Cheap as chips...
....don't you just love them?
Ask anyone - me too - how they like to cook their potatoes, and everyone (well, almost everyone) explains exactly how they like to eat their chips. The frites-fanatics of Europe are the Belgians, who can buy their fix on the road in mobile-kitchens in motorway pull-ins: order spetziale: ketchup, chopped onion, mayo (the sauces stop the onion - vitamin C, as I’m sure you know - sliding off the chip). In Germany, they take ‘em with currywurst - bratwursts, bockwurst, rotwurst, weisswurst, any kind of wurst - with a dollop of thick, yellowy-brownish curry-flavoured sauce that includes malt vinegar, brown sugar and tomato ketchup - an idea that apparently arrived in Berlin in the 1970’s courtesy of English high-street chip-shops.
In Spain, particularly hyper-foodie Barcelona, the new(ish) kid on the block is patatas bravas (possibly, though not necessarily) a reference to the fiery temperament of a fighting bull): chunked or cubed potato (not usually chip-shaped) with a slick of fiery chilli/tomato sauce or a dusting of hot pimenton. I’ve never seen a chip-shop in Italy, though I’m told they’re around on motorways and such, and may possibly come with a scraping of parmesan and a pinch of thyme (yes!). In Greece, where they’re fried in olive oil (why wouldn’t you?) there might be a sprinkle of dried oregano, a squeeze of lemon and a scattering of crumbled feta. Maybe.
In France, les frites are not usually served alone but come with company. Steak-frites, the non-negotiable must-have on every bistro menu, offers a choice of extra sauce - bearnaise (egg-yolk, butter, wine vinegar), or bordelaise (a strong reduction of red wine. shallots, unsalted butter and/or bone-marrow, though only if you’re lucky), au poivre (black pepper, boiled-down pot-au-feu broth and a lick of cream (my version, anyway). Moule-frites, on the other hand, is helping of crisp chips and a beautiful bowl of mussels in the shell (white wine, garlic, parsley). In Britain we like ‘em with salt and vinegar and a deepfried, beer-battered fish-fillet (preferably cod but possibly haddock) handed across the counter, in the good old days, with the salt in a twisted scrap of blue paper, wrapped in yesterday’s newspaper.
p.s. Need to know these things: all chip-related information welcome. Pls pop it in the chat.
p.p.s. beloved paid subscribers will shortly be in receipt of three (possibly four) recipes for cheap-as-chips dipping-sauces.
Chips in the us are something quite different as you know—paper thin & deep-fried, sometimes twice, delicious when freshly made. And what about beloved, much derided poutine, québécois speciality with thick gravy and cheese curds to go with.
In Australia chips refer to a range of snack products, but for the sake of this article I'll reference hot fried potato chips. We often have them with gravy (chips and gravy) or with tomato sauce. On their own they are usually seasoned with "chicken salt" which doesn't necessarily contain chicken.
We're also very fond of our Halal Snack Packs (HSP) which are chips served under cheese, kebab meat/falafal, and the holy trinity of sauces - BBQ, chilli and garlic. I tend to eat mine without the BBQ sauce, and it's still good. I've started trying other countries' versions of these when I travel overseas, because it's interesting how this idea morphs between countries.
There is also a long-standing argument about potato cakes vs potato scallops, which are battered, deep fried slices of potatoes. The argument is between different parts of Australia and what we call it, it will never be settled.