifestyle and ideals to be which is pretentious within itself. You’re a hypocrite. Also, who are you calling a bitch? Are you one of those people that just want to argue with someone for no reason? Get help.
Lia Mina Like, I’m so confused. What some people might consider easy to cook might be difficult for others. That’s not the person who’s sharing their meals’ fault. You thinking it’s over complicated or unrealistic is subjective. “Eat some rice and vegetable stir fry, bitch.” Who are you to tell people what to eat though? What’s wrong with showing that you’re healthy? Just to be clear, just because someone is vegan, it doesn’t automatically mean they’re healthy. Just in the same way, just because someone decides to eat meat and other animal products, it doesn’t automatically mean they’re unhealthy. But what’s wrong with showing that you live a healthy lifestyle? I personally rather see someone “showing off” their healthy meals and lifestyle (whether they’re vegan or not) rather than see someone flashing money and designer things. I’m confused as to why you even felt the need to bring up veganism when my initial comment had literally nothing to do with that, you brought that up along with your vendetta against certain kinds of vegans. Like I mentioned before, how do you go off on a rant about veganism from a three word comment that had absolutely nothing to do with that?
I don't know if anyone remembers long John silvers from the 70's best fried chicken pieces and fried fish. The fish was pure white the fried coating on the outside was light and crispy with little fried crunchies attached to it. They also kept these items in glass front cases that kept things warm you could see when you ordered that those cases where filled with crunchy bits of fried coating that they would serve over and under the food they gave you. Now long John silvers is nothing like it used to be.
For those of us that got to eat at Mcdonalds in the 1970s know she's 100% right
Up until 1990 McDonald's was still using beef tallow to make its french fries. They definitely taste different today.
Everything on the menu tasted better back in the 70's
I feel like they were still good in the 80s… am I wrong?
Ok boomer
@@AZOMBIERYO ?
I worked at McDonald's in the mid-60s. We had a machine in the back room to wash, peel and cut fries from fresh potatoes. We got the potatoes in 50 lb. bags. They were cooked in pure lard. The lard was filtered every morning and replaced every couple of days.
The fries were 10 times better than they are now! Not even close. Golden brown and crisp-crunchy!
I hope, with recent information, that they will go back to using lard for the fries...but the days of fresh cut potatoes at McDonald's are long gone.
This would be my dream. I never had them the original way as I grew up in the 90s
And she lived till 92 years old..not bad..
Just goes to show you that everything we've been told about animal fat clogging your arteries and killing you is a lie, based on cherrypicked science and lobbying from sugar companies. (Look it up and you'll be surprised, and probably angry, at just how flimsy the evidence to support the low-fat diet is.)
Her sister made 89 & their brother 87, not too bad at all.
Read the science for fuck sake, some people have great genes that allows them to eat shit, smoke and drink and they die in their 90’s. Imagine if they didn’t do that they may have lived another 20 + years and did so much more actively. If you think animal fat is good for you look at the actual statistics on heart attacks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
yeah because she barely ate shit that was horrible for you, like mcdonalds french fries
This interview was done in 95, not 92. Talk about an epic fail. You failed on so many levels OP, I'm happier than a chimp at a beat off contest.
she was all about animal fat, and she lived to be 92 years old people, that goes to tell
you a lot
raxotube Keto. I swear.
She drank wine everyday, too. She also ate excellent french food everyday, no additives, no preservatives.
@Oscar Rimore Meanwhile, Steve Jobs was a vegan and died at age 56.
It´s called genetics.....
its all about happiness in life. the happier you are the longer you live
The french fries were GREAT when made with lard/beef tallow. They made them taste AWEFUL when they changed to hydrogenated vegetable oil, which is much more unhealthy than the lard ever was.
And that vegetable oil is not something they easily get out of corn, soybeans, or canola. It started as a waste product of processing grain. They found a way to sell it as food. It is not good for any of us. It's marketed as if it's similar to what you get from olives, but it's not. And beef tallow or lard are actually good for us. Our hearts and brains run on the stuff. So much disinformation.
