Too Many Cooks: The Perfect French Fry

You'll be hearing from the staff at Food52 in Too Many Cooks, our group column in which we pool our answers to questions about food, cooking, life, and more.  

We're finally nearing grilling season, which means burger nights -- which means fries. Lots and lots of fries. It's a reason to get out of bed in the morning, to push through Fridays, to even invest in a French fry cutter. The thing is, there is so much more to fries than what meets the eye. There are meaty steak fries dipped in cold ketchup, crispy shoestring fries dipped in garlicky mayo, and everything in between. So, because we love fries, because we can't possibly imagine life without fries, we've asked our team: 

What is your platonic ideal of the perfect French fry? 

Karl: Thick-cut, salty sweet potato fries that are crispy on the outside, tender inside, and served with spicy mayo! 

Erin: Crispy on the outside, soft in the middle -- with salt and rosemary and a huge glass of Champagne. (That's the most important part.) Oh! And salt and pepper dip. Take one bite of a fry, then roll the bitten end in a mix of salt and coarse black pepper. Don't forget the Champagne, though.

Bryce: Crispy outside, tender inside, stuffed into a paper cup and covered in salt and malt vinegar -- best served on the beach.

More: Get everything you need to make the perfect burger.

Catherine: I'm a fan of über-crunchy fries. You know those tiny, shard-like bits at the bottom of the French fry package? Yep, those are my jam. Also, when it comes to dipping sauce, the Belgians had it right -- mayo for life!

Posie: Now I am hungry. I like fries that are crisp and a bit crunchy on the outside, long but not too stringy -- and if you've never made homemade French fries and homemade strawberry milkshakes for dinner in the summer, and dipped a salty French fry in your milkshake...well, you are missing out.

Lindsay-Jean: Not too thick, not too thin -- the Goldilocks of French fries -- but definitely crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. My all-time favorites are seasoned with fennel pollen, and I order them every single time under the pretense of sharing. Malt vinegar comes in at a very close second.

More: Brush up on the best oil for frying. 

Brette: I love hot, salty steak fries -- the big, really thick fries that ideally have some jagged edges. They need to be crazy hot. With a ridiculous amount of cold ketchup.

Lauren L: There must be vinegar; blame Canada. The crispy-tender ratio is important, and I don’t care for steak fries. Too much middle. 

Gabriella P: I think about this a lot. I've never met a French fry I didn't like, but I definitely prefer them on the stringy/crispy side. My favorite fries in the city are at the Standard Grill -- they're coated in quinoa flour before fried to get the perfect level of exterior crisp. 

More: Know your potatoes before you fry 'em. 

Marian: Recently, I keep thinking of April Bloomfield's fries at The Spotted Pig -- long, skinny shoestrings, presented in one big tangle, laced with rosemary needles that have clearly been deep-fried too. They're messy and perfect, and you look like a horse eating hay whenever you have some. 

Merrill: I'm in Karl's sweet potato fry camp. On the opposite end of the spectrum, though, The Vanderbilt in Prospect Heights makes what I consider to be the pinnacle of the cottage fry: crisp and burnished on the outside, with an almost impossibly tender belly, served with a slightly spicy ketchup-mayo combo. 

Peter: I'll wait in with an answer that is sure to stir teenage memories for Amanda. My platonic French fries are from Thrasher's in Bethany Beach, Delaware. Twice-fried in peanut oil, always piping hot, lots of crispy bits the bottom, and malt vinegar for the sophisticated teenage palate.

Jason: I'm in the thin and crispy boat, with whole-grain mustard, sriracha mayo, and chipotle mayo on the side for dipping. Ketchup is disgusting.

More: Whether you're on Team Ketchup or Team Mayo, serve your condiments in style.

Stephanie: Fries should be crispy, thin (but not too thin), and still have the skin on. Ditto on the malt vinegar (though I used to prefer white). I still remember the first time I asked for vinegar for my fries in the U.S. and all I got in return was a funny look. 

Allison: I used to be a sweet potato fry kind of a gal, but I finally accepted that what I usually get in return is a limp, soggy pile of disappointment. I still hold them as my "platonic ideal," but I've since shifted to the standard fry: skin on, super crispy, with enough of an interior to remind me that I am eating potato. Served simply, with (we're talking burgers, right?) ketchup.

Tell us: What's your perfect fry?