{"id":3725,"date":"2016-05-17T15:26:16","date_gmt":"2016-05-17T15:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/?p=3725"},"modified":"2016-08-17T13:08:55","modified_gmt":"2016-08-17T13:08:55","slug":"fries-make-us-happy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/spring-2016\/fries-make-us-happy\/","title":{"rendered":"Fries Make Us Happy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why Fries Make You Happy:\nThe Junk Philosophy and Real Science<\/h4>\n

W<\/span>hy do we make fries? Because they make us happy. Why do fries make us happy? Because they do. Science need not corroborate this claim. The simplest reason is often the best reason\u2014just ask Occam and his razor. In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle propagated the philosophy that happiness is the ultimate purpose of human existence and thus, if something makes you happy while not being excessive or fleeting, it\u2019s worth pursuing. As long as you don\u2019t overindulge, fries can walk beside you on the path to happiness. I can assure you of that. I have 30 years of experience.<\/p>\n

Junk philosophy aside, science does kind of corroborate the \u201cfries make you happy\u201d claim. Nostalgia is a powerful sentiment. A study conducted at the University of Illinois found that, \u201ccomfort foods may be consumed to positively pique emotions, to relieve negative psychological effects, or to increase positive feelings.\u201d To make you happy in other words. Comfort food also evokes patriotism, which is linked to happiness. Chinese philosopher Lin Yutang said it best: \u201cWhat is patriotism but the love of the good things we ate in our childhood?\u201d<\/p>\n

Potatoes make you happy. A large chunk of the population suffers from sugar sensitivity, which can cause mood swings and depression. Dr. Kathleen DesMaisons, in her book Potatoes Not Prozac<\/em>, calls potatoes, \u201can antidepressant in a brown package,\u201d and she recommends taking a skin-on potato, or even skin-on oven fries, before night-night time (I have kids) to raise levels of serotonin, the monoamine neurotransmitter that promotes wellbeing and happiness. Toss some salt (which lowers stress hormones and raises the hormone linked to love) on those oven fries, and you\u2019ll be even happier.<\/p>\n

Excerpt from<\/em> Fries! An Illustrated Guide to the World\u2019s Favorite Food<\/a> by Blake Lingle, published by Princeton Architectural Press (2016)<\/em><\/p>\n

Where to Go for the Best Fries<\/h4>\n
\"McDonalds-fries\"

Photo: McDonald’s<\/p><\/div>\n

Oh, come on. Admit it! If you are a fry lover, you no doubt have had your fair share of McDonald\u2019s<\/a> fries. And you loved them. Well, we can\u2019t have a list of great french fries without mentioning McDonald\u2019s. (We\u2019ll get to the fancy, special ones next but let\u2019s face it, whose mouth doesn\u2019t water at the sight of McDonald\u2019s fries?)<\/p>\n

McDonald\u2019s sells more than a third of all fries sold in restaurants. With over 36,000 locations worldwide in 118 countries and territories, McDonald\u2019s serves over 68 million customers a day. And that means a lot of fries.<\/p>\n

While you may think why would you change a good thing, a new flavor of french fries\u2014Gilroy Garlic Fries\u2014are currently being tested in McDonald\u2019s restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area. Using a pur\u00e9e made with world-famous garlic from Gilroy, California\u2014the Garlic Capital of the World\u2014the fries are being served in four restaurants in the South Bay.<\/p>\n

The new fries are made-to-order in McDonald\u2019s kitchens where restaurant employees toss french fries in stainless steel bowls with a pur\u00e9e mix that includes ingredients, such as chopped Gilroy garlic and olive oil, parmesan cheese, parsley and a pinch of salt. The garlic fries are part of a trend at McDonald\u2019s to experiment with regional flavors andod on its menu.<\/p>\n

McDonald\u2019s french fries are one of the most iconic items on the menu. The fries are made with North American-grown, premium potatoes\u2014including Russet Burbank, Ranger Russet, Blazer Russet, Ivory Russet, Umatilla Russet and Shepody. Once suppliers harvest the potatoes, they are partially fried and flash frozen. Once they arrive at the restaurant, they are cooked in a Canola oil blend and flavorings and served crispy and hot. McDonald\u2019s french fries have zero grams of trans fat per labeled serving.<\/p>\n

Where else can you find delicious fries around the country? Check out these places to get your fry fix:<\/p>\n

\"aquitaine-fries-700w\"