They could get them way hotter and crisper in the beef fat. I remember them sizzling on my tongue.
Lard may have tasted better but there’s no argument at all that it’s nutritionally better for you
@@paulrapis Look up the process of hydrogenated vegetable oils 🤢
@@paulrapis vegetable oils are all worse to use in cooking than animal fat, because they are unsaturated, they oxidise.
I fucking love her. She was a classically trained professional French Chef that wasn't afraid of shying away from modern conveniences and fast foods. She even mentions that "you are in control". Meaning that you don't have to get an extra super duper sized fries with your meals there or a 64oz soda.
Right, that is the part that gets missed often. Food should be enjoyed to the fullest, but not in large portions.
Julia Child was a culinary legend that I wish I could have learned more from. Rest in peace sweetheart, the world hasn't tasted the same since you departed😭
Her cookbooks are readily available.
She's on Pluto tv. It's free.
Her tv episodes are on the Jukia Child on PBS TH-cam channel, with more episodes still being added!
I always envied the fact that someone else cleaned up any mess that she made.
I would much rather eat the delicious fries of the 70's once in a while as a treat, as opposed to the horrible "healthy" ones today, that I NEVER eat because they are gross & not worth wasting calories on. As always, Julia was always spot on about everything!
Still can. Most Mexican restaurants the ones run by Hispanics fry their fries in tallow. I use to finish my kids fries because they would give them more than they could eat. They eat off the rest of the menu now. Taste just like McDonald's fries from the 70s.
@@richardeverett7124 Interesting!! Dang shame I hate Mexican food (and my body doesn't respond well to it either....and doesn't help I have that gene where cilantro tastes like soap!). Wish I knew this a few months ago. There was a free coupon for a new local Mexican spot, and I gave it to a friend. I could have had a fry feast! Wonder if I could call and ask, but not sure they would tell me thinking most would think it's a bad thing LOL
Like I said, I'd much rather have a treat of something delicious then tons of bland, mediocre healthier food! Thanks for the info!
The problem with social media sites is that they afford people a false sense that since they have an opinion it must be shared.
@@bedevil1 what does that have to do with French fries
@@bedevil1 I take it you never eat fries from McDonald's before they changed the oil to vegetable.
“Some kind of a nutritionist oil” sounds like the worst possible thing you could make French fries with
yeah but you still eat them anyway
And it turns out those hydrogenated vegetable oils were indeed about the worst thing you could possibly make French fries with.
Its "nutrition less oil"
Industrial seed oils that cause oxidative damage in your body.
I wonder if it’s made from real nutritionists!
I travel to Switzerland regularly for work and the "pomme frites" over there are so vastly superior in taste it is astounding.
Why do you believe that is? I mean, potatoes are potatoes right? In Switzerland do they fry them in tallow?
@@Temulon What oil you fry them in really does make a difference. Vegetable oil would taste better than something like olive oil because it's more neutral so you mostly just get the potato flavor, but beef tallow just adds another layer of goodness to it, plus this is just my theory but may make them stay crispier too since tallow solidifies while vegetable oils are liquid at normal temps. But anyway this is why I like to do things like make fried chicken (in vegetable oil, tallow is too expensive for me to have so much of) and then filter out the solids and reuse that oil to make things like fries.
@@c.odubhlaoich2948 - I'm going to try and use more animal fats, less plant based oils.
But you're right, tallow is pretty expensive.
@@Temulon I bought a tub of wagyu beef tallow for 30 bucks, there's just like 400 tablespoons so it would be super expensive to use for deep frying but for pan frying it's great. Peanut oil would still be better than vegetable oil though.
@@Temulon Although you could probably get a good deal going to a butcher and just buying a bunch of suet and render it yourself.
TOTAL AGREEMENT, HERE, JULIA!!!!!!!!!! I used to love them back when I was a child! Then, all of a sudden, they just didn't taste good, anymore. I wasn't aware, until I entered college to become a chef, that it was because they changed what they fried them in! I had just contributed it to the fact that our tastes buds renew themselves every several years or so. Come to find out, it wasn't me after all! Go figure! I hope this will stand as an account that I'm not ALWAYS wrong!!!
