The term
"French fries" probably gained purchase from President Jefferson, who
described them using the phrase "Pommes
de terre frites à cru, en petites tranches" ("Potatoes deep-fried while raw, in small
strips") but also referred to them as "potatoes served in the French
manner." French-fried was for a
time considered synonymous (in the US) with deep-fat frying. What we see in France is that the French do
not frequently eat fried potatoes, although they do like a little
"McDo" every now and then--although they will be the first to
criticize this "cuisine Americaine."
French McDo's are much fancier than the average McDonald's in the
U.S. They are known for being extremely
clean, with a futuristic architecture and often with high-tech automated
ordering systems. In Paris, my
experience was that I ordered and paid through a slick computer interface and
then picked up the meal from a human being, but this might not be the case at
all locations. It is always possible to
complete the transaction completely with a human employee.
