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Potato chips Big fat slap chips doused in salt and vinegar; tiny pomme frites with garlicky mayonnaise, or regular deep-fried potato chips with tomato sauce on the side, everyone loves a plate of chips. Learn how to make them restaurant-style at home.

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Potatoes were a well-kept Incan secret for thousands of years, until, in the early decades of the sixteenth century, the Spanish conquered the Incan empire and brought some of the strange little tubers back to Spain with them. The potato arrived in Germany in 1588 and was considered suitable only for livestock and prisoners, until 1744 when King William ordered peasants to plant potatoes to save them from famine.

Antoine August Parmentier was a French chemist who served as a soldier in the Seven Years War, and was fed only potatoes while in captivity there. When he returned to France, he made it his mission to popularise the tuber, throwing parties for the French upper-class, at which he served as many as twenty dishes at a time, all containing potatoes. Soon, potatoes became a staple food as well as a status symbol, and by 1813, the potato finally gained acceptance in Scotland, Holland, Austria, Switzerland, Germany and Italy. Thanks to the French, potatoes were finally deemed chic enough to eat.

It was not long before some genius decided to drop slices of it into a pot of boiling fat. The French claim it was one of their countrymen, while the Belgians fiercely hold that it was one of their own who first frenched (referring to a way of cutting them) a fry. Whatever the case, by the 1830's deep fried potatoes had become a popular taste sensation in both France and Belgium.

Potato chips 101

Types of potatoes

To make the perfect chip, you have to understand the science of potatoes. A potato is made up of starch, and at low temperatures, say below 11 de. C, the starch converts to sugar and the potato blackens, which is why it should never be stored in the refrigerator. In cooking, the starch is helpful as a binder for croquettes, or as a thickening agent for stews. When deep-fried, however, the starch prevents crispness, so when you want to cook potatoes this way the cut potatoes should first be soaked in water to remove the starch, and thoroughly dried before frying.

Potatoes are either waxy, or mealy. The firm, waxy type, called all-purpose potatoes, has a high moisture content, with low starch and a thin skin. They're best for boiling, sautéing and in salads as they don't fall apart easily.

Starchy or floury potatoes, sometimes called 'bakers' or 'russet' potatoes, have more starch; are light and fluffy when cooked and best for baking, mash and cooking as a gratin as they tend to fall apart when boiled. While both can, strictly speaking be used for deep frying, floury potatoes are best as they contain less water than waxy potatoes. Can't tell if a potato is waxy or floury? A rule of thumb is to drop the potato into a mixture of 1 part salt and 11 parts water, more often than not a waxy potato will float to the top, while a floury potato will sink like a stone. Also, waxy potatoes are translucent and feel moist and pasty whereas floury potatoes are brighter and more granular in appearance with a drier feel.

There are dozens of potato cultivars produced in South Africa. Those most suited to chip making and deep frying are Calibra, Caren, Charlie, Dawn, Devlin, Eryn, Ropedi, Up-to-date and Vanderplank. Among imported varieties, British King Edward are excellent.

Important points for deep-frying

When cutting potatoes to make chips, trim the ends and sides of the potato before cutting to ensure even edges. Ensure that all the pieces are of uniform size and thickness. Put the cut slices in water to prevent discolouration and to soak out some of the starch. Drain and dry well before frying, essential to ensure a crisp finish.

For best results, chips and thickly cut potatoes are cooked in two stages. First fries are 'pre-fried' for about 6 or 7 minutes(until they just start to turn colour) in oil preheated to about 170 deg. C draws the starch to the outside of the chip and seals in the moisture, essential for that soft moist centre. Then they're taken out, tossed (to avoid clumping), and allowed to cool and drain on paper towels. At this stage the product can be frozen for instant deep-frying later.

The second stage involves frying in oil preheated to 180-190 deg. C for about two minutes until the chips are a crisp golden brown, let the colour guide you. The bubbling of the oil will almost stop completely around the potatoes, indicating that their moisture has almost all escaped, and that the fries will remain crisp. During this process the surface sugars in the chip begin to combine to form long molecule chains, and it's this process that makes the chip surface go crispy. To ensure accurate temperature measuring, now may be the time to buy that deep-frying thermometer. A chip basket and electric deep-fryer will also help the process enormously as you can remove all the chips at exactly the right time.

Finely cut potatoes such as matchstick potatoes are fried only once at high heat. Once fried, drain well on paper towels to get rid of excess oil, which if not drained off will make them soggy.

Don't add too many potatoes to the pot at once as this will lower the temperature, causing the potatoes to absorb too much oil and preventing crisping. Stir or shake the pot a couple of times to separate the chips.

Large shapes that have been twice-fried lose their crispness quickly and should be served a.s.a.p. Thinner types fried once only will keep for an hour or two.

Season fried potatoes with a light sprinkling of salt just before serving, or the salt will draw out moisture and make them go soggy.

Types of potato chips

Straw potatoes are cut into the finest possible slices and then cut again into fine straws, about 7.5 cm long. They're fried for about 3 minutes at 190 deg. C until golden brown. American shoestring potatoes are similar, just longer.

