There are apparently holes in the internet, holes through which some information falls and is never to be seen again. There are forgotten foods like Quake cereal, Marathon candy bars, Chip-O's potato chips (I will get to these sooner or later), or Fudge Town cookies (*drool*) that have just slipped through the cracks. Case in point - the Tasti-Fries, a product that I remember vividly in the 1970s that seems to have completely disappeared at some point in the 1980s.
Tasti-Fries were sold in the frozen grocer's section. They were processed and shaped potato stuffings with six vertical ridges striping them that cooked up very crisp while the inside was soft and hot. They were quite tasty, pun unintended, and made by American Kitchen, or perhaps Birdseye - I'm not sure, the memory is hazy on that.
My enabling big sister Bobbie remembers them, adding that they were made like cheese doodles, the shape given by the cookie cutter extruder. She also noted, as I remembered, a type of Tasti-Fries that went by the name of Yankee Doodles or Yankee Clippers, or something patriotic like that. Not sure what the reference is but it's a wonder they weren't re-released during the 'Freedom Fries' craze of a few years back.
I have been able to find very little on this potato snack on the internet, except for the box shown and this commercial squeezed in between others from the 1970s. The clever Tasti-Fries TV spot starts at 1:33, check it out.
I wish they would bring these babies back, they were good. Do you remember Tasti-Fries?
Wowza! These are like the Frispos that Carls Jr. used to have, and they were rad!
ReplyDeleteWowza, these are like the "Frispos" Carls Jr used to serve. They were awesome
ReplyDeleteThe production of Tasti-Fries is similar to that of the Frispos, see here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.junkfoodblog.com/2008/01/frispos-original-carls-jr-fries.html
Sounds like I need to find out more about Frispos as well.
Thanks for the tip!
As a teenaged stoner in the mid-seventies I was a total Tasti-fries fan. They were da bomb! With Heinz ketchup, obviously.
ReplyDeleteI used to eat a box a day
ReplyDeleteYou're right can't find them any more
They still serve Frispos in Okinawa.
ReplyDelete"As the direct antithesis of fresh cut fries, the Super Fries are a somewhat strange but totally tasty in its own man-made fried potato product kinda way. The extra long starch sticks seem to be made by extruding a doughy concoction through a square die. They are then twice fried and come out crispy outer, puffy inner. Totally potatolicious. I could see Ore Ida having something similar in their line up but unlike the MOS Burger it's not like I've been actively seeking a replacement here per se."
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vk2O4MbFM3s/TY1YGK9dbmI/AAAAAAAAMN0/pVd_AIi-a7U/s1600/aw_frostynfries2.jpg
THEY WERE AMAZING. AND DONT FORGET TASTI_PUFFS, THEY'RE GONE ALSO, WHY?
ReplyDelete