Pomme Frites

I've been craving fries lately, no not those previously frozen, Americanized Mcdonalized things (see below photo on right)...I mean the "pomme frite" (left photo). Freshly cut potatoes sauteed in duck fat or truffle oil, crisp golden brown and delicious. I've heard they make these at a couple of places around Baltimore, namely Petit Louis Bistro in Roland Park. I've yet to try it. In French cuisine, the pomme frite is commonly served with everything from steak to mussels as the perfect savory side dish. Instead of ketchup (which the French might find rather disgraceful), dijon mustard is a common companion for frites. The Parisian restuarant Le Relais de l'Entrecote is famous for its "steak frites" dish, which is exactly what it says it is, steak and fries. Simplistic but incredible.




My first attempt at making french pomme frites wasn't half bad, considering I don't own duck fat, truffle oil, or anything else too fancy. I used what I had - olive oil (a good quality bottle of olive oil has infinite uses, just ask the Italians). I chose Yukon golds because I've found them to be the most flavorful of the white potatoes. I cut mine into thin frite-esque strips. After pouring a sufficient amount of olive oil into a hot pan, waiting until it crackled, I added the cut potatoes. I added my potatoes before the oil was hot enough, making them a bit limp in the end, so a little patience goes a long way. Make sure to toss the potatoes in the pan, to keep them from burning. You can add some salt and pepper for seasoning too. After 5-7 minutes, my potatoes had turned an appealingly deep golden brown. I removed them from the pan and let them dry on a sheet of paper towels. They weren't as crispy as I had hoped, but still enjoyable. The perfect frite is hard and crisp on the outside, yet fluffy and potatoey on the inside. Kind of like a "pomme souffle."


To accompany my attempted "frites," I prepared a "jambon" (that's ham) sandwich on a French baguette, with a side of Dijon. Ham is the staple lunch meat in France, to see turkey in the grocery stores is quite rare (the Turkey is an American bird). The baguette I bought from a French bakery in Fell's called Bonaparte Breads. Despite how expensive it was ($3 for the baguette!), I was quite impressed with its authenticity. The bakery offers other French breads and pastries and is well worth a visit for a Francophile.

Check out this professional cook's blog for a better way to make pomme frites than mine, which was completely and randomly improvised and made up on the spot: Cook's Journal: Pomme Frites. Apparently you have to cook the frites twice to get that extra crispness.