We used to have a cooking thread but I couldn't find it sorry
Hey all,
I wanted to share with you something unrelated to politics, religion or linguistics, something which is my hobby. I am fond of food and drink. So let me share how to make the traditional Dutch and Belgian fries.
They differ from the American fries you are probably used to in that they a) contain only potato, oil and salt, no additives or coatings which they use at American restaurants such as mcdonalds and burger king b)are cut thicker than the american fries you find at, for example, McDonalds. Note that the Belgian fries are even thicker than the Dutch fries (the dutch stole it from the belgians). c) they are served with Mayonnaise. Not with the weird sauce you may be used to which you get at McDonalds, and also generally not with ketchup, although you can serve it with both ketchup and mayonaise if you want and a variety of other sauces. But mayonnaise is nearly imperative for proper fries.
Ingredients:
- Potatoes that become soft when cooked (so not the hard ones which you use for salad). Potatoes of the type 'Bintje' are the best but I could not find them today.
- Oil or beef fat. Beef fat is best, but not very healthy, so vegetable oil or hardened deep frying fat will do. Peanut oil is also very good. The oil does not need to be completely clean.
- Salt
For the mayonnaise:
- 2 egg yolks (or one larger egg yolk). contrary to what you think, odds of salmonella infection don't get higher if the eggs are older, though of course fresh eggs are best in any case.
- sunflower oil
- vinegar (fancier types of vinegar = more flavour)
- salt
- sugar (this is a no-no for Belgian mayonnaise, but hte Dutch one is slightly sweetened)
- mustard, preferably smooth mustard and not the course one
Fries preparation
- Fill a bowl with salt cold water
- Peel the potatoes, remove any eyes, and put them in the water
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/294 ... 180026.jpg
- Cut the potatoes in slices like so
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/294 ... 180501.jpg
- Then slice them into fries in the thickness you desire. Aspire an even thickness if you can. However my knife skills are not perfect.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/294 ... 180529.jpg
- Put the fries in the salted water immediately. Keep it for a short while (15 mins? 30 mins?).
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/294 ... 181356.jpg
Mayonnaise preparation
- Put the vinegar, salt, sugar and musterd into a cup which fits your stick blender. The cup must be about the same diameter as the stick blender. Mix it and taste it: it should be a bit TOO everything (too sour, too salty, too mustardy) for your liking then it's good. Not too sweet, though. The sugar is only for a slight balance, and the original Belgian mayonnaise hasn’t got any sugar at all even.
- Add the egg yolk. For a thicker mayonnaise the white is not added, for a saucier mayonnaise the egg white could be added but not too much.
- Add the oil right on top of everything (this is not the classical french method but a short-cut ! we dutch like short cuts).
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/294 ... 182053.jpg
- Put the stick blender right to the bottom and blend for 5 seconds, then while you continue blending very slowly pull the blender up until everything is emulsified. Do not overblend it.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/294 ... 182239.jpg
- store the mayonnaise in the fridge, and consume it within a few dies so that you do not die from food poisoning !
(note: I used only one small egg yolk and the mayonnaise was a bit runny. so do as I suggest here, one big egg yolk or two small ones. I also forgot the mustard at first, you should add it with everything else as the mustard has an emulsifying effect. but I didn’t have the smooth mustard anyway, only the coarse one)
Fries frying
- Properly dry the fries. If you do not, you will die or get 3rd degree burns, or your fries will at least fail.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/294 ... 190355.jpg
- Preheat oil at 140 C (go google for fahrenheit, my dear americans)
- Pre-fry the fries until they are soft enough so as to be edible. The fries should not crisp up too much at this stage. Do not fry it too long or they will become soggy (mine went a tad too long here).
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/294 ... 193121.jpg
- Drain the fries of fat in your frying basket while you preheat the oil to 180 c
- Now fry the fries in smaller batches to crisp them uup at 180 c, they should be nice golden brown Do not fry them too long. My oil was sadly a bit hotter than 180 and my fries went a bit dark, so don’t overdo it.
- Drain of oil after frying each batch and salt them shortly after frying for maximum salt absorption. Keep in mind that they have already soaked in salted water so don't oversalt.
- serve the fries with several types of Dutch deep fried snacks, a bit of vegetable or salad, and the mayo. You could also serve it with some ketchup or with Dutch-Indonesian peanut sauce or with stewed Belgian meat or with Dutch mussels, etc. etc. whatever your heart desires. Or a hamburger for the truly American. why not? we also eat hamburgers here due to American cultural influence.
FAQ
- Why is the potato soaked?
to remove any starch from the potato. this is why the water turns cloudy, the starch seeps out of the potato
- why is the water salted?
for more crisp fries and more salt within the fry rather than around the outside
- why is the fry pre-fried?
otherwhise the inside is raw and the outside is burnt, or the fry will not crisp up
- will I die if I eat the mayonnaise?
don't eat it if you are pregnant or very very old or have a very weark immune system. but the odds of salmonella are not so high that you should not eat fresh mayonaise from time to time.
- what are the benefits of home-made mayonnaise?
so you don't have to buy a pot of mayonnaise and you can tweak the flavour to your liking and it also tastes nicer. you can make it with pantry items you have at home
- why are fries eaten with mayonnaise?
because we can
- can I freeze the fries?
YES, you can freeze the pre-fried fries I think, but I have not tried it myself. We can easily buy bagged fries here and I usually don't bother to make fresh fries unless I am going to eat them immediately. You could make it if you have a huge batch of potatoes that needs to be finished, such as after potato harvest.
- can I leave the potato peel on?
YES, but it is not the traditional way and not preferred. I suggest making oven baked potatoes if you want to eat potato with the peel on as it's more delicious and nutritious.
- does the quality of potatoes matter?
YES. If the potatoes are too 'glassy' (we call it glazig, sorry I don't know an appropriate english term) the fries will not be yummy. Make sure to remove any eyes and any sprouted or green potato parts.
- can I also boil the potato first and then fry them?
there is a method that steams the potato and then fries them twice. but it sounds like too much work to me. you cannot boil it fully as the fries will fall apart. boiling it partially, then frying it could work, but the potato would be too moist and not become crispy fries. so I think it's best to stick to this method as it works.