😉
Attributed it to the fact
the irony of all this is that the animal fats the used before if eaten in moderation are not that bad for you compared to the hydrogenated oils full of of too much omega 6 which they use now.
A Bic Mac, fries and a Coke must have tasted glorious in the 70s?!
It was. I remember when the Big Mac came out. I was in highschool. After school we raced to Mickey D's to see what this burger was all about.
It did.
They did and the hot apple pies and all for under a buck
McDonald's and Burger King first hit Chicagoland in the mid to late 1960s and they were considered a treat by kids like me back then. Now,the box has less of a cardboard taste than the food.
@@denisebohar4338 : The apple pie was DELICIOUS!!!
This is exactly what I need at this moment in my life
The intro and outros were helpful, good sir
Thank you Every1 for wonderful comments on Julia. I have only recently discovered how famous she was And what a Great cook she was. It us a privilege 2 read all yor comments.
I sometimes randomly think about this clip.
She is, of course, correct. Best fried onions ever: Cook some ground sirloin burgers on a medium-high heat. Remove to a plate in a warm oven and leave the beef drippings in the pan. Sauté thin slices of onion in the beef drippings plus a tablespoon of toasted sesame oil until a rich, dark-golden brown. Add a few drops of balsamic vinegar, some minced garlic and a pinch of salt during the last few minutes to deglaze the pan and add a bit more flavor and shine. Serve over your burgers with a side of fresh sliced tomato, dill pickle slices and a dollop of french or german mustard for dipping. YUM. The beef fat mixed with the toasted sesame oil gives the onions an amazing flavor, especially when combined with that splash of balsamic vinegar.
+Jean Vignes Next time use some bacon grease. MMMMMM
+Jean Vignes want to have a easy sidedish?
just cut some potatos and carrots into the same sizes, put them into a pan, ad salt and peper and a lot olive oil, into the herd and make them brown....enjoy.
You are correct, if you're going to go to the trouble of cooking beef in a skillet or roaster, NEVER leave out the onion - slices on the side in that rendered fat will have them fighting for the last slice. hehe.
You know, I read that above in Julia Child's voice. :)
@@jaycee330 haha. It works. I tried it :)
I am reading her autobiography at the moment where she is living and cooking in France. The amount of butter etc the French use in cooking but didn’t stop her living to a couple of weeks before her 92nd birthday. It’s a very interesting read. I also watched Sarah Lancashire play her in a film. One of my favourite British actresses.
The beef tallow French fries from McDonald's were served in that wonderful little paper sack that would become glistening translucent before you could finish them. Not a daily treat, but when I had them, they were the best fries on earth.
I suppose McDo made their fries match stick thin to regain crispiness.
I've started using lard within the last two years or so. I quite like the savory notes that it imparts.
She's right. One good thing about being my age is knowing how delicious the original fries were.
its not just fast food everything tasted better pre 1980 i remember when some vegetarian freaked out when she found out how the fries were cooked and sued mcdonalds, of course they folded like a cheap camera and now their living off an old reputation
🤣🤣🤣🤣
But the thing is that we’re not talking about some ancient lost art. Get yourself some lard or tallow if you prefer and potatoes and you’re all set. And it isn’t complicated or difficult. Those awesome French fries of a bygone era are a very attainable goal.
@@DavidWilliams-so2dy A quick search of "lard vs shortening" will turn up all kinds of articles that cast doubt on the belief that highly-processed vegetable oils and shortening are healthier than lard or butter.
I grew up on potatoes fried in lard and I agree with you that they are wonderful if prepared by experienced hands. And a biscuit made with lard instead of vegetable shortening is one click above one made with vegetable shortening.
I just saw the movie tonight! It was fun, and i was starving after it! what a lovely tribute to a charming genuinely delightful lady!
I hope you’re not referring to the movie Julia and Julie. That was terrible.
The real Julia, of course, was a delight.
