FRITES
Over 30 Gourmet Recipes for all Kinds of Fries, Chips and Dips
By Anne de la Forest
The first thing that struck me about Frites, by Anne de la Forest was the graphics, photos and illustrations. This is one attractive book. The cover is black with yellow script, white hand-drawn pictures and a red-and-white checked spine. What is between the two covers also impresses.
Over 30 gourmet recipes run the gamut from traditional frites (French Pont-Neuf potatoes) to trendy frites (green pea), creative frites (black radish), sweet frites (banana and brown sugar) to sauces to accompany them. The author has information on ingredients, oils, and a technical guide that discusses cleaning, peeling, cutting and cooking frites. We particularly were captivated with the different vegetables that can be made into frites such as carrots, eggplant, asparagus, pumpkins, beets and turnips, giving us a new vegetarian option as well as creative preparations for some of our favorite vegetables. Here is a recipe to try:
SWEET POTATO AND CUMIN FRITES
3 large sweet potatoes
1 tsp of ground cumin
2 litres (8 cups) of cooking oil
Sea salt crystals
Freshly ground black pepper
Peel the sweet potatoes and wash them under cold water.
Cut the potatoes into large slices using a kitchen knife and then trim into fat sticks. Rinse again and dry thoroughly with a clean, dry cloth.
Heat the fryer to 180°C (356°F).
Put the sweet potato pieces in the frying basket and fry for 7 minutes. Don’t overfill the basket. It’s better to fry in several batches as this ensures the frites cook evenly.
Lift the basket and check that the frites are golden. If necessary, put them back for 2 or 3 minutes until they are nice and crisp.
Tip the frites out into a large bowl lined with kitchen paper and leave to drain. Remove the paper.
Sprinkle with cumin, mix well and then add the sea salt and fresh pepper.
Serve straightaway.
These go well with:
Soy sauce
Barbecue sauce
Curry sauce
Top Tip:
Sweet potatoes are naturally sweet and therefore work well as a main dish or as a dessert (see pages 104–105). Don’t hesitate to mix them with sharp flavors for a sweet and sour dish: the night before, you could put the sweet potatoes in a sealed container with a piece of fresh, peeled ginger root. This will infuse the sweet potato with the ginger flavor quite naturally. You could also try soaking them in a sauce of slightly reduced balsamic vinegar.
Reprinted with permission by Jacqui Small LLP 2014.
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