French-fried potatoes

French fries

A serving of French fries
Alternative names	Chips, finger chips, fries, frites, hot chips, steak fries, potato wedges, wedges
Course	Side dish or snack, rarely as a main dish
Place of origin	Belgium or France
Created by	Disputed
Serving temperature	Hot, generally salted
Main ingredients	Potatoes Oil
Variations	curly fries, shoestring fries, steak fries, sweet potato fries, Chili cheese fries, poutine,
Other information	Often served with a side of ketchup, mayonnaise, vinegar, barbecue sauce, or other sauce

French fries (North American English), chips (British English),fries,finger chips (Indian English), or French-fried potatoes are batonnet or allumette-cut deep-fried potatoes. In the United States and most of Canada, the term fries refers to all dishes of fried elongated pieces of potatoes, while in the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa (rarely), Ireland and New Zealand, thinly cut fried potatoes are sometimes called shoestring fries or skinny fries to distinguish them from the thicker-cut chips.

French fries are served hot, either soft or crispy, and are generally eaten as part of lunch or dinner or by themselves as a snack, and they commonly appear on the menus of diners, fast food restaurants, pubs, and bars. Fries in America are generally salted and are almost always served with ketchup, but in many countries they have other condiments or toppings, like vinegar, mayonnaise, or other local specialties. Fries can be topped more heavily, as in the dishes of poutine and chili cheese fries. French fries can be made from sweet potatoes instead of potatoes. A baked variant of the French fry ("oven chips") uses less or even no oil.

French fries are prepared by first peeling and cutting the potato into even strips. These are then wiped off or soaked in cold water to remove the surface starch, and thoroughly dried. They may then be fried in one or two stages. Chefs generally agree that the two-bath technique produces better results.