what's your favorite thing to put on fries that isn't ketchup?

Ellia Plissken@lemm.ee to Asklemmy@lemmy.ml – 92 points –
200

Sea salt and malt vinegar. I am Canadian and it's a thing.

yeah I've got a bottle of malt vinegar in the fridge because of my frequent pilgrimages to Québec as a child. is the sea salt larger grains?

In Belgium: Tartare or Mayo. Andalouse for the gal, thanks

In the UK: Salt and Vinegar

In both cases: I will have to change seat if you plop yourself in front of me with your poor fries inundated by ketchup. Only the French do that, and it is a Casus Belli in my book.

@asklemmy @reallyzen casus belli for a simple meal ? ​:ablobcat_knit_sweats:​ @tilefan

On a des valeurs en Belgique. Surtout sur l'assaisonnement des frites, la hauteur du col de mousse de la biere, et le caractère optionnel d'un gouvernement de plein exercice.

Hahaha, l’influence de la Belgique est croissante en France. Depuis quelques années, on y boit des bières bien meilleures, la mayonnaise maison se généralise dans les restaurants de burgers et le gouvernement est devenu optionnel.

Politicians may remain employed ex gratia when a contingent of stern chocolatiers keep watch.

Mayo.

Maybe add some garlic, and bam:

Aioli.

Don't say that to a French chef, it'll get you murdered.

Aioli, by definition, is 'garlic and oil'.

Mayonnaise, by definition, is 'egg yolks, beaten with oil.'

Mayonnaise and garlic is therefore, by culinary definition, aioli.

I invite you to ask any French chef.

Aioli is "garlic and oil" by translation. By definition aioli is a spread made from oil emulsified with garlic, which mixing garlic into mayonnaise does not achieve. That said, the colloquial use of aioli to refer to just about any thick smooth spread is well on its way to changing that. Pedants like me can fight it all we want, but languages evolve. It's just what they do.

It does achieve it, as mayonnaise is emulsified.

When I said "emulsified with garlic" I was trying to convey the idea that the garlic is the emulsifier. "Oil emulsified by egg with garlic added for flavor" is not an aioli by its rigid definition, but it does fit the american colloqual use

Wendy's Frosty

Came to see if anyone said this. I grew up with that shit and it was fantastic! Nothing compared, not even regular ice cream!

Malt vinegar 🇨🇦

Or cheese curds and gravy 🇲🇶

I saw the instance tld and the flag, and my mind immediately jumped to maple syrup. Now, I wanna try this cursed, and unholy abomination

peanut sauce / satay sauce

nothing beats it

The kid's plate at my usual Thai place is satay and fries. I've definitely stolen a few fries and can confirm this is a pretty good combo

I haven't seen anyone mention nutritional yeast yet, but that's become my go-to seasoning for almost everything; popcorn, pizza, scrambled eggs, bread, ramen, soft pretzels, and of course on fries. So damn good!

(Yes, I realize the name "nutritional yeast" sounds vaguely unpleasant and unappetizing, but I promise it's incredible if you like savory flavors, and it can also be used as a cheese powder substitute in vegan recipes.)

I put this only on popcorn but always on popcorn. Oh and sometimes in grits. So good in cheese grits, with cheddar, jalapenos and butter and salt. Way better than with just the cheese. So I guess only on corn.

I find it to be an okay parmesan replacement, but prefer parmesan

Yeah nothing ever came close to Parmesan for me. I'll use yeast when its the only option at my vegan friends places but I'll never be able to be truly vegetarian because of Parmesan

Salt and Vinegar.

Never really liked ketchup.

I mean you're almost there, that's 50% of the flavorings from ketchup. salt, vinegar, tomato, sugar. doesn't even have to be tomato to be ketchup

True. But it's the proportions of each that matter. And the type of salt and vineger.

  • Vinegar goes first because it gives the salt a sticking surface. Apply it when the fries are fresh so that it soaks in a bit better.

  • heavy on the salt before the vinegar has fully soaked in. Then toss the fries and add a little bit when serving.

