Food History: French Fries
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 เม.ย. 2021
- The history of French fries spans countries and gives us tater tots. And which is the superior fried potato, anyway?
Let's start at the beginning. French fries came from ... France, right? Oh boy, we've got a lot of history to get through. Join host Justin Dodd in a journey through the history of fried potatoes.
Food History is a series from Mental Floss where we dive deep into the culinary stories that lead to the food on our plates. If you have an idea for a dish, cooking technique, or cuisine that you’d like us to explore in a future episode, tell us in the comments.
For the origins of mashed potatoes, check out our earlier episode of Food History: www.youtube.com/watch?v=js8Cf...
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Im a fry
When a French fry comments on your video about French fries, you have to pin it.
Stephen Fry? I think he's English.
@@MentalFloss …Or…is it a young fish?…
"Show me a person who doesn't like french fries and we'll swap lies." Happy hungry! Cheers, Domenico.
Fun French fries fact! In Japan, they use the English words "fried potato" to refer to them, but this is often shorted to just "potato". This creates confusion when talking with native English speakers.
Justin, please do not make me decide which type of fried potato I like!! Between tater tots, hash browns, and french fries- I love them all!!!
Me either plz
Fries, for sure. Always felt like tots were something somebody already chewed....
Fries are amazing and I prefer those as the stand-alone side. Tots, however, are invaluable for tater tot hotdish (aka Minnesota ambrosia).
Tots forever!! Also, can we have a video all about George Crum? I wanna know more. The tiny crumb (heh) of information was not enough! Love this series. Love the channel. 💗
Thanks, and interesting suggestion! It's a more personal lens than we usually take, but I wonder if we could do a video about the "Celebrity Chef" as a phenomenon and have a section of George Crum. Adding it to our list of ideas (which seems to get ever longer...)!
In Australia, tatertots are called potato gems.
Fries!
French Fries rule, but not the vegetable/canola oil crap today. Deep fry those puppies in lard and put lots of salt on them.
This series is my favorite.
It takes the only theory Course I've ever enjoyed, and makes it even longer.
Shout out to Dr. Costura for having the coolest class in culinary school.
An episode on burritos or mushrooms would be a great idea i think
Growing up, my family liked French fries so much, my parents bought a propane set-up (think turkey fryer today) just so we can make enough for everyone's fill in one batch ( 4 of us, about 8 medium to medium/large Idaho russet potatoes). We probably averaged using it 3 times a week.
Question: How did this video about fried potato goodness go on for almost 10 minutes and not even mention potato logs/wedges?
I was wondering that very same thing. They are high up on my personal list of deliciousness!
The Giant Eagle Grocery Story brand of tater tots are called tater treats :)
I'll take fries, but Sonic's tots are great. And Hugs to Justin. 🤗🤗
hey I remember I suggested this on your first video. so happy to see it now. awesome job!
Oh man, now I feel bad that we didn't shout you out! In any case, your comment(s) and loyalty are much appreciated!
@@MentalFloss No worries whatsoever.
Now I don't know if this works w/ any other topic cause I don't think it'll work on its own but there is this myth/rumor that banana flavoured ice cream doesn't taste like banana because our banana's got the designer fruit treatment and their taste changed.
I am still not sure what to think of that.
This made me thoroughly hungry.
Tots, hands down
Also are you related to Tim Dodd!? I have to know!
One of my fav series!
Thank you so much for the kind words!
Definitely a fries guy, but I do enjoy a tot. Also, board game history when? I think I've identified most of the ones you have on that shelf, but there are still a few I can't quite make out.
Haha a history of board games is definitely on our wishlist. We just need to clone our video team and we will be ready to make it!
As an Oregonian, I've always seen the Ore-Ida brand in the store, but I never knew that it stood for Oregon-Idaho. Now that I know Tator Tots were an Oregon invention... it's tots over fries all day.
My great great grandmother came from Namur, Belgium 🇧🇪 and I always felt special there. I love Belgian fries 🍟 especially with it being from Namur
Tots v Fries.... It's all about the Mood, the meal, and time of Day
"I went into a McDonald's yesterday and said, 'I'd like some fries.' The girl at the counter said, 'Would you like some fries with that?'" - JAY LENO. 🥔🍟
Tater tots! Freshly deep fried tater tots dunked in ketchup, please.
French fry grease constitutes at least 1% of my blood sooo.