Julia Child never ate "health food", she ate meat with almost every dinner and plenty of starches like potatoes or pasta. She used real lard and butter in her cooking and absolutely loved desserts and wine. She wasn't known for her exercise routine or aerobics spending most of her time writing her books and working on new recipes. And she died 2 days before her 92nd birthday having never had a heart attack or cancer or any of the terrible things they say will happen to us if we actually enjoy ourselves and the food we eat.
She probably never ate all of the processed garbage that’s available these days. She cooked real food and I bet that’s why she stayed healthy.
Some people have higher risk for cancers and other diseases that can be exacerbated by diet and lack of exercise. I would refrain from taking too much stock in the experiences of a single individual. Some people smoke and never get cancer, others die very young for example.
She did cut the dickens out of her finger once! Oh no that was Dan Ackroyd, sorry.
Cooking with lard and butter is better for you than cooking with vegetable oils. Vegetable oils are inflammatory.
@@ransom182 I think it’s all the modern “healthy” chemicals and additives they put in food so we don’t eat so many fats that give people cancer. I also think eating real food that is rich and taste good is more satisfying and ultimately leads to people eating less and being healthier. But that is just my opinion
When I clicked on this link, I was definitly expecting her to say how terrible they were, and how McDonald's was sacreligious to the world of cooking. Lol. You gotta love Julia.
Julia was a Foodie before that word existed...a nutritionist, she was not. ;)
It's 1972. I'm living 15 miles away from McDonald's Store Number One in Des Plaines, Illinois, and about 30 miles from McDonald's Headquarters in Oak Brook, so Ray Kroc was serious about the surrounding McDonald's locations. My parents are taking us to McDonald's this afternoon to get Big Macs, fries, and chocolate shakes.
We walk in... And the scent of real seared beef is too much to be whisked away by any industrial HVAC system intent on sterilizing the air. It spills over into the waiting lines, and instantly you can see people inhaling deeper and smiling. I imagine hearing everyone increase the size of their orders in their heads.
I watch these young-yet-serious older teens in crisp uniforms and paper hats concentrating on the grill, flipping those patties at the exact moment of perfection, building the new double-decker burgers they're calling the Big Mac. Freshly-made burgers, grilled to order right in front of us.
The buns were steamed soft in their holding bins. The Special Sauce was in its original recipe, and it was more than just flavored mayonnaise; it was a tart foil to the rich fat in the burger patties and cheese.
The young girl in front was making our shakes. Perhaps I should explain... Back during ancient times, when an ape-like creature first stood upright in the Mesopotamian Valley, raised his fist to the Heavens, and declared in a grunting yell, "I am MAN!", the ice cream machines actually worked all the time at every McDonald's. True story.
And then the fries... We didn't know to appreciate them back then because we never thought they'd go away like they have, into the land of food processes replacing natural flavor and substitute frying media rather than the Good Stuff, and so we just simply enjoyed them. Crisp, salty, HOT, fluffy inside. The perfect accompaniment to a bite of that Big Mac that TASTED like a Big Mac should.
What my father used to buy at McDonald's for me for $3.17 you can't get at ten times the price today. I'm 61 years old, and right now all I want is the exact same Big Mac, fries, and chocolate shake I had when I was 11.
They can send me into outer space, but they can't make me the same McDonald's meal I **LOVED** half a century ago.
F%&k progress.
Very good imagery!
I recently turned 60, and agree!
Just one of the reasons why I love her ! The angels are eating great food.😀
I love the French chef! She is one of a kind :)
I served her in a restaurant right around the time of this interview. She tore a bluefish filet to shreds and licked her fingers when she was done. Awesome woman!
Julia is one of the reasons I cook for myself & others. Mom & grandmother + PBS taught me the art of cooking & baking. Mc Donald's bring back those fries. Oh! I can make them myself.
Go to You Tube; The French Cooking Academy. Merde Non, Stephan is the real deal.
i bought $100 worth of beef tallow off Amazon just to make fries about 2 months ago. Way expensive, but so worth it. Now I should be set for a couple years.
j dwyer That’s interesting. Is it hydrogenated at all? How do you preserve it? How much does 100$ get you? Thank you.
