Eating french fries

        I had my last meal in the dinning hall of the Centennial Halls. As usual, I had a hamburger, some french fries and a cup of Coke.  Even though I have already come to the U.S for nearly one year, what I prefer to eat in the dinning hall is still the same as that when I just came here. I prefer to eat french fries very much. I can eat them without hamburgers and Coke; however, I cannot eat without some french fries when I am eating in the restaurants.

        The first time I knew the name of this food was french fries, I thought it was coming from France. However, when I saw the article “Food for Thought: The history of … fries,” I found I was wrong. In this article, the author wrote, “Food historians are not certain about who invented french fries. However, most give the nod to Belgians and peg the innovation around the 1830s”. From this sentence, we know that Belgians may probably have invented french fries rather than the French. But why the name of this food is french fries? As far as I am concerned, the name of Belgian fries is more suitable than french fries.  This article also showed the answer.  The author wrote, “Supporters of the Belgian-fry theory note that to french a vegetable is to cut it lengthwise, so the food’s name refers to its preparation method, not its geographical orientation”. Originally, the style of the preparation determines the name of the food rather than the location where the food was invented.

        French fries are made of potatoes. It is very easy and convenient to cook french fries. Firstly, you cut the potatoes into chips. Secondly, you put them into hot oil. After a while, you pick them up and put some seasoning on it. Then you can enjoy french fries you have cooked for yourself. However, these french fries may not be too delicious as you expect. According to an article from NogginLabs, Inc. “Correct cooking is critical to the perfect taste.” This means that if you do not follow the right steps, it is very hard for you to make french fries with perfect taste.

        Why are french fries so delicious? I have thought about this question for a very long time. Finally, I found the answer. Using the french fries from McDonald’s as an example, Eric Schlosser wrote, “For decades McDonald’s cooked its french fries in a mixture of about seven percent cottonseed oil and 93 percent beef tallow. The mixture gave the fries their unique flavor and more saturated beef fat per ounce than a McDonald’s hamburger,” (50). Formally, the special formula of the oil determines that french fries have a very delicious taste.

        Actually, french fries belong to fast food, which is not very healthy. America has a lot of fast food restaurants such as KFC, McDonald’s, Burger King and so on. Americans prefer to eat in these restaurants very much. As a result, fat people occupy higher percent of the population in the U.S. French fries are always available in these restaurants. They are not the only reason that people become fat, but they indeed will cause the result. In the article, “KILLER FRIES”, Lewis Kristin wrote, “French Fries are soaked in enormous, gurgling vats of fat”. From this viewpoint, we know that it is really not healthy to eat french fries; they do really make people become so fat which is very bad for their body.

        However, so many people understand the harm to eat french fries, but they could not stop to eat them. Lewis Kristin also told us the answer in this article, “Fast food tastes pretty good too.” French fries, representatives of fast food, are really very delicious. For most people, once you taste them, you will begin to like them. Every time you went to a fast food restaurant or dinning hall, you will probably ask for some french fries. The perfect taste of french fries makes them very popular in the world, although most of the consumers know they are not healthy to eat.

        Having done so much research about french fries. I know the history of french fries and how they are named. I also know it is easy to make french fries, but it is not easy to make them with perfect taste. The way to make them is not as easy as I think. Because the oil is using special formula, containing with cottonseed oil and beef tallow. According to the resources, I am sure that french fries have so much fat that really cause bad effect on people’s health. However, people would ignore the bad effect and keep eating french fries because of the perfect taste.

        To myself, I am so happy that I am not fat now although I eat french fries every day. I believe that eating french fries does bring harm to people. But if we can control ourselves, eating not too much french fries, I think it does not make great bad effects to people’s health. Because potato is healthy food, people eat a lot of food made by potatoes every day. It is just the way of making french fries that causes people to be unhealthy. So in the future, I will still eat french fries as usual, but I will remind myself that eating too much french fries is not good for me.

Works Cited

“NogginLabs, Inc.; E-Learning How to Make Perfect McDonald’s French Fries on the Fly, Around the Globe.” Science Letter 14 Oct. 2008: ProQuest Health and Medical Complete, ProQuest. Web. 8 May. 2012.

“Food for Thought: The history of … french fries :[Final Edition].” Tribune 29 Mar. 2006, Canadian Newsstand Complete, ProQuest. Web. 8 May. 2012.

Lewis, Kristin. “Killer Fries?” Scholastic Scope Apr 23 2012: 18-21. ProQuest Central.  8 May 2012.

Eric Schlosser. "Why McDonald's Fries Taste so Good." The Atlantic Monthly 287.1 (2001): 50. Print.