  • Sea salt and Malt vinegar are the best, but any old salt and vinegar will do in a pinch.

War

No really, that's a thing.

Basically mayo, peanut sauce and diced onions (some add ketchup or curry sauce too, but I don't like that, personally)

WAR! HOO!
What is it good for?! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING MAKING FRIES TASTY!

Tbh, I prefer Special, which is just the mayo, onions and curry sauce or ketchup.

I think this is the first suggestion of peanut. that's an interesting flavor combination

It's part of colonial culture. Peanut Sateh sauce is used in combination with meat originally. It then got transferred to chips as us Dutch use to slother our fries in sauce.

Don't think sweet peanut butter like, but slightly spicy

Malt vinegar or brown sauce

"Did you know that salt and malt vinegar is not a traditional way to dress your French fries in the United States?"

"What the f#$% is wrong with them?"

Well, there are at least three of us. Last time I said brown sauce in a thread like this I got downvoted. 😆

Blue cheese dressing

YEP! I was coming here to say it.

It's just soooo good. Bonus points if it has some chunks.

If it's just fries, then nothing other than salt.

Otherwise, cheese curds and gravy.

Poutine is the way.

Gotta get real cheese curds though, and good gravy. I have seen so many places fuck this very basic food up.

Ranch dressing and Buffalo sauce

Ranch dressing, or a mix of half ranch dressing and half ketchup I call "krantchup". Specifically Marie's ranch mixed with Primitive Kitchen ketchup is so good on fries.

Whenever I got to my favorite falafel/kebab place, I order a side of tahini sauce. I mix a bunch of ketchup in there and dip my fries in it.

Mayyoo

But for serious bacon and melted cheddar with caramelised onion. Maybe ketchup mixed with bbq sauce near to dip in

There's a fries place near me that has some amazing dips: chipotle ranch, parmesan peppercorn, thai peanut sauce... there's like 20 options

  • Salt and vinegar
  • Mayonnaise
  • Edinburgh chippy brown sauce (a particularly vinegary variant of regular brown)

It's always ketchup on fries for me, they pair perfectly imo. On the rare occasion I vary it's usually at Wendy's, and I'll use the frosty. I suppose any milkshake you can dip in would be an acceptable substitution.

Chocolate frosty is an amazing salty/sweet pairing!

Cheese and gravy (not the Canadian thing)

I'll not have you bad mouth poutine, friend. It's a national treasure and deserves respect.

Oh, no disrespect intended! Where I come from though we use cheese instead of curds, it's practically a national dish.

I hate ketchup, so almost anything else. That said, mustard or some sort of flavored/spicy mayo are top choices.

see, I hate mayonnaise, but there are two applications where it's perfectly fine (the very thin layer on a toasted sandwich, and a little bit to make tuna salad). do you find there's any single application where ketchup is fine?

Not who you are asking but I hate ketchup as a condiment with a burning passion, but can use it as an ingredient, so cocktail sauce or really anything where it is sort of hidden, it's fine. It's just way too sweet on its own to use the way people use it.

I like mayo and hot sauce, mixed, on fries. Tartar sauce, anything you like on other potatoes is good (gravy, cheese, salsa, chili powder, sour cream)

I used to work at a sports bar where we made our own burgers and all by hand. Pretty damn good if you ask me.

We made our own Nashville hot sauce that was really fucking good on our fries. I couldn't stop eating them, even if my mouth started burning. Then I started mixing the Nashville with a bit of ketchup...

I got so unhealthy there.

my local place has these pineapple habañero wings that are right at the threshold of heat that I can enjoy. I definitely overindulge

Kebab, cheese, garlic sauce and lettuce

So basically a kapsalon

I'm Dutch, exactly a Kapsalon yes 🤤

I was kinda hoping you wasn't. Would've been fun had you not known and learned your exact preference to be a thing in some small country.

hong kong mcdonald's is currently serving shaker fries, where you can purchase a packet of seasoning powder along with your fries and shake it all together in a bag.

anyway, my all time favourite (so far) is mcdonald's honey bbq seasoning; fucking delicious. their sakura shrimp seasoning is pretty good too.

i got frozen fries that i heat up in the air fryer occasionally whenever i get a craving; tried some taiwanese popcorn chicken seasoning (i bought a jar of it from a taiwanese noodle restaurant) on it and it's really good.

