Everything you wanted to know about French fries, and more - potato chips, recipes, restaurant reviews, onion rings, fast food, and good food - all aspects of the potato and fried food, and especially where the two meet.
I finally got a chance to go over to the local McDonald's and try their new Shakin' Flavor Fries. The first thing I noticed was that there was no difference in price for a regular size fries and a regular size Shakin' Flavor version. That's a definite plus.
Shaker fries are a big deal in Asia and the South Pacific, usually with exotic flavors like seaweed. The flavors available at American McDonald's are Garlic Parmesan, Zesty Ranch and Spicy Buffalo. Guess which one I chose? I went with the buffalo as it was the closest to barbecue. I wish they had just a regular barbecue, or a cheddar like Burger King had when they did their Shake 'Em Up Fries.
The special shaking bag comes with directions that are fairly simple, and trust me, when you've done it once, you won't need to consult the directions again. It's easy. Put some fries in the bag, put some seasoning in, close the bag, shake it up, baby, and you're done, easy-peasy.
The shaking process gives the fries a pretty thorough coating. The Spicy Buffalo has a solid bite to it. I wasn't expecting that kind of heat based on how pedestrian Mickey D's nugget dipping sauces are, for instance. There's more burn to this than actual buffalo flavor. The fries of course are just as good as always.
As I mentioned above I wish there were more than just the three flavor seasonings available, but let's see if they last first. The trend these days with fast food is to only offer the good stuff on a temporary basis.
Although it's business as usual in the rest of the world, McDonald's is bringing seasonings to some of their fries in the United States. The good news (or bad?) is that they will be pushing more traditional flavors here in the States, like Garlic Parmesan, Zesty Ranch and Spicy Buffalo. These will be done shaker style, as in you do it yourself.
So if you're looking for seaweed, curry, or something more exotic, you'll have to go to a McDonald's on the Asian continent or somewhere in the Pacific. In the meantime, check your local Mickey D's to see if they have them yet, or if they are participating, as it's only in certain areas.
While it started in the United States many decades ago, McDonald's has conquered the world, and their French fries supremacy follows them through most of the planet. In some places the McFries are known by other names, like McFritas in Portugeuse, but they are still the same great fries. It's true, the fries remain the same in much of the world, but there are exceptions, and there are some intriguing and downright bizarre serving differences.
In Mexico, you can order McPatatas (that's "McPotatoes" in Spanish), which are seasoned potato wedges served up in a cup. In Hong Kong, during New Year season, you can get twisted curly fries. Costa Rica has steak fries, and Canada of course has poutine.
In India, you can get the McAloo Tikki. This is McDonald's take on that spiced potato croquette dish featuring a breaded deep-fried patty of potatoes and peas served on a hamburger bun along with tomatoes, onions, a special vegetable sauce, and ketchup. A perfect vegetarian burger for a land where you really can't have burgers… and it's made from potatoes.
In Germany, Hong Kong, Turkey, and several other Eastern European countries, Mickey D's has, wait for it, onion rings. They are standard-sized and use whole rings of onion rather than chopped onions like the competition at Burger King.
In the Netherlands you can get a special condiment for your fries called American Sauce. It's a yellow mayo we don't have in the States. Go figure. In the UK and in India you can get curry as a dipping sauce. In Poland they have the Ruffian Sandwich which is basically a burger with a second patty that is a Hash Brown rather than beef. In the Philippines, McDonald's seasonally offers standard curly fries, known as Twister Fries there. Man, I wish they'd have them here - Americans are quite fond of curly fries too, ya know?
Also in Hong Kong, you can get Shake Shake Fries, where you put your fries in a bag a la Shake N Bake with whatever you want on your fries. Think cheddar, garlic, or regional favorites - chargrill, French onion, salt and pepper, and seaweed. Yeah, seaweed. To each their own. These shaker fries are very popular throughout the Indian Ocean and South Pacific region.
For additional side orders, around the world you can also get McRice, shrimp scampi, cheese empanadas, corn, and even gazpacho.
A couple days ago I talked about Burger King's new French fries, today I take a look at the previous version that was so bad it kept me from eating their fries for years.
In 1990, about the same time Burger King changed from Pepsi to Coca-Cola products, they also changed their French fries. First they changed the oil they used, changing the taste slightly, and then changed the fries completely. This reformulation of what I thought was a terrific product caused me to stop eating Burger King fries. Yeah, they were that bad. The fry guy wouldn't even eat them, that's saying something. Maybe that's why this month BK is changing their fries again.
Where they were once wonderful if slightly more greasy versions of McDonald's golden French fries, BK went to a crunchier, healthier shoestring variety. These were battered with Invisicoat which not only makes them crispier but also acts as a preservative and makes them last longer. Cost cutting and arguably healthier, these fries were not tastier in my opinion, and put me off of Burger King.
I eventually went back, fast food junkie that I am, but I went back for the burgers, the shakes, the chicken sandwiches, the onion rings, even the Cokes - but not for the fries. Over the years BK has tweaked the fries, or tried stunts to garner new interest. There was the brilliant invention of the FryPod that lets your fries rest comfortably in your car's cup holder, but that's just the tip of the iceberg.
BK also tried Shake Em Up fries, also a brilliant idea, one still used in Europe and Asia. The idea is similar to Shake and Bake, with fries instead of chicken, and the powder being anything from cheddar cheese to BBQ to just about any variety of spices. You shake it up and you get spice-covered fries, you could even do it with onion rings. I never fell for it, because it still wouldn't make BK's crappy fries taste better but filed the idea away for home use.
They also tried Chicken Fries, strips of breaded chicken in the shape of fries, packaged in a FryPod. Overseas, BK offers curly fries as well as potato wedges at some locations. The recipe was even tampered with again in 1998, with little noticeable change. None of these variations have made me turn back to the dark side to try BK's crappy fries, until this most current change. I'm still not impressed. I wish they'd bring back the originals.
In a delirious brainstorm after reading far too much Texts from Last Night (which I absolutely love, but not as much as French fries), I decided to record the state of the fries community on Twitter. Here’s just a sampling...
isabelmusic gonna try my home made fries again...maybe a bit thicker this time, I don't know...
wkdkmom Mmmm..Five Guys burger and fries. If I had a Rita's gelati, it would be the perfect meal. :)
manlyeats MANLYCOMIC of the day: "batter dipped, deep fried french fries" titled fryfry-fry-fry-fried-fries -- http://bit.ly/ACSPw
Just a ‘taste’... we’ll do this again. If you want to follow me on Twitter, I’m here. And I can see I’m going to have to do a bit of research on shaker fries and lamb fries, among other things...
I'm a professional writer and a reviewer of popular culture in all its forms. I've done stints in radio, journalism and video retail. Ask me anything about movies, television, music, comics or especially French fries and you’ll be hard pressed to shut me up.
Want to ask me a question about French fries, send me a picture, recommend a restaurant or some fried goodness, or just say hi to the Fry Guy, hit me up here
Shaker fries are a big deal in Asia and the South Pacific, usually with exotic flavors like seaweed. The flavors available at American McDonald's are Garlic Parmesan, Zesty Ranch and Spicy Buffalo. Guess which one I chose? I went with the buffalo as it was the closest to barbecue. I wish they had just a regular barbecue, or a cheddar like Burger King had when they did their Shake 'Em Up Fries.