Thank you for sharing Julia.
Thenexus, well said! Yours is one of the sanest comments on TH-cam. A happy disposition and a joyful attitude towards food are essential to longevity and health!
This woman was a goddess of american home food, I have learned so much about how to cook from watching her old vhs tapes. And she is very correct about beef tallow and lard vs modern oils.
"They've been kind of limp ever since..." haha
This is why In-n-Out & Five Guys have the best tasting fries. In-N-Out uses freshly cut, not frozen potatoes and Five Guys uses peanut oil - so tasty!
+badjujuwan Beef Tallow is even better.
Five Guys is pretty amazing. They're a little on the expensive side though
well the thing about fries, is when freshly making them your self you should fry once take them out and put them in the fridge or freezer overnight and then fry them again.
I’m allergic to peanuts
I don’t like in n out fries. I don’t see all the fuss about that company.
Touche Julia! My great-great grandmother born March 4, 1899 definitely cooked with lard, ate pork, beef, and chicken, and pretty much anything she wanted....she died in 2003 (do the math lol).
Julia Child is one of the very few 'celebrities' that I would have enjoyed having a sit-down conversation with. She is a real person with a down to earth manner about her.
I have a local butcher that makes fries to order using beef tallow. The best description is something that shatters and melts simultaneously .
The French Chef! She was on TV often in the 70s!
Julia Child & Graham Kerr were so inspirational back in the day.
Witty and entertaining.
That is very true. When I was in Europe, I would eat their food and I could tell that it was high in fat, but, instead of putting tons of food on the plate, they put very little and it was perfect and filling. I have never did so much walking till I got there. Lost a lot of weight and gains muscle.
very cool
She was 100 percent right, the fries were not good in 1995, but since then they altered to a different oil recipe nowadays because a lot of people complained like her.
Bless this woman.
i love how honest she is lol
My dad always reminisces about how good McDonald's fries used to be. I guess he was right lol
Yes it is dangerous, but processed vegetable oils also will eventually become rancid, and that's why they have to be changed every so often. Beef tallow, on the other hand, because it's a saturated fat, remains stable at high temperatures, and thus can be used for far more frying sessions than processed vegetable oils such as corn, canola, and soybean oil.
Great Video! Love it!
Beef tallow fries would be worth building a time machine for.
Mario Faker+ ABSOLUTELY.
You can just render beef fat yourself dude.
@@DarkMatterX1 And you can put cocaine in cola
What a wonderful woman. She will always be an inspiration to me.
She is exactly right.... ! when I worked at McD as a kid in early 80s , the fries came in a box (frozen) that said they were fried in Beef Tallow then flash frozen - followed by the length and temp that they should be fried in before serving to the customer.
I actually ate McD fries just last night and they were TERRIBLE and UNDERCOOKED.......
Maybe you should've cooked them longer.
@@TadRaunch
Haha. Right...
Here in the rural Midwest, lard was the only cooking fat used. My mom used to make french fries with lard. Incredible flavor! Both my parents and grandparents fried fatty steaks in lard. Fried potatoes and onions were cooked in lard. Pie dough was made with lard. They drank whole milk, ate eggs, butter. They all lived strong and healthy into their 90s. As did most others around here.
Of course, they were VERY physically active. When you made hay, you didn't use a machine. People pitched it on with pitch forks. Ton after ton. I can't imagine the calories one burned to harvest the hay off of a 50 acre field by hand. Yet people back then did it as a matter of course. Any digging that needed to be done, such as for laying drainage pipes, ditches, basements for houses, grave plots---that was all done by men with spades.
My grand father used to eat lard sandwiches. He would literally open a tub of lard spread it on a slice of bread and eat it. He lived into his 90's. Truth is that every one's health is different. Some thing that is heathy for one person will kill the next.