Mayo, cheese sauce, garlic sauce. Ketchup is actually overrated.

Ranch. Or whatever sauce comes with the blooming onion at outback.

Freddy's fry sauce, barbecue sauce, teriyaki sauce, honey mustard, cocktail sauce, malt vinegar, cheese sauce

Remoulade is great with fries.

Gravy. I put gravy on a ton of things. People look like they’re going to be sick when I term them I have pasta with gravy.

Sriacha is what I normally put on fries. I also like the suggestion of curry sauce.

  • Mac sauce
  • Tartar sauce
  • Truffle aioli (American style)

I guess I like mayo-based sauces

Edit: formatting

I picked up a love of curry sauce or garlic sauce on my fries during my time living in London.

Those folks do fast food right - cheap, easy to find, and greasy.

Whatever type of chilli mayo I feel like making that day. Or remoulade, the sweet Danish mayo-based condiment with chopped pickles and curry powder.

Not at the same time, but

  • Soy sauce
  • Cheese
  • Spicy brown mustard
  • Fried hot dogs and pink sauce / mayochup (aka salchipapas)
  • Hot sauce

Rogan josh curry sauce (although most other curry sauces are also good). Chips and curry sauce is a really popular fast food in the UK, but the curry sauce in question is much closer to a brown sauce than it is to anything that's usually associated with the word "curry". So I make my own curry sauce and put it on instead. This does, of course, completely ruin the "fast" part of "fast food", but it is very tasty

Everything that normally goes on street corn.

Mayo Sriracha Mayo + sriracha Mayo+ ketchup Oregano Cheese Cheese and bacon

On a des valeurs en Belgique. Surtout sur l'assaisonnement des frites, la hauteur du col de mousse de la biere, et le caractère optionnel d'un gouvernement de plein exercice.

spicy mayo, but sour cream isn't bad either

Au jus. When it comes with something else I dip the fries also.

I find putting things on fries disgusting. I dip.

And my favorites are garlic butter or tzatziki.

I hate to break it to you, but dipping is putting something on your fries.

Really? I totally understood “putting something on your fries” as the maniac art of directly drowning the crispy goodness in ketchup.

I understood what you were driving at, but I think for the most part when you talk about "putting" something on fries specifically, the dipping is understood.

typically the only time I see condiments applied directly to fries is at outdoor social events where the french fry vendor is too cheap to supply condiment containers

I'm trying to think of another food stuff where dipping is automatically implied.

Huh… I think that’s a problem speakers of foreign languages face more than native speakers; we would say things like “as a side to fries” or “as a sauce to fries” or even “to dip the fries” - and mean the same as you meant by saying “put on fries”

On fries I really only do ketchup. I use Sriracha on almost everything else that's primarily potato, but not fries. I used to use A1 steak sauce every so often a while back. I hadn't thought of that in years; might need to go pick up a bottle.

Utah fry sauce

That has ketchup in it though, I'm not sure it's quite in the sprit of the question, though it's definitely astoundingly popular specifically in Utah.

Best thing I've ever had with fries was the pepper sauce they have at some "Frituurs" in Belgium. Can't really get that here in Germany unfortunately.

Yogurt

/s

Don't know why you'd give a joke answer at all, but there's nothing wrong with unsweetened yogurt (e.g. greek) on potato. Put chives on there, maybe some zataar. Or use it to offset a chilli sauce, make a barbecue sauce creamy. I'd even just have it by itself on fries.

Shoarma or döner kebab, cheese, garlic sauce, a bit of sriracha or sambal, and some greens.

Or if I'm feeling simple, mayo and a bit of mustard.

Salt. Ketchup is for kids or for eating cold, overcooked, and/or shitty fries.

this whole "ketchup is for kids" thing it's pretty pretentious ngl. just because you outgrew you taste for something doesn't mean the rest of the world has to