Fry sauce

Fry sauce in sealed plastic cups with fries on a tray in Utah

Fry sauce is a regional condiment served with French fries. It is usually a simple combination of one part ketchup and two parts mayonnaise. When spices and other flavorings are added, it is similar to—but thicker and smoother than—traditional Russian dressing and Thousand Island dressing. In the United States, fry sauce is commonly found in restaurants in Utah and Idaho, as well as available by mail-order. Occasionally other ingredients such as barbecue sauce are substituted for ketchup, and other variations (created independently of the Utah version) exist outside of the United States.

In the United States

The Utah-based Arctic Circle restaurant chain claims to have invented fry sauce around 1948. However, a recipe for Thousand Island dressing dating from 1900 has mayonnaise and ketchup and pickles as the only ingredients, albeit in a 1:1 ratio. Admittedly, this would not have been 'Fry Sauce' because French Fries were not known in the United States at that time. French Fries were introduced into common culture by American soldiers returning from service in the French speaking part of Belgium in World War I. Arctic Circle serves fry sauce in its restaurants in the western United States. Many other fast-food restaurants and family restaurants in the region, such as Carl's Jr, Crown Burgers, Apollo Burger, and Hires Big H, also offer their own versions of the sauce. Some variations include chopped pickles, chopped onions, and shredded cabbage. Utah franchise locations of McDonald's also carried fry sauce until 1997. Many other national fast food restaurants in Utah and nearby states serve fry sauce.

In Idaho and the Pacific Northwest, fry sauce is also popular and is found at many local restaurants as well as chains such as Dairy Queen and Sonic.

In the 2008 film Step Brothers, there is a scene in which the main characters referred to a home-made sauce of ketchup and mayonnaise as "fancy sauce".

In early 2010, Stephen's Gourmet began distributing a bottled, shelf-stable traditional fry sauce to grocery store and mass merchandise chains throughout the United States. It hit the shelves in Utah and the Pacific Northwest in May 2010. Prior to that, a company bottled fry sauce sold mainly in Utah called "Some Dude's Fry Sauce." Similar to Stephen's variety, it is also shelf stable and sold in grocery chains throughout Utah and parts of Idaho. The Utah-based Arctic Circle also now sells their fry sauce in bottles at most of their locations.

International variations

In Argentina, a similar condiment known as salsa golf, or "golf sauce," is a popular dressing for fries, burgers, and steak sandwiches. According to tradition, the sauce was invented by Nobel laureate and restaurant patron Luis Federico Leloir at the "Golf Club" in Mar del Plata, Argentina, during the mid 1920s.

In Brazil, many fast food restaurants provide "rosé sauce" (equal parts mayonnaise and ketchup, sometimes with hot sauce added) alongside the traditional ketchup and mustard with fries and onion rings.

In Costa Rica, a salad dressing called Salsa Rosada (pink sauce) is served with a cabbage salad. The main Salsa Rosada ingredients are ketchup and mayonnaise.

In Belgium, the mixture of mayonnaise and ketchup is known as cocktailsaus or sauce cocktail, often refined with the addition of some paprika powder or whisky. Mayonnaise and ketchup separately on a dish (usually fries) and topped with freshly chopped onion is known as speciaal. A mixture of ketchup, mayonnaise, finely chopped onion and sometimes spices is known as "riche", literally "rich sauce".

In the Netherlands a variation of mayonnaise is served with fries which is calles fritessaus, it contains less fat then regular mayonnaise. In contrast to Belgium a frites speciaal consists of French fries, fritessaus, curry ketchup, and finely sliced onions.

In France, many Turkish restaurants and other fast-food establishments serve fry sauce and call it sauce américaine; it is also common for customers to request "ketchup-mayo"—a dab of mayonnaise and a dab of ketchup—alongside their French fries at such places. Both American sauce and the more thousand-island like sauce cocktail (somewhat similar to that of Iceland) can often be found in supermarkets, and occasionally also premixed "ketchup-mayo."

In Germany, a popular product called 'Rot Weiss', meaning 'red white' is sold in toothpaste-style tubes, and consists of ketchup and mayonnaise, while "Pommes-Soße" ("Pommes" is the commonly used word for "Fries," so this is "Fry Sauce") is a lightly spiced mayonnaise.

In Iceland, a condiment similar to fry sauce called Kokteilsósa ("cocktail sauce") is popular. Originally, the sauce was used with prawn cocktails—hence the name—but in course of time, it became indispensable with French fried potatoes. However, Icelanders use the sauce with many other dishes, including hamburgers, pizza, hotdogs, and fried fish. Substituting sour cream for some part of the mayonnaise is also popular, making the resulting sauce thicker and somewhat healthier.^{[citation needed]}

In Ireland the sauce is commonly known as pink sauce, taco sauce, cocktail sauce or burger sauce and is enjoyed as an accompaniment to chicken goujons, chips and burgers.

In Macedonia, liberal amounts of ketchup and mayonnaise are often served with grilled sandwiches, French fries, and the ubiquitous Balkan hamburger-like pleskavica.

In Puerto Rico, the sauce is commonly known "mayoketchup" and is prepared with ketchup, mayonnaise, garlic and a hint of lemon. The sauce is often used as a dip for sorullos, tostones, and other fried dishes as part of the traditional cuisine of Puerto Rico.

In Quebec, Canada, it is one of the standard sauces eaten with fondue chinoise.

In the United Kingdom, fry sauce is commonly known as burger sauce. Mustard is often added.

In Venezuela, fry sauce is known as 'Salsa Rosada'(same as Costa Rica) and it's usually served at parties with snacks like Meatballs, Pigs in a blanket and Tequeños.

See also

• French fries - accompaniments
• Remoulade
• Thousand Island dressing
• Russian dressing
• Fritessaus

External links

• Stephen's Gourmet Fry Sauce
• "The creators of fry sauce turn 60" — KSL.com
• "Fry sauce and Arctic Circle hit big 6-0" — Deseret Morning News
• "There's green Jell-O on your lapel..." — Deseret Morning News
• Fry Sauce Article at About.com
• Some Dude's Fry Sauce
• Fry Sauce Recipe at allrecipes.com
• Fry Sauce Recipe at Recipe Goldmine
• "Information About Fry Sauce"
• Fry Sauce Fan Page on Facebook