@@brandons9138
One of the most comprehensive, highest participation medical studies in history concluded that dietary cholesterol and saturated fats have zero effect on serum cholesterol. The study was done in Europe, and tracked thousands of patients over the course of a decade. The American Heart Health Association _sued_ to prevent it from being published in the US. A purported health organization tried to prevent health information from being released to the American people.
More recently, studies have shown that people need as much as 3 times as much dietary sodium as the FDA recommends. It's necessary for proper myelin health and neurotransmitter production.
Long story short, we still don't _really_ know how the human body works. We all die. Eat what you want.
@@DarkMatterX1 Sounds good to me. I just had a meal that would cause a dietician to have a coronary event. Chicken Wings, fries and a soft drink followed by a rather large ice cream desert.
Vive la Lard! Use it for frying doughnuts, in pie crust, and to grease my pizza pan. Nothing matches it. I believe Oreo's also at one time contained lard. When I was a kid, they had a glorious crisp texture that was way better than their competitor Hydrox. These days they have no flavor or texture at all, so assuming it was switched out for vegetable oil.
We were on a road trip, and we took our dog. Since we had her in yhe car, we didn't eat in restaurants. I don't eat fast food, I was mostly getting fruit, or yogurt or a sandwich from a market. For lunch one day my husband wanted a burger. I asked for a large fry and they gave me a box of HEAVEN! They were fresh out of the fryer hot, crispy with just enough salt. I had a holy moment eating those fries. I don't think that will ever happen again.
I always find this subject interesting because I've known a number of people who lived into their 90s (one who died at 101) and I know what they ate. All of them cooked with lard and butter. On the other hand, most of their children are not making it into their 90s (70-80 for the majority). So, is it only genetics or is it the hydrogenated fats that became so popular during/after WWII?
a n e c d o t e s
@@mookiecookie44
Anecdotes that closely reflect metastudies and the current paradigm.
It is the refined oils. If you look at the early 1900's, Americans ate WAY more butter than they do today. Yet everyone was slim and healthy. (It's also true they were much more physically active.) Obesity skyrocketed after the switch from butter to refined vegetable oils... plus as soon as almost everyone had a car and the advent of tech jobs replaced physical labor, we were doomed.
I grew up in a typical household during fifties and sixties,,
Yes, we ate fried food and always butter, but…
What I also remember are. Loads of vegetables from garden and farm produce store!
Lots of casseroles, meat loaves, beef stew, huge roasting chickens,etc.!
We ate three meals a da, hearty ones, and rarely snacked between meals!
Also, tons of outdoor activities, long walks,(including to distant schools) bike rides, hula hoops, skipping ropes…..🫠
@@patty7791 Yes, that's another important factor. It was more common for people to grow their own vegetables. And even the ones they bought in the store were higher quality than today...
This is an illuminating article I'm looking at right now that talks about soil depletion data:
"The protein content in corn declined 30 percent to 50 percent from 1920 to 2001, while the starch content increased.
The magnesium content of vegetables and wheat has declined by up to 25 percent.
Trace minerals in vegetable crops, including manganese, zinc, copper, and nickel, have decreased over the last several decades, while toxic minerals like aluminum, lead, and cadmium have increased."
"Since 1961, cereal production has increased by nearly 400 percent, yet obesity, diabetes, and other health problems have only skyrocketed. The problem is that grains, soy, and corn are low on the nutrient density scale, far below organ meats, meat, eggs, dairy, vegetables, and fruits. Farms are producing nutrient-poor foods on a wide scale-and it’s killing us."
"The human body requires around 40 different micronutrients for normal function, but most Americans eat nutrient-poor diets full of processed grains, industrial seed oils, and refined sugars, by design of the agricultural system. This puts us in danger of nutrient deficiencies. Although 42 percent of adults in the United States are overweight or obese, nearly one-third of Americans are at risk for at least one vitamin deficiency or anemia. We’re overfed, yet undernourished."
chriskresser.com/depletion-of-soil-and-what-can-be-done/
I still hear people talk about how the best fries are Mickey D's and I just smile cause I remember the 60's and 70's when they were the reason I went there. Now, I order a small bag and don't even finish that. Healthy food sucks - and if you think I'm wrong just check out the shelves at your local supermarket the next time there's a run on the store like there was during Covid. The rest of the shelves can be empty but the health food is still there.