Ps I saw the board game collection in the back, I absolutely love it! Have you tried Smash Up yet? It's made by the same people that made King of Tokyo, and they currently have a buy one get one half off deal. You can also play the game on Table Top Simulator (if you use the updated mod by someone with the name, lazer as part of the creator name) there's even a discord for playing it online and for free I can link you to if you're interested.
Smashing that like button to get this video 1k likes for the Beach Boy look alike, talking about those good french fry vibrations! keep up the good work :)
Tater tots with ranch dressing dipping sauce... but I love potatoes in any form or fashion; scalloped being one of my favorites.
An honorable mention to Papa Rellena, which is mashed potatoes formed into an egg-shaped nugget, then deep fried. It's like a tater tot but creamy and smooth. Oh, and they're stuffed with meat and things!
Oo yes, had these in Peru-delicious!
*Frantically begins googling recipes*
That's basically...a croquette, lol
@@Obiwancolenobi Yeah, I think it is a croquette, but the fillings are generally different than what you'll find in France/Spain, and the size/consistency seemed a bit different, as well-maybe different binding agents?
@@MentalFloss Yes! Good distinction, and credit to Peru (in reference to your other comment) being basically the motherland for taters.
I prefer (potatoe) croquettes or Kroketten in German. Even crispier than fries
Everyone knows it was Sir Walter "Oooh I've got a big boat" Raleigh that imported potatoes (Go watch S02E03 of Blackadder called Potato)
Tater Tots over fries
Fun video. I do wonder why you didn't mention the name of the potato pancake made with matzoh meal, the humble "latke."
Thanks! And weird-we had a line scripted in there-"Examples of potato pancakes include Irish boxties and Jewish latkes." Somehow it didn't make it in the video!
@@MentalFloss If I were the kind who was triggered by such "slights" I would notify you of the impending lawsuit. I'm mainly amused by such oversights. Thanks for clarifying and mentioning an Irish treat I had not heard of.
BTW, you can ask Jews of a certain age about how our mothers had us help in the making of latkes by grating the potatoes on an old-fashioned grater. Bloody knuckles often ensued. Really. To which our mothers said in the snarkiest way possible: "It'll add to the taste."
Another first for me: being jealous of an imaginary guy named Brian 🥲
French fries with a little salt or with vinegar ? In Ocean City , MD. fries with Old Bay seasoning.
I like both but prefer the fries because they have more structural integrity. Tots fall apart if not cooked. Fries can be dipped and taste more of potato than deep fried tots.
Spanish explorers are actually responsible for bringing potatoes to Europe in the first place.
A Spanish explorer described potatoes in a journal entry dating back to 1577 as "a kind of earth nut which, after it is boiled, is as tender as cooked chestnuts." It was pretty typical at the time in Spanish tradition to fry basically anything, so fries definitely could have been on the menu back in the 16th century.
Apparently, fries were first served in Galicia (an autonomous area of northwest Spain), and eventually made their way up to Belgium. Belgium, at the time, was called the Spanish Netherlands. So fries became popular in Belgium because the tradition moved through Spanish communities.
I like french fries. My last name even has fries in it 🍟
Tater tots are called potato gems 🥔 where I live in Australia
I prefer fries, but tots are good. Something about that crispy exterior and fluffy interior of a perfectly cooked French fry just does it for me. Perhaps working as a cook at a restaurant where we made our fries from scratch has biased me. Toss them in Cajun seasoning, or better yet some Middle Eastern spice blend and you're golden.
I would probably agree that hash browns are my favorite form of potato overall, but it also just depends on my mood at the time. Sometimes you're just can't beat a good baked potato with butter, salt, and pepper
Potato gems!
Uniting the world, one fried potato at a time!
Aloha 😉😊🥔🤙🏼
The first snackbar/cafetaria in the Netherlands opened already in 1915. Fast food existed apparently before the USA took a run with it.
Taylor Tots. They have cheese inside. As far as I know you can only get them at SteelFire Grill
French Fries, but really both. They are but vessels for great sauces and/or vinegar. Very fun video!
That said, is it me or is your shirt in focus and your face is slightly blurred?
Back in the day when I ate starch, I preferred the crosscut fries. I think that Arby's has them.
french fries for the win. also, is the difference between tater tots and croquettes just the breading?
Hash Browns, Scattered, Smothered, Covered, Peppered, Chunked & Diced!
