French fries is one of the top ten consumed food in the world especially in USA (with US-based fast food chains such as McDonald's and Hot dog). French fries or chips or French-fried potatoes are thin strips of deep fried potato. North Americans refer to any lengthy pieces of fried potatoes as fries, while in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, long, thinly cut slices of fried potatoes are called fries to distinguish them from the thickly cut strips called chips. French fries are known as frites, patates frites or pommes frites in French, a name which is also used in many non-French-speaking areas, and have names that mean "fried potatoes" or "French potatoes" in others.
French fries has its origin in Belgium around 1680. The inhabitants of Namur, Andenne, had the custom of fishing. But when the river was frozen and fishing became hazardous, they cut potatoes in the form of small fish and put them in a fryer like those here. The expression "French Fried Potatoes" first occurs in print in English in the 1856 work Cookery for Maids of All Work by E. Warren: "French Fried Potatoes.—Cut new potatoes in thin slices, put them in boiling fat, and a little salt; fry both sides of a light golden brown colour; drain." In the early 20th century, the term "French fried" was being used in the sense of "deep-fried," for other foods such as onion rings or chicken.
It has also some other name like Belgian fries, fries, steak fries, wedges, potato wedges, frites, freedom fries etc. It is often served as side dish and served with ketchup, vinegar, barbecue, sauce, mayonnaise and other sauces.
The varieties of French fries are thick-cut fries, steak fries, shoestring fries, jojo fries, crinkle fries, curly fries, hand-cut fries and tornado fries.
Though it is verry attractive to look at and has a special taste, it is very toxic. As to make it, they must be cooked at high temperatures which cause thechemical, acrylimide to be released. Acrylimides are a known cancer causing agent that also causes nerve damage. Potatoes are grown in the ground and have a higher pesticide absorption level than almost any other food product. Fries are cooked in oxidized oil that is re-used for weeks at a time! Potatoes have a very high glycemic index meaning it turns to sugar very quickly in the body. Eating a baked potato (or equivalent quantity of French fries) is the sugar equivalent of a large piece of chocolate cake!
