Giada De Laurentiis is a culinary icon. The cookbook author, Food Network personality, and chef is known for her many Mediterranean-style recipes. When it comes to cooking, De Laurentiis prefers the simple but sumptuous foods over the flash of an intensely complicated recipe. And while she is always open to putting a new spin on the classics (De Laurentiis is an avid enjoyer of chocolate pasta, an off-kilter and somewhat quirky choice), at the end of the day, she knows that less is sometimes more. This guiding philosophy doesn’t just inform her own recipes, but her preference in fast food as well. This can be seen perhaps most prominently in her preferred McDonald’s order.
In a 2015 interview with Williams Sonoma, De Laurentiis revealed the one McDonald’s menu item she can’t get enough of, and no, it isn’t a burger. It isn’t even the chain’s crispy chicken nuggets. When it comes to the Golden Arches, there is only one menu item that she falls for every time: the french fries. When asked for her favorite fast food item, she answered, “I can’t resist french fries from McDonald’s!” Her choice may be provocative for some who think a trip to McDonald’s simply isn’t complete without a burger (celebrity baker Paul Hollywood’s McDonald’s order wouldn’t be complete without a Big Mac and fries). However, just because McDonald’s fries are a side doesn’t mean they don’t deserve to take center stage. These crispy, hot, thin-cut fries have endured for a reason: they’re delicious.
McDonald’s fries are a crispy classic
French fries have been a staple of the McDonald’s menu since 1955, and are still one of the chain’s most iconic menu items. In fact, McDonald’s fries aren’t just popular, they’re the most popular menu item at the global fast food chain. Now, this popularity is, in part at least, due to the fact that fries are the default side for McDonald’s meals, but they’re also undeniably delicious, especially when served hot. A part of the side’s appeal is its delicious, savory smell, which comes thanks to beef flavoring that is added to the fries’ cooking oil. This flavoring partially replicated the smell and taste of the original fry recipe, in which beef tallow was used as the preferred frying fat for McDonald’s fries.
The chain also uses a combination of flavors, sweet, salty, and fat in its fry recipe that hits the consumers’ “bliss point,” which means that there is, actually, a scientific reason why you simply must reach for one, or two, or 20 “car fries” on the way home. Now, if you really want to amp up the fries’ deliciousness, there is one hack you can try to ensure that your fries are piping hot, fresh, and ready to enjoy fresh from the bag. Try it and you might just find yourself, like Giada De Laurentiis, a true believer in the fries-only ordering method.
