It's All About The Potatoes

I have been fortunate enough to travel extensively and even liv (e in two countries. Among the lessons I have learned....fried potatoes in any language are tasty. Having said that, let me share some of the experience with you.
Pommes Frites
The French have a way with any cooking, they aren't just bragging when they say so. I spent a remarkable week or so in Paris awhile back and tried my best to eat the classic French dishes. Thus the escargots (delicious) in garlic butter, the baguette (I swear, the bread IS better), etc. I cannot say that one meal was superior to any other, they were all marvelous. I had the pommes frites with a steak and both were awesome. Thin, crispy, perfectly salted, the potatoes did not need any condiments. It would have been a waste of both catsup and potatoes. At another meal, lunch as it happens, I partook of a sandwich in a Greek sandwich shop. The topping for the lovely, fresh ingredients was a healthy serving of pomme frites. An idea that should be borrowed and lavishly used.
Chips
I visited France while living in northern England, an industrial city near the border with Scotland. There I learned to appreciate, and cook, chips. They are not French fries, maybe because of some lingering disagreement with France, but they are fried potatoes. During my time in the chippy (Fish 'n Chip Shop named Cherry's) I lifted huge dishpans of peeled potatoes, loading them into the chipper...somewhat like a wood chipper but smaller, though just as noisy. The potatoes then proceeded through the chipper into the now empty dishpan underneath, sliced into a size reminiscent of steak fries in the U.S.A. After dumping the potatoes into a vat of vegetable shortening roiling at 360 degrees F, I waited until they were crispy brown and floating. Dipping them out with a basket kind of ladle they went in to a metal, heated bin to wait for customers. And customers there were. This little shop was in the middle of the working class district, near a lot of pubs. We sold chips, and other chippy food, from opening until closing. The chips were taken from the bin, still blazing hot, placed on blank paper, salted and dressed with vinegar according to the tastes of the customer.