Men's Journal

With health concerns dictating that you cut back on fries, you might as well make the few you eat count…by cooking them in delicious duck fat.

by Daniel Duane

It was inevitable, wasn’t it? In a world where even Kobe-beef burgers pack the punch of a foie-gras stuffing, it was only a matter of time before top chefs found a way to make the most universal of comfort foods into a gastronomic luxury. And found it they have in duck fat fries. Although they may look and act like regular fries, duck fat fries are to the standard spud stick as Epoisse is to Velveeta. “Our customers are absolutely addicted to them,” says Rob Evans, owner of Duck Fat, a restaurant in Portland, Maine. “I went on a bender myself the first year we were open.”

In southwestern France — the homeland of foie gras — they’ve been frying potatoes in duck fat since the time of Charlemagne, or at least since Charles de Gaulle. But all of a sudden, everywhere from the Harrison in New York to the Blue Duck Tavern in DC to Baltimore’s Salt to San Francisco’s One Market, American chefs are converging on duck fat to make a french fry beyond which there is no greater french fry.

The good news is you don’t need to drive to Maine to start your own duck fat addiction. But since the recipe is so simple, if you want a world-class fry, you need to start with quality ingredients: russet potatoes, sea salt, and, of course, an out-of-this-world fat. Lard was the go-to before everyone decided it would kill you; peanut oil came next, because it’s cheap and has a neutral flavor. Now there’s a growing awareness among nutritionists and foodies that some animal fats aren’t as bad for the heart as we’ve long thought. Duck fat, in particular, turns out to be the single most healthy of all poultry fats. Only 33 percent of it is saturated fat; 50 percent is monounsaturated (like the fat in olive oil), and 13 percent polyunsaturated, the very picture of healthfulness. (Or this is what you should tell yourself as your first duck fat fry turns into your second, third, or 35th.) Jennifer McLagan, author of the new book Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, with Recipes, uses duck fat to add a gamy, ethereal flavor (see adapted recipe above). Making the leap to duck fat fries is like switching from party mix to caviar — except they still go great with good old ketchup.

Here are the basics:
Pick Your Potatoes: Russets remain the favorite, for their size and high sugar content, which creates a caramelized crust.

Salt Matters: Go with sea salt, which has minerals you don’t find in iodized salt. Maldon salt from the coast of England, available in most specialty shops, has a mineral blend very similar to human blood, a fact that, appropriately, makes it unusually delicious.

Find the Fat: Duck fat usually comes frozen in one-pint containers. Find it in gourmet food shops or online at grimaud.com.

Cook in small batches: Cooking too many fries at once will cause a sudden drop in oil temperature, resulting in greasy, less-than-crisp fries. For extra crispness, Evans freezes fries between the first and final fryings.
freeze the oil for later Duck fat can absolutely be reused. Just strain it when it’s cool and pop it in the fridge or freezer to use for more fries tomorrow.

This article originally appeared in the October 2008 issue of Men’s Journal.

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