Not A Cooks Blog ... Mastering French Cuisine With Julia Child ... (Once A Week): Series Two: Part Eight

It is hard to go past a hot chip - and Julia, as a keen consumer of anything potato, includes the preparation of the French fry in her 1972 episode "The Potato Show". It seemed fitting due to the fact that this fried concoction has French in its title. However according to Wikipedia there are some contentious theories of its origin with the French and Belgian both claiming ownership. Some people believe that the term "French" was introduced when British and American soldiers arrived in Belgium during World War One and consequently tasted Belgium fries. They supposedly called them "French" as it was the local language and the official language of the Belgium Army at that time.

Julia demonstrates four different dishes in this "French Fry free for all" ... (yet again Julia can't resist the use of alliteration of the f word- but in the best possible taste. Refer to the fish show for more entertaining uses of words starting with the letter "f".) There is the souffle potato, the potato chip, the potato nest and the French fry. There were pots of fat heating up all over the place and I have never seen such plentiful use of paper towels. I could almost feel the fat lining my mouth as I watched - it was fat overload! I decided to limit myself and just focus on the French fries and souffle potato. I also did not have the bird nest nets to cook the peeled potato in.

First step was the cutting of the potato and this was the opportunity for Julia to show case some French fry cutters. With some grunting and puffing Julia shows off one particular appliance that obviously is not easy to use, then quickly summarises that a knife is the best. There is not much guidance about the type of potato to use apart from the recommendation to experiment with the caution that "potatoes are strange animals". The girls had recently battled the vegetable garden to find the potatoes within and had unearthed a good number - there were going to be used for the job.
For both the French fry and souffle potato they are firstly cooked in 300 F hot fat then placed in a 400 F fat. For the souffle potato the rectangle potato shape should then puff up - which did for the first lot that were cooked.

However, there were two technical difficulties experienced when cooking. We had a power cut earlier in the day, which had thrown the oven thermostat unbeknown to me. The tarragon chicken that was supposed to be cooked, was only warm. I had started cooking the French fries and the hungry gannets were circulating. First course - fries. Second course - chicken with healthy vegetables!
The other technical difficulty was that we had another power-cut right in the middle of deep frying. After the lighting of candles and the search for a deck of cards, power was back on and cooking could recommence. At this stage I had had enough and just cooked the remaining prepared potato straight in the 400 F fat.
I did however remain vigilant and ensure safety at all time after witnessing Julia burn herself and lose the handle of the basket in the deep fryer and have to skilfully reclaim it.
The family didn't seem to care that the souffle potato were not filled with air, and that the French fries could have been slightly more cooked inside. Whatever the origin of this rectangle size, cholesterol filled, cardiac causing arteriosclerosis piece of potato, it sure tasted good.