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Thread: isn't the humble potato even safe?

  1. #1

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    Default isn't the humble potato even safe?

    hi folks!
    I just feel like having a whinge!
    I went to the seaside yesterday for a day out in the sunshine. While i was there i fancied some chips. I went into 10 different places and asked them if they fried their chips in vegetable oil. Every single one of the told me they fried them in BEEF DRIPPING!!!. I had to go without any in the end and sat and watched my husband eat dead fish with beef dripping chips! YUK!
    Does anybody know why they do this? The potato is vegan, why can't it stay that way?

    Charlotte xx

  2. #2

    Default Re: isn't the humble potato even safe?

    Beef dripping? My mum would have liked that!

    One fish & chip shop I went into said they fry their chips separately in vegetable oil, but then finish them off in animal fat for "the flavour"! At least they could just give me the "unflavoured" animal-free version.

    You must be very understanding, letting your hubbie enjoy food when you couldn't eat anything - I think I would have had a fit!

  3. #3
    pixeequeen's Avatar
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    Default Re: isn't the humble potato even safe?

    Oh no, I mean I've always been a bit suspicious of eating chips out, but was under the impression that they really didnt do that much anymore. Which obviously they do. Guess its been a while since I've bought chips. Sigh.
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  4. #4
    ♥♥♥ Tigerlily's Avatar
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    Default Re: isn't the humble potato even safe?

    I know how you feel.

    My father buys my brothers McDonald's a lot. The fries smell absolutely delicious and they are delicious (from my pre-weight loss days and my pre-vegan days). Why oh why do they have to be cooked in beef fat or with beef flavourings?

  5. #5
    Cryospark
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    Default Re: isn't the humble potato even safe?

    I'm a guess this is a non-australian problem. I dunno of a place around here they donet use vegetable or olive oil. Maybe you should see if there is a mediteranean fish and chips near you. The greek fish and chip shops are the ones around my area. If they are of that heritage they may use olive oil. Also a fish and chip shop run by asian origin management tends to use vegetable oil and such as well. Once again that's just how it seems to be near me

  6. #6
    Goddess foxytina_69's Avatar
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    Default Re: isn't the humble potato even safe?

    thats odd. i have yet to find a place that doesnt use vegetable oil for their fries/chips.
    "you dont have to be tall to see the moon" - african proverb

  7. #7
    ConsciousCuisine
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    Default Re: isn't the humble potato even safe?

    Here in the US, nearly every place that I know of cooks fries in the same oil (often vegetable oil) as animals and food made with secretions.

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    ♥♥♥ Tigerlily's Avatar
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    Default Re: isn't the humble potato even safe?

    Quote Cryospark
    I'm a guess this is a non-australian problem. I dunno of a place around here they donet use vegetable or olive oil. Maybe you should see if there is a mediteranean fish and chips near you. The greek fish and chip shops are the ones around my area. If they are of that heritage they may use olive oil. Also a fish and chip shop run by asian origin management tends to use vegetable oil and such as well. Once again that's just how it seems to be near me
    You can't deep fry in olive oil, though. It burns and gets all smokey.

  9. #9

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    Default Re: isn't the humble potato even safe?

    Quote Cryospark
    I'm a guess this is a non-australian problem. I dunno of a place around here they donet use vegetable or olive oil. Maybe you should see if there is a mediteranean fish and chips near you. The greek fish and chip shops are the ones around my area. If they are of that heritage they may use olive oil. Also a fish and chip shop run by asian origin management tends to use vegetable oil and such as well. Once again that's just how it seems to be near me
    Be careful because a lot of the fries are pre-cooked in beef tallow before they are frozen

  10. #10
    Mozbee
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    Default Re: isn't the humble potato even safe?

    Quote charlotte33
    hi folks!
    I just feel like having a whinge!
    I went to the seaside yesterday for a day out in the sunshine. While i was there i fancied some chips. I went into 10 different places and asked them if they fried their chips in vegetable oil. Every single one of the told me they fried them in BEEF DRIPPING!!!. I had to go without any in the end and sat and watched my husband eat dead fish with beef dripping chips! YUK!
    Does anybody know why they do this? The potato is vegan, why can't it stay that way?

    Charlotte xx
    There's a fab Chinese chippy in Brid [sorry you non-local folks thats NE coastline talk for Bridlington hurray!] not far from the spa (they do omni stuff too ) but the chips are orgasmic! Under a pound a bag and it's a pound very, very well spent .

    Mozbee

  11. #11

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    Default Re: isn't the humble potato even safe?

    i say get a fry daddy and make your own. my old roommate had one and the fries we made out of those were the tastiest fries i've ever had.

    from what i've read it's best to use saturated fat when deep frying (coconut oil is the probably the easiest to get). regular vegetable oil turns into transfat when you deep fry with it. and thats probably worse for your health than frying in lard.

  12. #12
    Eating Wildflower's Avatar
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    Default Re: isn't the humble potato even safe?

