IIRC this site has a pretty good rundown on Belgian fry technology. Twice-fried, for one.
And yes, mayo belongs on fries. In the low countries there are a few brands of mayo available-- a little sweeter IMO than American stuff, sometimes a suggestion of lemon. Calve is a particularly big brand-- you can find it in Asian groceries that cater to the Indonesian population in the States (along with chocoladehagel and stroopwafels).
And I agree with Chefguy-- even if the Belgians didn’t invent them, they do them the best by far.
Siam-- read again. That article’s about “potato chips” in American terms, not about French Fries, i.e. English chips.
Those would be potato (no “e” :)) chips. I’ve heard the New York story, and believe it.
Follow capybara’s link to see what we’re calling “fries”. Same thing, but very different.
I twice fry my fries. Much better, crispier outside and soft inside.
:smack: Doh! Of course it is! I’m always getting chips and fries mixed up nowadays, what with the odd mix of British and American terminology we have over here. (But I have it straight what “crisps” are.)
Mayonaise and ketchup (curry/tomato) are being used the most over here, but theres plenty of other sauce to choose from when u enter a belgian fritery (sp?)
I dislike ketchup, but there’s an odd perception over here that farangs (Westerners) all love it. They have this mildly hot chilli sauce – usually called Si Racha nomatter what the brand, because that is the most popular brand, like we use “Coke” for any soft drink – that is the same consistency but orange in color. Very good and great with fries and anything else you would normally put ketchup on. But being a farang, they always trot out a bottle of ketchup for me, and I always have to ask for the chilli sauce.
Sriracha! I love that stuff! It’s a brighter red than ketchup, not quite orange. It’s made with chilies and garlic, and essentially works like spicy, garlicy ketchup. I’ve seen it on tables at Thai and Vietnamese restaurants (a squirt goes great in pho), and you reminded me I need to buy another bottle to keep at home. The most common kind in the U.S. is Huy Fong Sriracha, which comes in a clear plastic squeeze bottle with a green nozzle and a cock (rooster) on the bottle. Most of my friends just call it “cock sauce.”
I’ve had fries with mayo from a street vendor in Brussels. There was nothing magically delicious about it — it tasted pretty much what it sounds like. The fries were very good, but I’ve had equally good bistro-made fries in the States. Mayo is OK as a sauce, but bland to me. Ketchup has that nice sweet-sour-spicy combination.
I love fries and mayo. The two must go together… if I have fries, there must be mayo, or I am quite upset . One thing I love about Montreal is that 9 times out of 10, if you order something with fries, you will get a little cup of mayo on the side, and you don’t even have to ask! It’s usually Hellman’s mayo, around here.
As for “moules et frites” (mussels and fries); they are also very popular here. I am not a fan of mussels, but a frequent outing with friends is to a local place with mussels, fries (and mayo!) and a fantastic selection of beer (mostly Belgian style, but they have a good variety otherwise too!)
We call Sriracha “chicken sauce.” it’s yummy and I need to restock.
I adore mayo and ketchup on fries. However, I will warn those that haven’t tried it that are venturing forth…please use nice thick french fries. Wendy’s french fries are pretty ideal as far as fast food fries go.
The stuff here is rather orange-ish. It’s called Si Racha after the name of the district in Chonburi province where it’s manufactured, but there are other brands, too.
(There are different spellings, but Si Racha is the most common spelling for the district itself and actually how it is pronounced. There is no R sound after the first S. Comes from the Hindi – or Sanskrit? – “sri,” in which the R is pronounced.)
Actually, we have “chicken sauce,” but it’s not the same as Si Racha. It’s red, sometimes a very dark red, with bits of stuff speckled in it, and it’s very sweet, almost like a syrup. I don’t recall the Si Racha brand making a chicken sauce, but they could, I guess.
Given the salivating that is already going on, I hope it’s OK to mention that a pub near me does wonderful hand-cut chips. I love the way they ensure a large chip, so most of it is the potato (with just a thin skin of fat).
I can’t be doing with thin chips (MacDonalds, I’m looking at you ), which seem to be largely fried fat.
Attempting to address the OP directly - yes, you can indeed buy jars, and often tubes (like toothpaste tubes) of mayo in continental places. The flavour and texture are somewhat different to the gleaming, bleached white of Hellmans - a little runnier, and more yellow, I’m guessing to emphasize the mustard content and the proximity of the processed stuff to the fresh stuff that people are presumably more familiar with. I can’t remember seeing Hellmans and the like in supermarkets, but then I’ve only been to France, the Netherlands and Germany recently. I will be in Belgium at the end of this month, so will visit a supermarket and report back.
Sriracha being called cock or chicken sauce (or in our house, rooster sauce) has nothing, to my knowledge, to do with serving it with any kind of poultry, it’s all down to what the bottle looks like.
The company makes several other products, but that’s the one, both in Australia and the US, that I’ve known most people to be familiar with under one of the poultry-related nicknames.
Fast food fries in the states are just barely potatoes, IMO. They’re usually processed and frozen before shipping. Bistro fries can be good in the US, if they take some time with them. The Belgians use only fresh potatoes, soaked in cold water, drained, fried once (blanched), then fried a second time (at a different temperature) when an order is placed. They used to use only lard for frying, but a lot of the friteries have gone to vegetable oil now (a mistake IMO). Frying twice takes time, but results in a fry that is wonderfully crisp and golden on the outside, moist and tasty on the inside, and not greasy. Some of my best food memories are of moules provencale et frites or steak au poivre a la creme with a huge pile of frites to dip in the cream sauce, and a pint of Belgian ale.
I’ve not seen that label before, and it certainly does not look like what we call “chicken sauce” over here. Si Racha sauce is never used with chicken; chicken sauce is used with chicken, and it’s very red with bits of little stuff – spices, I hope – stuck in it. It has the consistency of weak glucose and is very syrupy. Very sweet and a little spicy at the same time. You dip the chicken into it; in fact, the Thai term for it is “chicken-dipping sauce.”
Si Racha sauce, OTOH, has the consistency of ketchup but is an orange-ish color. If the Thais don’t call it Si Racha no matter the brand, like we say “Coke” no matter the cola, then they call it “chilli sauce.”
. One thing I love about Montreal is that 9 times out of 10, if you order something with fries, you will get a little cup of mayo on the side, and you don’t even have to ask! It’s usually Hellman’s mayo, around here.
), which seem to be largely fried fat.