Photo taken in Quaregnon, Wallonia, Belgium.
Food - Drink
What Made Anthony Bourdain's French Fries 'The Best In New York'
By KATHERINE BECK
Before becoming a celebrated author and an Emmy Award winner for CNN's "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown," Anthony Bourdain was a chef at Les Halles in New York City, an eatery that served French brasserie-style food. Bourdain even claimed that his french fries were the best in NYC in his first cookbook.
When Bourdain made his french fries at Les Halles, he followed a very intricate process. His recipe, shared by Fine Dining Lovers, calls for peeling and slicing Idaho potatoes into 1/2-inch sticks, keeping them in a bowl of iced water for 30 minutes to overnight in order to remove excess starch, then rinsing them thoroughly.
The potatoes were then fried in peanut oil at 280 degrees Fahrenheit for six to eight minutes until they turned semi-translucent. Then, they were removed from the oil and laid down on a baking sheet to rest for 15 minutes, before getting deep-fried a second time at 375 degrees for two to three minutes for ultimate crispness.
The double-frying method is what makes the fries much crispier than ones that are only fried once. For the final step, Bourdain would then put the fries into a bowl lined with a dry towel to salt them, adding an extra flavor-enhancing edge to the perfectly-fried potatoes — no wonder he claimed them to be the best in NYC.