French Fry Diary 650: Ore-Ida Bold & Crispy Zesties!

Even though Ore-Ida's Bold & Crispy line is new, at least two of their styles are just rebrandings. Zesties! and Zesty Twirls have been around for a long time. Ore-Ida has even trademarked the phrases, and rightly so, these seasoned fries are unique in the fry world.

The Zesties! are just a little larger than usual regular cuts with a spicy battered coating of seasoning, pretty traditional stuff like pepper, onion powder and paprika along with other stuff at add heat. That said they aren't hot as much as they are seasoned. It's a bold taste, with just enough kick to get your attention.

The batter gives them a bit of a crisp while the insides are baked potato-ey and hot, temperature hot that is. The Zesty Twirls are much the same, only in skinnier curly fry form. However, be sure to watch these fries as they cook. The directions can be shaky with your particular oven, and if they get too crispy, they're not so good. Watch them!

Zesties! is a good name for these fries, they're very good, with a kick, even with their new rebranding.

French Fry Diary 609: McDonald's Shakin' Flavor Fries

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.