The recipe for perfect French fries according to one of the most important chefs in the world
The french fries I’m one of the snacks greediest there is: it’s really difficult resist to this side, even for the most fervent supporters of healthy diets. You never refuse a chip and, once in a while, it doesn’t hurt at all. But if you want to make chips at home, so be it truly irresistible we recommend this one recipe made by one of the most important chefs of our era: Heston Blumenthal. The English chef, 3 Michelin stars and multiple winner of the award like best chef in the world for the World’s 50 Best with its restaurant Fat Duck created the recipe for the “perfect fries“. They are called “Triple cooked chips” and they are triple-cooked French fries. It is not a quick technique but it is quite simple to make: the result, however, repays every effort made.
In extreme summary we say that Blumenthal He blanches the chips and then fries them twice: between one cooking and another the chips should be left to rest in the fridge so as to remove the internal humidity. The result is one chips extremely crunchy but soft inside and very good in flavour. Let’s see together how the great chef prepares his french fries.
Heston Blumenthal’s triple-cooked fries
The London chef, very famous in his homeland, is one of the leading experts in molecular cuisine. Between one starred dish and another, he who among other things became famous thanks to his very sophisticated trompe-l’œil, is a very simple person. He wants to enjoy home-made dishes, which reconnect him with reality. The triple cooked chips were born precisely for this reason in the 90s: “Nel 1992 I entered a vortex ofobsession for the fries – admits Blumenthal – even before opening the Fat Duck. Triple cooked chips are the first recipe which I can actually define as my creation. Since ’95 I have seen it in many pubs and restaurants all over the world and I am happy about it.”
The chef in an explanatory video for the BBC explains in detail how to make these very special chips: “To obtain the crispy exterior and similar to glass it is necessary to eliminate the moisture from the potato and create small cracks on the surface, where the oil will collect and harden, making it crunchy”. To achieve all this you will need a few ingredients but a lot of time.
Ingredients for 6 people:
- 1 kg of maris piper potatoes
- Peanut or grape seed oil to taste (in a variant the chef also uses duck fat but it is impossible to find in Italy)
- Salt to taste
Let’s start with the potatoes: the English chef suggests them maris piperwhich is the most common variety of potato in the United Kingdom, or le rooster, the most common variety in Ireland. In Italy they can be found online or in the most well-stocked supermarkets, alternatively you can choose any potato floury inside.
Cut them potato sticks two centimeters thick, two centimeters long and six centimeters high: they can be larger or smaller but cut them as much as possible precise possible. The more similar they are to each other, the better. Now place the cut potatoes in a bowl under running water for 5 minutes eliminate starch. Fill a pot with cold tap water, it must be over 2 litres, and add the potatoes. Simmering potatoes over medium heat for approx half an hour. Now place the cooked chips on a wire rack cool down and ad dry yourselfthen in freezer For at least an hour so as to eliminate humidity.
In the meantime, heat the fryer or a pan full of oil 130°C. Once the necessary time has passed in the freezer, fry the chips a little at a time for about 5 minutes cooking and then leaves school on kitchen paper. When they have lost a good part of the oil you have to repeat the operation: place them on a rack, then freezer for at least an hour. At this point if you don’t want to cook them and eat them right away you can leave them in the freezer even a few days, otherwise we go to the last step. Heat the oil again but this time a 180°C And fry for 7 minutes. Drain them on absorbent paper, season to taste and serve to the guests. The second phase of low temperature frying is essential as much as the first according to Blumenthal since it causes “any starch remaining in the surface cells to dissolve Well yes combine to create one rigid outer layer able to withstand the higher temperature of the final frying.” This second step is time consuming, he acknowledges, but should not be overlooked: “A single high-temperature fry creates a thin crust that can easily be made soggy from the moisture left inside the chip.” explains the chef.
The history of triple-cooked chips
It may seem trivial to see a chef working on such a simple thing but the Sunday Times entered this recipe as “the most important And influential Blumenthal’s culinary innovation” because the chef managed to give “chips a new perspective of life”.
The famous chef began working on this recipe in 1992 because his desire is to create “chips with a glass-like crust and a soft, fluffy core.” To achieve this result she begins to study starch from one point of view scientific and try the different starches of different potato varieties. Initially he thinks it’s enough to use microwave, dryers or other household appliances to achieve this result but after various tests he is forced to change his approach.
Afterwards well 3 years of study in 1995 he presented these triple-cooked chips for the first time at Fat Duck, his legendary restaurant, which had opened a few months earlier. Triple cooked chips have been around ever since have become common in restaurants across the UK although in France they are sure that another master had already created something similar. According to French critics, Joël Robuchon had already used this method of cooking chips in boiling water before subjecting them to frying in two phases but to this day I am not able to bring a tangible proof in support of this hypothesis. On the other hand, the chef who invented the best puree in the world never took ownership of these chips which are a distinctive feature of Blumenthal’s cuisine.