Aquitaine Burger and Fries. Photo: Aquitaine<\/p><\/div>\n

Aquitaine<\/strong><\/a>\n569 Tremont Street\nBoston, MA 02118<\/p>\n

Amazing crunchy fries that taste especially wonderful with mussels or just a burger.<\/p>\n

\"Au-Cheval-Fries-w-Egg_700w\"<\/a>

Au Cheval Fries with Egg. Photo: Kari Skaflen<\/p><\/div>\n

Au Cheval<\/a><\/strong>\n800 W Randolph St\nChicago, IL<\/p>\n

The Au Cheval hand-cut fries are served with a house-made creamy garlic aioli and can be topped with a fried egg.<\/p>\n

\"Photo-comes-courtesy-of-Chickie-s-and-Pete-s\"<\/a>

Chickie\u2019s and Pete\u2019s Crabfires. Photo: Chickie’s and Pete’s<\/p><\/div>\n

Chickie\u2019s & Pete\u2019s Crab House and Sports Bar<\/a><\/strong>\nPhiladelphia, PA<\/p>\n

If you are a sports fan in Philadelphia, then you know Chickie\u2019s & Pete\u2019s. Their special fries are Chickie’s & Pete’s CrabFries\u00ae.<\/p>\n

Like all great inventions, CrabFries\u00ae has quite a history. When Chickie\u2019s and Pete\u2019s opened in 1977, crabs were only served in the summer. Once the summer was over Pete looked for ways to use all of the leftover seasonings. He offered samples of the seasoned fries at the restaurant\u2019s bar.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow\u2019d you like the seasoning today?\u201d Pete would ask. \u201cAhh I liked them better yesterday,\u201d or, \u201ctoo tangy,\u201d the regulars would reply. Pete went through two winters of tweaking seasonings and a complimentary cheese sauce for dipping based on the regulars\u2019 comments. In 1979, he felt he had perfected the recipe that is served today as \u201cCrabfries.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Left-Bank-Brasserie-Menlo-Park-French-fries-700w.pg\"<\/a>

Left Bank Brasserie Menlo Park French Fries<\/p><\/div>\n

Left Bank Menlo Park<\/a><\/strong>\n635 Santa Cruz Avenue\nMenlo Park, CA<\/p>\n

Left Bank is an authentic French brasserie celebrating Mediterranean Cuisine. Located in Menlo Park’s charming downtown, Left Bank transports guests to a quaint brasserie in Paris. The fries are delicious and served with steamed mussels, shallots, white wine, Pernod garlic butter, spinach, \u201cLe Burger Americain,\u201d steak with Bordelaise, Bearnaise or peppercorn sauce<\/p>\n

\"Nola-Restaurant-burger-fries-700w\"<\/a>

Photo: Nola Restaurant<\/p><\/div>\n

Nola<\/a><\/strong>\n534 St Louis St,\nNew Orleans, LA<\/p>\n

This New Orleans restaurant favorite was opened by renowned chef Emeril Lagasse in 1992 in the French Quarter. Nola\u2019s french fries regularly wind up on the top fry lists.<\/p>\n

\"Saus-fries-700w\"<\/a>

Saus Fries. Photo: Brian del Vecchio<\/p><\/div>\n

Saus<\/a><\/strong>\n33 Union St\nBoston, MA<\/p>\n

Using aged Idaho potatoes, Saus twice fries their fries. This process results in a crispy exterior with a fluffy interior, which makes the fries perfect for eating alone or dipped into one of their fifteen homemade dipping sauces.<\/p>\n

\"Hand-Cut-BDT-Fries-with-Smoked-Pepper-Aioli-700w\"<\/a>

Hand Cut Blue Duck Tavern Fries with Smoked Pepper Aioli. Photo: Park Hyatt Washington<\/p><\/div>\n

Blue Duck Tavern<\/a><\/strong>\nPark Hyatt Washington\n1201 24th Street NW\nWashington, DC, 20037, USA<\/p>\n

The Blue Duck Tavern Fries have been a staple on the menu since they opened 10 years ago. To celebrate the anniversary, they wanted to offer a more \u201cunique\u201d texture for a fry. It might not be what you expect when you order a fry, but it is what you want\u2014crunchy on the outside, soft in the middle. They steam, dry and put the russet potatoes in the mixer to season. The mixture is formed into a sheet pan and cut by hand. It\u2019s a great texture when they are fried crispy and soft on the inside. They are completely vegetarian.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The junk philosophy and real science<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3775,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spring-2016-features","category-spring-2016"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3725"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4250,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3725\/revisions\/4250"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}