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French Fried Potatoes

Sliced potatoes fried in fat and served hot.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

French Fried Potatoes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the potatoes

  1. Cut potatoes into slices one inch or more in width and thickness.

  2. Take potatoes freshly boiled in salted water.

  3. Drain the potatoes.

  4. Cut the boiled potatoes into thin slices.

Fry the slices

  1. Drop the slices into boiling fat. Fry for 5 minutes.

  2. Take out with a skimmer. Drain the fried potatoes.

  3. Lightly dredge with salt. Serve on a hot dish.

Fry in butter with gravy

  1. Put the sliced potatoes in a hot frying pan with melted butter. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

  2. Boil potatoes in their skins.

  3. When cold, peel and cut the potatoes into small pieces.

  4. Put the pieces in a skillet with butter or half lard and butter. Fry until brown.

  5. Make a good cream gravy as for chicken. Pour the gravy over the potatoes.

  6. Let the potatoes cook up well. Serve immediately.

Raw potato slices and potato cakes

  1. Peel and slice raw potatoes thin. Throw the slices into cold water. Drain the slices.

  2. Put the slices into a frying pan with 1 tablespoon hot dripping. Fry until brown.

  3. Grate 6 large raw potatoes. Add 2 well beaten eggs. Add 2 tablespoons flour.

  4. Add 1 teaspoon soda in a cup of sour milk. Add a pinch of salt. Fry like pancakes.

  5. Grate 6 large raw potatoes and 2 onions in a bowl together. Add 2 eggs. Add 1 cup flour.

  6. Season with salt and pepper. Stir well together. Bake like griddle cakes until nicely browned. Serve hot.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

859Calories
25 gProtein
20 gFat
144 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Lard1 tbsp (12.8g)115
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Potato + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,355 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Form the main body of the dish and brown on the outside when fried.
Eggs
Bind the grated potato together so the cakes hold their shape.
Flour
Adds starch that helps the batter bind and set during cooking.
Soda with sour milk (in the method)
Reacts with the sour milk's acid to lighten the batter as it cooks.
Dripping (in the method)
Hot fat conducts heat evenly and gives the potatoes a crisp, browned surface.
Butter (in the method)
Adds fat for browning and a rich, buttery flavor.

The step that matters

Frying in hot fat. The fat must be hot before the potato slices go in. If it is not hot enough, the slices soak up grease, turn soggy and fail to brown and crisp on the outside.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, egg, flour, pepper):

  1. Chivefits better
  2. Spinachfits better
  3. Asparagusfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, egg, flour, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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