Matchstick potatoes are cut into 3mm julienne strips, about 6cm long. They're fried once at 190 deg. C, for about 4 minutes until golden.

Chips, known in French as pommes frites, are cut into 6mm sticks about 7 cm long. Fry them once at 177 deg C until tender. Drain and let cool, then fry again in hotter oil, for about 2 minutes, at 190 deg. C until crisp and golden brown.

Straight cut potatoes, the pommes Pont Neuf mentioned above are cut into 1.25 cm sticks, about 7.5 cm long and fried as for chips.

Slap chips, similar to British chips, are cut as for Straight Cut chips or sometimes wider, but are removed from the oil as soon as they turn limp and before they turn brown and crisp, ie, no second frying.

Waffle-cut chips are sliced using a mandoline slicer (a special kind of vegetable cutter with a wavy blade or 'teeth') into horizontal fluted slices and the potatoes are rotated 90 degrees between each cut so the slices are latticed. They're fried at 190 deg. C for 2 to 3 minutes until golden.

Chips, like those commercially bought in a packet, are thinly sliced using a mandolin, then briefly fried in hot oil at 190 deg. C until golden and crisp.

Tips & tricks

Originally, rendered beef tallow/lard was used as this gave chips a delicious flavour, but because of vegetarian and health concerns (high in cholesterol), vegetable oils such as canola, sunflower oil or groundnut oil preferred.

You can make chips the day before you require them simply by taking them through the first cooking process. Store them covered in the refrigerator and when ready to eat, return them to the deep fat fryer to crisp off, colour and reheat. Remove the chips from the fridge and leave for 30 minutes to help come back to room temperature before re-frying.

Generally speaking, the bigger the chip, the less oil it will absorb, which is why matchstick chips are more fattening than deep-fried wedges or slapchips.

When you cook the chips, it may look like the oil is boiling. But actually, the only thing that's boiling is the water in the chip. As the water in the chip boils away, the escaping steam creates a protective layer around the chips, which stops oil from being absorbed. When you take the chips out, the oil on the surface of the chips seeps back in through the tiny pores that the escaping steam left behind. So quickly pat dry your chips with kitchen paper as soon as you take them out to reduce the total amount of oil you eat.

As soon as fries are removed from the oil, they begin to change again. The water left inside the core begins to migrate outward toward the drier crust; the crust also absorbs water from the surrounding air. That's why fries invariably become soggy over time.

Celebrated French chef Joël Robuchon's tried and tested french fry method is to put the sliced potatoes into a saucepan with just enough cold oil in it to cover the potatoes, then turn up the heat and cook them over high heat until golden, stirring occasionally.

Scientists have worked out equations to prove that the perfect potato chip should be cooked for a minute in the microwave before it is plunged into a fryer of refined oil at an averagely hot temperature. By cooking the raw potato chip in a microwave for a minute first, to drive off moisture, the chips can be cooked at the medium temperature that prevents too much fat uptake.

If straw potatoes seem limp when the cooking is finished, lower the oil temperature for the next batches. This slower cooking will allow more moisture to escape from the potatoes before they brown, and they will then be crispier.

If you are on a low-fat diet, consider oven-baking your chips. Cut into required size or shape, lightly spray with oil and bake for 45 minutes (depending on their size) at 200 deg. C turning at least once (though baking them on oven rungs prevents the need for turning). For a variation, sprinkle one or two teaspoons of spices such either chilli, curry powder, ground cumin or coriander, or dried herbs, such as oregano or basil over the chips before coating in the oil. If you prefer, peel the potatoes before cooking.

Vegetable Chips are a wonderful health food, they offer high vitamin, low fat, low calorie content and are a good source of fibre. Sweet potatoes, butternuts, beetroot and parsnips can all be made into chips. Make sure the oil is the correct temperature, about 170 deg.C, fry them right through, so that the vegetable chips are really crisp. Drain well on a wad of kitchen paper, if any residual oil is left on the surface, they will go soggy. Try Shape's recipe for Low-fat Parsnip Chips or Sweet Potato chips.

Madumbis, a root vegetable similar to the potato or sweet potato, makes excellent chips, too. Available from farm markets or Woolworths.

Cut potatoes into wedges and arrange on non-stick baking sheet. Place wedges of a lemon and crushed garlic among the potato wedges, sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake as above.

Serve potato chips with ; Cucumber and ginger salsa; Homemade tomato sauce; Spicy dukka or a Chilli sauce.

10 things to do with chips

Sticky pepper relish with madumbi crisps Fat free microwave crisps Mussels Provencal with pommes frites Hearty beer batter fish and chips Cajun fish and chips Spicy potato straws Sweet and spicy chips Sweet potato chips with avocado and prawn dip Assorted vegetable chips Banana chips with Malindi Dukka

Tip of the day

Waist-friendly chips Got a craving for greasy potato chips? Why not try this low-fat, low-cholesterol home-made version and give your heart and waist-line a break. Peel sweet potatoes, parsnips, beetroots and carrots and cut into thin (about 2 mm thick) slices. Brush both sides with olive oil and place on a lightly oiled baking tray. Bake for 10 minutes at 200 ºC until golden brown. Sprinkle with a mixture of 5 ml grated lime rind and 5 ml table salt.