Chips Ahoy!

Just what is the best way to prepare the humble potato? Here are the opinions: read, then gorge.

By Tasha Prest-Smith & Renyi Lim

The Chip

Succulent golden gems filled with good, honest potato. The great British chip is comfort food at its very best.

Steeped in tradition – chippies originated in the UK around the 1850s – and a nice little snack for any time of day (but arguably best around the 3am mark), there is no need to look beyond the ‘fat’ chip.

They are not, of course, the most slimming snack in the world, but compared with French fries, which are basically sticks of fat and salt, British chips have a wider surface area, and absorb much less grease.

One of the great things about fat chips is that you can recreate them at home. For those of you who prefer the finer, classier things in life, chunky potato wedges baked in the oven, and served with tomato salsa, guacamole and sour cream, can be a great starter option, and one that is surprisingly healthy.

Similarly, most traditional fish and chip shops in Britain, along with pubs, make their own chips from fresh potatoes. In short, there is a taste of authenticity. The same really can’t be said for French fries, produced commercially in the sweat pits of Burger King and the like.

If I haven’t managed to persuade you yet, just think of a trip to the coast. Traditional chippies originated in British seaside towns. The idea of French fries eaten in such places equates to blasphemy.

Fat chips don’t have to be bought from some dingy back alley, nor do they necessarily have to be a takeaway snack food only. Fish ‘n’ Fritz (my personal favourite) in Weymouth town centre is a fish and chip restaurant favoured by families and celebrities alike, and has a sparkling reputation, having received a prize for the Best Fish and Chip Shop in the South West of the UK. Harry Ramsden’s is the UK’s best-known fish and chip restaurant chain; the interiors and menus are becoming increasingly sophisticated. So no matter how you like your British chips, one characteristic is undisputed: their greatness.

The Fry

Why the fry? Call me mad, call me a slave to mass fast food chains (in terms of where to get the best fries, it’s a tie between McDonald’s and Burger King; wherever there are fewer chavs, I suppose) but French fries are just that little bit more delicious.

In contrast to the multiple toppings needed to make chips appetising (gravy and chips, curry and chips, cheese and onion and chips…), the most a packet of crispy, golden fries needs is a dash of salt and a dollop of ketchup – a testament to their tastiness. Unlike chips, they hardly ever go soggy; you’re far less likely to open up whichever receptacle containing your 2 a.m. snack to find that ninety percent of what’s inside now resembles a mass mollusc genocide, which is what seems to happen whenever I buy a carton of chips.

Moreover, you have to wait ages for a chip to cool down before you sink your teeth into it, or risk getting first-degree burns from its hot insides spilling out and scorching your tongue – and again, the waiting tends to make them go all limp and lifeless. None of that torture takes place when you tuck into your freshly bought fries.

Publicity-wise, the French fry has bypassed the English chip by entering the world of politics: in 2003, the cafeteria menus in the United States’ House of Representatives renamed French fries as ‘Freedom Fries’, keeping this name for a whole five months as a form of government payback for France’s criticism of the invasion of Iraq. The humble chip has not quite yet emerged as a spokesperson for the Houses of Parliament.

Finally, during my research for this debate, I discovered that someone sold what they claimed was the ‘world’s longest fry’ for over $200 on eBay. If someone actually paid that much for a single shoestring potato, I say the French fry officially wins hands down. And it didn’t even have to have the face of Jesus on it.