Bel Frites makes me happy!
 
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Bel Frites makes me happy!

September 29, 2008

In a recent blog, I recapped my adventurous trip to Slow Food Nation, where guests of San Francisco spent 3 days celebrating “just and sustainable” foods. After my guilty consumption of fast food en route to the event, I redeemed myself with a delectable, slow food, potato treat.

Do you know the difference between a good ol’ American (french) fry and a traditional Belgian frite? The answer lies in preparation. A visit to San Luis Obispo’s locally-owned Bel Frites provided the answer.

“Europeans know when they hear the word ‘frite,’ their expectations are quite high,” says owner Fred O’Toole, a retired Cal Poly philosophy professor. “It takes 12 hours to make a frite, compared to 3 minutes for a french fry.” Hey…frites are definitely a slow food!

Unlike french fries, I learned frites are soaked for 12 hours in a water/vinegar solution before going into to the transfat-free fryer. (Bel Frites uses 100% canola oil). By hydrating the potato, the cooking oil simply coats the exterior, creating a crispy outside and leaving the inside of the frite just like a baked potato! Not only are frites a slow food, I’d venture to say that they are healthy too!

Enough about the process for now…the highlights of Bel Frites are the to-die-for frite seasonings and sauces. If you want to go all out, you can order a cone of delicioso frites coated with a special seasoning and add a homemade sauce to go with. What’s the most popular? Owner Joyce Connelly says its for sure the jamaican jerk seasoning dipped in curry mango chutney. Joyce’s favorite? The dill creme fraiche. My favorite? I loved them all!

In the midst of the hip food and wine pairing extravaganza, what’s even hotter? Well, beer pairings of course! I went to Bel Frites with a mission in mind: To sample a selection of beer and frite pairings. Go ahead. Be jealous. I will tell you, that my experience was amazing! Same goes for the lucky guests I brought along.

Almost as amazing as my dinner was a quick “tour” of the owners’ car…a converted 1982 turbo diesel Mercedes that runs on 100% used canola oil left over from the frites! Fred, with the help of a friend, converted the car himself! Now that is way cool…way resourceful…way…sustainable!

In my next blog, I’ll take you step by step through the beer and frite pairings my group “analyzed” and talk a bit more about the uniqueness of Belgian brew.