    I have made my own fries, potato skins and breaded veggies with a deep fryer, or just a deep pan works. I buy vegetable oil (which is generally soybean oil here, sometimes corn or canola). Canola is lowest in saturated fat and easy to fry with.

    I have never heard that it turns into transfat when heated. Trans fat is made when you hydrogenate it (turning it into a solid by running hydrogen gas through it and using a metal catalyst).

    See here for a better explanation - http://www.chemguide.co.uk/organicpr...ogenation.html

  13. #13
    cross barer
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    Default Re: isn't the humble potato even safe?

    Quote Tigerlily
    You can't deep fry in olive oil, though. It burns and gets all smokey.
    Yeah they use canola or cottonseed oils, which are gm crap and cottonseed oil has caused mice to become sterile (they weren't cooked in it, but force fed of course) so hopefully it does that to humans too... meateaters shooting blanks! Yahoo! *waves cowboy hat*

    Definately chips from shops in Australia are not vegan unless they are homemade or McCain brand, such as used by Pronto Brontos or Feast on Vegan (both in Melbourne) or Shakespeares in Newtown (Sydney). Tallow is used to make them crispy on the outside, which allows them to cook at lower temperatures.

  14. #14

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    Default Re: isn't the humble potato even safe?

    Quote Wildflower
    I have made my own fries, potato skins and breaded veggies with a deep fryer, or just a deep pan works. I buy vegetable oil (which is generally soybean oil here, sometimes corn or canola). Canola is lowest in saturated fat and easy to fry with.

    I have never heard that it turns into transfat when heated. Trans fat is made when you hydrogenate it (turning it into a solid by running hydrogen gas through it and using a metal catalyst).

    See here for a better explanation - http://www.chemguide.co.uk/organicpr...ogenation.html
    i can't find the original page i read it on, but somewhere i found that heating unsaturated fats to deep frying temperatures changes their chemical makeup and turns them into trans fats. i could be wrong, but i don't think a fat has to be hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated to contain trans fats. regardless, i know i've read through multiple sources that coconut oil is the best fat to deep fry with. it's considered a "good" saturated fat. studies have shown that it helps lower bad cholesterol while raising good cholesterol. there are also weight-loss, anti-viral, and anti-oxidant properties in coconut oil. it is a little more expensive, but if you can afford it i'd recommend using it in more cooking.

    here are some coconut oil links:
    http://www.alternative-healthzine.com/html/0108_2.html
    http://www.coconut-connections.com/research.htm
    http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/features/cocgood.html
    http://www.deliciousorganics.com/Pro...coconutoil.htm

  15. #15
    told me to Mr Flibble's Avatar
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    Default Re: isn't the humble potato even safe?

    As no one's actually answered the original question yet....

    Quote charlotte33
    Does anybody know why they do this?
    Because it tastes good. I ate chips made in dripping when I was non vegetarian and it tasted great. I can now make just as good chips with veg oil, but I can understand why it's done with dripping too.

    Quote charlotte33
    The potato is vegan, why can't it stay that way
    Because potatoes are pretty boring on their own. Cocoa beans are pretty boring on their own too before heavily processed.
    "Mr Flibble - forum corruptor of innocents!!" - Hemlock

  16. #16
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    Default Re: isn't the humble potato even safe?

    potatoes are pretty boring on their own
    Not sure; I think it's partly that we're used to flavouring everything.

    Having been feeling a bit fragile for the past few days I ate some baked potato with nothing but a bit of ground pepper on it, and it was surprisingly tasty. It was from the organic veg bag though, so I suppose an industrial potato might have been less so.

  17. #17
    told me to Mr Flibble's Avatar
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    Default Re: isn't the humble potato even safe?

    Quote harpy
    with nothing but a bit of ground pepper on it
    but pepper is a strong flavour!

    decent potato cooked right can be OK on it's own, but it's even better with things. The same goes for most raw ingrediants.
    "Mr Flibble - forum corruptor of innocents!!" - Hemlock

  18. #18
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    Default Re: isn't the humble potato even safe?

    I think potatoes are the most un-boring vegetable there is! When I was really, really poor, I used to sometimes just eat boiled potatoes with butter on them (obviously now it would be vegan!) and they were delicious! Or I would have a jacket potato with butter and garlic seasoning. Potatoes are just so versatile, and one of my favourite foods. And they're so cheap too! Yay for potatoes!

  19. #19
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    Default Re: isn't the humble potato even safe?

    One of my favourite foods is baked potato with organic baked beans or baked potato with vegan margerine and tofutti 'cream cheese' and freshly crushed garlic mashed in with the marg Mmmmmmmmmmmm
    Silent but deadly :p

  20. #20
    I eve's Avatar
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    Default Re: isn't the humble potato even safe?

    sounds great Hemlock, though for me it is without the margarine. However, I've not used my oven for so long that I must rely on memory to re-live the potato baked in its skin, cut open when done, and baked beans and tomato sauce on top.
    Eve

  21. #21
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    Default Re: isn't the humble potato even safe?

    List of Ore-Ida brand vegan potato products:

    http://www.oreida.com/quicktipsfaqs/vegan.aspx

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