Nothing says Friday like a easy dinner. Any meal becomes a party when the regular potatoes are exchanged for French fries. Here in the Netherlands, we like them chunky and served with mayonaise. Fat, creamy with just a hint of mustard. It was only until I saw Pulp Fiction that I realized eating fries with mayonnaise is a Dutch and Belgian thing to do.

VINCENT: You know what they put on french Fries in Holland instead of ketchup?
JULES: What?
VINCENT: Mayonnaise.
JULES: Goddamn!
VINCENT: I seen ’em do it, man. They fuckin’ drown ’em in this shit.
JULES: Uuccch!

Yes. I do drown ’em in that shit. Once you get introduced tough, there some other Dutch versions of French fries you should really try:’Patatje Oorlog’ (War), fries served with mayonnaise, hot peanut sauce (yes, the Indonesian one) and onions or ‘Patatje Speciaal’ (Special), with mayonaise, spiced ketchup (curry) and unions.

My favorite are fries with mayo and sambal. Preferably the sickly spicy one my mom makes. The creaminess of the mayonaise and the stinging spiciness of the sambal are such a great team. But then again, in my Dutch-Indonesian opinion sambal goes with anything. It was a double treat: 5 days of rice make eating potatoes a party, especially when fried. And then to top it off with mayonnaise and my mom’s sambal sauce…

With the kids, it’s a great diversion tactic too. Serve up some fries and they won’t even notice you grilled some vegetarian hamburgers on the side. Not immediately anyway.

So lets’s start the weekend well and easy with French fries for dinner! And don’t forget the mayonnaise. Remember, you gotta drown those puppies.

Happy Weekend,

Irene.

Day 10 of Writing 101: Happy (Insert Special Occasion Here)! Tell us something about your favorite childhood meal–the one that was always a treat, that meant “celebration,” or that comforted you and has deep roots in your memory.