Fries especially ones from 5 Guys
Cheesy tots but chili cheese fries. Or sweet potato fries!
tots or fries? tough one... are we talking the thin fries such as McDonalds, or a thicker fry?
Tot's over thin,
Thick over Tot's,
Thin with ice-cream
Of course Phillip J wins every time
Curley Fries and Potatoe Gems for me...
I knew that British people called them chips, but it literally just clicked for me that this is a really apt name for them. They are like wood chips, but potatoes.
As far as origin is concerned, here are the facts: the Spanish did indeed bring potato and tomato plants with them from the Americas in the 16th century. The first to actually eat the fruits of both were the gastronomically curious Florentines...they were also the first to deep-fry ANYTHING in Europe at the time,
so fries are originally ITALIAN.
Tots, but the flat round kind.
Potatoes are the real MVP 🍟
Jack-N-the-Box curly fries 🍟.
6:36 - While the story is regarded as a myth, it does show that at that time "French fried potatoes" were thin slices of potato, just like those served by Jefferson, and not batons.
We don't get tater tots here so, fries/chips all the way!
Tots for the win!😊
I like them french fried potaters
Fries, of course, but good tots are rare so I'll always take them when I can get them.
5 Guys has the best fries in the US!
When I was a kid the cool thing to do was go to Kesge’s at the mall and get Cokes and hot fries drowned in ketchup. It didn’t get much better than that back then.
That’s pronounced Née fi. Uncle Nephi thanks you.
Best potato snack whilst playing boardgames ?
French fries because poutine.
Where are Justin's glasses? 🙂
Tader Tots hands down over French fries but good homemade hashbrowns beat both but still losses out potato cakes unless it is a cold winter's night at a football game where the hand warming winner are baked potatoes. FYI: I do love my spuds. Now on to which variety of potato is best for which use. . . let the blood bath begin. Too bad about that world peace thing. ;-) And we haven't even got to "fancy" potatoes like mashed or scalloped or . . . .
Big, floppy, chips. I don't think we have tater tots in England, so I can't say I've tried them!
Tater tots win out on my family. Super crispy outside and soft inside. Dipped in ketchup, bbq sauce, or even A1 sauce, they win.
If I have to choose *tater tots*
Tater tots all day long over fries!!
Tots are the superior potato snack.
French fries obviously
3:30 Potato guns don't work nearly as well as guns that fire bullets.
English chips all the way. They are bigger than fries and contain fluffy potato inside. Fries are just a crispy shell where the inside is all fried out.
When we were kids, tots were sometimes called "American fries". Too bad the name didn't stick. It's more awkward for an adult to order "tots".
🍟
Fries are best as a side, but if you're going to make a meal of it, you can't beat totchos -- Nachos Grande made with tater tots instead of chips. *smacks lips*
Oh yeah baby!!! FTW!!!
Fish and chips done dirty with that picture smh
5:25 I'm not sure what this is, but it's definately not real English fish and chips
Why not both!
Am I the only one who now wants to make round fries, like Jefferson did?
French fries. I want to know when did ketchup get paired with fries?
French fries are older than Belgium itself.
No mention of poutine???
Fries
If I remember correctly potatoes are the second most consumed thing on earth behind Onions.
If that is true, super interesting!! They also work so well together!
I'm fond of French fried tater tots.
The true winner? Big chunky chip shop chips. We dont eat battered fish with french fries. That image was all kinds of incorrect and most definitely not from England
I love latkes, fries of all shapes and sizes, hash browns, potato wedges, and even gnocchi... but that creation of Ore-Ida will always be my favorite, whether it be the original or one of many, many knockoffs. There's something about the form factor, and the blend of crunchy browned outside and the warm, soft, savory inside of Tater Tots™ that will always beat out any other potato delight for me.
Spanish took the potato to Europe from America, so how did Jefferson come to introduce it to America?
He got them from the French 😉
tater tots are my favorite but now I want to call them spud puppies
Nothing beats home made fries cooked in beef tallow ... I know I know....Bad for the environment but the taste is so superior. #MalcolmGladwell
No Freedom Fries?
French Fires!
What is the origin of
fried chicken?
Tots
I literally clicked on this video because I am Belgian and wanted to check out whether you would say fries are French or Belgian in origin haha :P Indeed, we firmly believe we invented the "French fry" and we know for a fact that our fries are the best!