I remember seeing "The French Chef" episode where she makes french fries, and I remember how she fried them twice to get that really nice golden browness that makes them really good. None of the fast food places do it that way anymore. I think Carl's Jr. was the last to still make "classic" fries, but even they have long since gone to making them the same way as McDonald's and the others.
I think that McDonald's uses frozen pre-cut fries. I'm sure she probably started out with fresh potatoes. Different cooking techniques to try and get the same result from both kinds.
If you can make it to an In and Out and ask for fries 'well done' they will double fry them to perfection. Chef's kiss!
@@pourattitude4206 I worked at a McDonald's in the early 70's. Real potatoes from a large bag, pealed in a drum device, sliced into fries, then fried twice using a timer.
Really it was 1979 when I worked there!!! Dam memory lapse!!
Too find fries that use beef fat as a cooking oil is very rare in the US nowadays. Now you have to go to high-end bistros and France if you want a properly made fry.
McDonalds and the US didn’t know what they had. They were giving something now considered high-end luxury for fast food prices. Now it’s vegetable oil which is characterless and the switch turned out to be even less healthy with the knowledge we have now.
It takes pragmatism and rationality to see what was going wrong. Julia Child saw it 20 years ago.
agreed, and with all this shit the put in food now days they wonder why people are always sick or fat.
@@heathfiedler High fructose corn syrup in everything, and from corn sprayed with glyphosate.
I know Rally's used to cook their fries in tallow back in the day, but I haven't eaten there in a number of years, so I don't know if they still do or not.
She was the first to attack seed oils! Good for her.
I went to France and everywhere were Fritas - they are just like McDonald fries.
@uberathlete There are some places near my house, specifically poutine places in Quebec, that still cook their fires in beef tallow, and trust me, they are incredible! Much more flavorful, and as Julia said, they tend to be crisper, plus, and I'm not sure about this, but I don't think beef tallow has any trans-fats. (yep, google just confirmed)
we miss you julia!
A national treasure she was!
@MilesB1975: they're still quite real potatoes, and for fast food they're still not bad. But Child is right; they used to fry in a mix of 93% beef tallow and 7% cottonseed oil, and switched, with great fanfare, to pure vegetable oil in 1990. However, they also quietly changed the fries to add beef extract as a "natural flavor" in the production process, which led to several lawsuits. Those were settled, but I believe to this day McD's fries still have a tiny touch of cow in 'em.
I remember from when I was *very* going to Mcdonald’s and watching them put potatoes into this press that cut them into fries. now they get bags of frozen fries that are apparently some sort of flurry molded into french fry shapes.
when I (relatively) recently discovered 5 Guys I was delighted to see them using the same press technique for their fries. and they’re *very* good.
french fies deep fried using beef tallow or lard doesn't seem common at all in the US anymore, especially not in any typical fast food setting. sometimes you see it in "gourmet" burger restaurants or gastropubs, but it's always presented as a defining or "special" feature of the fries that you can't find anywhere else (because oftentimes you can't). but it's still common in places like Belgium. Have fries in Belgium and they taste so much better, and I think the main reason is that they use beef tallow still. I feel like people often say they like McDonald's fries, at least in comparison to their major competition, but this is mostly a factor that they and all of their major competition also use supposed "healthier" oils nowadays, so it's comparing to a more substandard baseline. To be fair, despite Child's claims, the oils they use now probably *are* healthier than lard for the same reason that olive oil is healthier than butter: they don't contain nearly as much saturated fats, which contributes to "bad" cholesterol, etc. But, it's hard to deny the unhealthier stuff can be tastier, and probably not overly damaging to your health as long as you practice moderation and attempt to counteract with healthier foods.
Because fast food places live in fear of vegans like Morgan Sperlock and propaganda pushing "nutrition experts" like Sanjay Gupta.
