Chef Juliette
Suet Dumpling
Boulettes au suif, poached beside salt beef, turn equal weights of flour and finely chopped suet into tender, rich dumplings. Keep the beef liquor at a bare tremble and the old garnish works beautifully at home.
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Pommes de Terre en Allumettes
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2215, Pommes de Terre en Allumettes, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Pommes de terre en allumettes turn one potato and one precise cut into a generous golden heap, crisp because the cook waits for the last moisture to leave before draining.
Side Dishes
French
Weeknight
Comfort Food
25 min
Active Time
20 min cook•45 min total
Yield4 servings
Pommes de terre en allumettes (matchstick potatoes) teach one indispensable frying principle: potatoes become crisp in the fat, not on the draining rack. Their one-fifth-inch sides expose plenty of surface, but that surface stays crisp only when you leave the allumettes in the hot fat until their fierce bubbling becomes fine and sparse. Drain them too soon and they soften almost as quickly as you can salt them.
The original recipe assumed a deep vat held steadily hot, a wire basket, and enough hands to cut and fry brigade quantities just before service. For one cook, one stove, one evening, the honest equivalents are a heavy pot, a thermometer, a spider, and three small batches made from two pounds of potatoes. The great vat and service crew were scaffolding. Squaring the potatoes, cutting true five-millimetre rods, and drying them completely in the fat are the dish, and those remain.
The finished allumettes should be straight, deeply golden, and audibly crisp under the teeth, with tender potato still inside. Watch the bubbles more closely than the clock. That final minute in the fat decides everything.
Pommes de terre en allumettes belong to the precise vocabulary of the Parisian classical kitchen, where potato preparations were distinguished by the geometry of the cut as carefully as sauces were distinguished by their foundations. Allumette means matchstick, and the preparation moved easily from grand dining rooms to bistro plates because its ingredients were ordinary even when its knife work was exact. It should not be confused with pommes paille, which are cut finer like straw, or with thicker pommes frites; the one-fifth-inch rod gives the allumette its own balance of crisp surface and tender centre.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
large floury potatoes, such as russets
Quantity
4 large, about 2 lb (900 g)
peeled
refined peanut or sunflower oil, or rendered beef fat
Quantity
6 cups (1.4 liters / 1.3 kg)
for deep-frying
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon (5 ml / 6 g), plus more to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| large floury potatoes, such as russetspeeled | 4 large, about 2 lb (900 g) |
| refined peanut or sunflower oil, or rendered beef fatfor deep-frying | 6 cups (1.4 liters / 1.3 kg) |
| fine sea salt | 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 6 g), plus more to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 5 to 6-quart (4.7 to 5.7-liter) pot with high sides
- •Clip-on deep-frying thermometer
- •Wire spider or long-handled slotted spoon
- •Wire cooling rack set over a sheet pan
- •Sharp chef's knife and ruler
Instructions
- 1
Square and cut
Trim each peeled potato into a straight-sided block, saving the curved trimmings for soup, a purée, or a breakfast pan. Cut the blocks lengthwise into slabs exactly one-fifth inch (5 mm) thick, then stack two or three slabs and cut them into rods of the same width. Keep the knife vertical and work deliberately. Even dimensions are not decoration here; they let every allumette become tender and crisp at the same moment.
A ruler is useful for the first slab. Once your hand understands five millimetres, use that piece as the guide for the rest. - 2
Dry and heat
Spread the cut potatoes between clean kitchen towels and press them thoroughly dry, turning them once so no damp surfaces hide underneath. Pour the frying fat into a heavy pot with at least twice as much empty space above it, clip on the thermometer, and heat it to 350°F (175°C). Set a wire rack over a sheet pan nearby. If the first batches must wait, heat the oven to 250°F (120°C), but never let the heating fat sit unattended.
- 3
Fry in batches
Lower one-third of the potatoes into the hot fat with a spider, easing them in so the fat cannot surge over the pot. Stir gently during the first minute to separate any rods that cling together. Hold the fat between 340°F and 355°F (170°C and 180°C), waiting for it to recover before adding another batch. Crowding drops the heat and gives you limp, greasy potatoes; three small batches are quicker in the end.
- 4
Dry in the fat
Continue frying each batch for about 5 to 7 minutes. The bubbling will begin vigorously as moisture escapes, then grow finer and noticeably sparse; only then should the allumettes be deep golden, rigid, and dry at the surface. If they brown while the bubbling is still fierce, the fat is too hot, so lower the heat and finish them nearer 330°F (165°C). If a drained batch bends and softens, don't surrender it. Ça se rattrape: bring the fat to 375°F (190°C) and fry it again for 30 to 60 seconds, until crisp.
- 5
Drain and serve
Lift each finished batch with the spider and shake it over the pot for five seconds, then spread it in one layer on the wire rack. Hold earlier batches in the low oven for no longer than 10 minutes while the rest fry. Gather the allumettes onto a warm platter, salt them while their fine sheen still catches the light, and serve at once. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Choose a floury potato such as a russet. Its dry interior becomes tender without holding excess water, while a waxy potato remains firm and takes longer to dry in the fat.
- •Use a thermometer. A professional fryer recovers its heat automatically; a pot on the home stove needs your eye and a minute between batches. Let the fat return to 350°F (175°C) before the next potatoes go in.
- •The bubbling is your best test. Large, noisy bubbles mean water is still escaping; fine, sparse bubbles mean the allumettes have dried sufficiently to remain crisp after draining.
- •Keep the squared trimmings. Their odd shapes have no place in this precise fry, but they are excellent boiled for purée or added to a potage. Precision needn't mean waste.
- •Serve the allumettes beside steak, roast chicken, grilled fish, or a plain omelette. They need no herb confetti and no elaborate sauce. Cooking well is not cooking fancy.
Advance Preparation
- •The potatoes may be peeled and squared up to 2 hours ahead. Keep the whole blocks covered in cold water, then dry them before cutting so the narrow rods spend as little time in water as possible.
- •If the allumettes must be cut up to 1 hour ahead, hold them in cold water to prevent discoloration, then drain and dry them with particular care before frying. Water and hot fat are dangerous companions.
- •Pommes de terre en allumettes are a last-minute preparation. Do not fry them fully ahead; organize the cutting before supper and heat the fat while the main dish rests.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 135g)
Calories
400 calories
Total Fat
25 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
21 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
600 mg
Total Carbohydrates
39 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
5 g
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