Ever since I was a young child, I loved McDonald’s. It was my favorite fast food restaurant and I loved its cheeseburgers, its chicken nuggets, and most of all, its French fries. Even as a I grew older and my palate broadened, I still craved those fries. Since they are among my most favorite style of fries today, I believe it’s time for me to express why I love those fries so much.
McDonald’s serves “shoestring fries” with an emphasis on the length. While many chains do serve similarly fries with a thin cut, few of the major chains server fries as long as McDonald’s does. Since the fries are both long and thin, each gives some freedom of the eater as to whether to savor every delicious bite as it enters the mouth, or to bend and fold or break the fry into smaller components.
Shoestring fries, though, do have their disadvantages as their thin nature leads them to be either easily burnt. McDonald’s, though, has made their construction and preparation of fries to a precise art. Fresh McDonald’s fries are crisp and merely warm on the outside, but wonderfully soft and hot on the inside. You can pick one up and not know of the heat that is encased within. Salty but not briny, these fries are an incredible blend of sturdiness and fluff that is hard to find, making it perfectly able to be dipped or enjoyable on their own.
In fact, the fries are so good that it is difficult for me praise it. Instead, I will mention I notice a slight waxy aftertaste once I have finished eating the fries. It is a similar aftertaste I have noticed in my consumption of other items of McDonald’s menu over the years. It is faint enough for me to put aside when I chew my food and unlock the delicious potato softness within. It is noticeable enough, though, for me to curtail my trips to McDonald’s to occasional treats.
The other caveat is like many good French fries, McDonald’s fries cannot be easily re-heated. The delicate balance of moisture and dryness means that using a microwave to heat up either hardens them into potato matchsticks or renders them soggy and limp. Even using an oven can’t recreate the moment of eating a fresh fry.
McDonald’s fries are to be eaten fresh and hot, but as good as they are, doing this should be no problem.