Worrying about cholestorol is a meme based on bad science. Olive oil is relatively healthy but sun flower seed oil and other seed oils are way worse than animal fat. It's why Europeans are way healthier while obesity began skyrocketing in the US at the introduction of seed oils.
Friday nights at our home was steak and French fry night, mom always kept her french fry grease in a jar in the fridge along with saved bacon grease in another jar, she added some bacon grease to the french fry grease and what delicious french fries those were!!!! There was never a french fry left over on Fridays.
If you are eating fries, you're probably not very concerned with their nutritional value.
Make them the tastiest way possible :)
yup!
haha couldn't have said it better myself.
Completely agree with her.
She’s such a badass,I absolutely adore her and her husband♥️🤗🔥
I just love her. She is her unique self, no BS or preening. She is certainly missed.
DANG IT!! I really wanted to hear her laugh... it makes me laugh.
shes exactly right, my husband and I agree wholeheartedly. We only stop when we're traveling, which isn't very often.
“Fat is flavor.”
Pour one out for a real g
I love this woman, she was a legend,and always will be.
Then you would have absolutely gone nuts over them in the fifties…… we paid .10 a bag, hamburgers were .15 and LARGE shakes, .25…. When mom and dad sent us out with big brother, the one who had a license, we fed all five of us on the five dollars our parents gave him, and of course that money went for gas as well at .25 cents a gallon….. then off to the drive-in at two bucks a carload 👍
And a good job paid 6k a year
Thanks for that algorithm...
the rise in obesity coincides with the introduction of high fructose corn syrup! I'm sure many folks have commented before, that at is an important part of your diet.
My first job at 16 McD was in 1981. We still used beef tallow and I used to clean the fry vat. A year later, I decided to move on thankfully.
When I determined that my girlfriend was the one, while at the same time realized she did not know how to cook, I bought her Julia’s book titled “the way to cook” She really got into it and the rest is history. She’s really good at cooking and I made a good choice of cook books and partners. 👍🏻 RIP Julia and thank you 😘
You are so blessed.
@@troubledsole9104 Is that what it is? That’s just part of my story of being what you call blessed. My wonderful wife, my daughter, and the old retired bird dog that I use for my YT picture ID were my support system that helped me survive pancreatic cancer. About 5% of those diagnosed survive. I wish you the best.😘
There's something about the way she says "BEEF tallow" that just makes me hungry.
Legend
I'm glad to know that Julia felt that them changing the cooking oil wasn't the best for McDonald's. R.I.P. Mrs. Childs, I miss you so.
That's hilarious. And I thought my taste had changed. I tried them a while back and couldn't believe I had ever liked them. Go figure.
I’m not sure but were there shoulder pads in that video?
Spot on, Miss Julia. Spot on.
I love how people go after McD's menu, like it's a government-issue food program of some sort.
And McDonald's is a lot healthier than a lot of fast casual restaurants out there, if you make reasonable choices.
Vegetable oils oxidize at high temperature. Isn't that dangerous as well?
Since I used beef tallow in my fryer, I find it much easier to clean. No glue drops.
I agree with Julia. How criticize McDonalds when they've done more to keep people fed at a reasonable price than just about anyone. You can practically find enough money on the street to get a meal there.
I've worked with beef fat in fryers - and there is no other way to get fries as good. If they go back to using it - they should bring back those lava filled apple pies as well.
She looks like Meryl Streep.
Good thing Meryl Streep did a movie as Julia Child ;-)
+Deva7 Is that because Meryl Streep played Julia Child in a film, or is that why she played Julia Child in the first place? It's an interesting chicken and egg question.
Meryl Streep is *not* a good person. JS.
@@EYE_GOTCHA What does that have to do with anything? Meryl Streep allegedly not being a good person doesn’t have anything to do with the initial comment. The o.p. said she resembles Meryl Streep, then you start going on about something irrelevant. What was the point? Weirdo.
@@EYE_GOTCHA How is she not a nice person?
She was terrific. 💟