[MelissaJayne]

In my opinion, the perfect chip is simple. Crunch. I LOVE A CRUNCHY CHIP! Be it a chunky one, a homemade triple cooked one, one from take away, fast food chips.

[Jake22]

I don't consider McDonalds potato offering to be chips; I prefer to make a distinction between chips and fries/frites. The main distinction being thickness and whether or not they have whole potato inside or just mashed/reconstituted stuff.

For a great chip, I prefer a floury type of potato such as a Maris Piper. More recently, (since they have been pushing them at Morrisons) I prefer the Rooster potato which is similar to the Desiree in looks but is IMO more floury. I like them roughly cut, about half an inch thick and however long the potato is (to a limit - cut in half lengthways for the bigger spuds). Then, simply deep fried until golden and sprinkled with salt and and a modest sprinkle of vinegar applied just before eating. I always just get salt at the chippy and apply vinegar at home if I'm not going to eat them straight away.

I don't actually own a decent chip pan so if I make them at home, I shallow fry them (quarter of an inch of oil) and flip often. To be honest, I think they taste just as good that way.

EDIT: God, I sound like an anal retentive. I am not actually all that fussy about chips or fries... this is all just in theory really.

[PatrickD]

I have to agree with Jake22 here; quite thick cut, crispy on the outside and floury within.

I, however, prefer a generous glug (or three) of vinegar, along with salt, to cut through the floury texture and complement the delicious savoury flavour of real potato.

Mind you, provided it's cooked through and is a chip/fry I will happily eat it however it comes.

[helen-a-ravenclaw]

Oh, the perfect chip is hard to define, or find.

But for me it's got to be chunky, fluffy and full of flavour. My favourite cut has to be the rustic style with the skin left on. Then add a little bit of spice to the chips while cooking, and have some smokey BBQ sauce to dip them in. Mmm.

Those are a bit fancy, so my other favourite has to be the good ol' chip shop chips. A little bit soggy, but oh so good. Especially when you get the little ones that are all crisp and no fluff. Mmm.

[I<3LAMP]

Chunky chips, golden, fluffy on the inside. I like mine oven cooked til semi crisp with cayenne pepper- skin ON if wedge shaped and dipped in salad cream OR fat and chunky fish shop style vinegared and salted with a squeeze of lemon.

I like the scrag ends that are basically left over fried bits of stuff. Oh yes.

[dani_1991]

I think it depends if I'm making them or buying them. If making them, it's gotta be thin and crispy, and I mean CRISPY, none of this soggy sad chip nonsense people seem to like. They need to have a cruch and a crispy outside, matched with the soft potato inners. Delightful!
But, if I'm buying chips somewhere, I want em thicker, more BOOM I'MA CHIP sorta style, you know where your money went, no need to search. Chippy chips are shop bought chip royalty, closely followed by pub restaurant ones, the ones that, if they were any bigger, would be confused for a small potato alone.

[TotoMimo]

VERDICT: THOUGH THERE ARE NUMEROUS DIFFERENT OPINIONS ON THE SEASONING AND POTATO USED FOR THE CHIP, ONE CONSTANT IN OPINIONS IS THAT THE CHIP SHOULD BE CHUNKY AND CRISPY/CRUNCHY. A THICKLY CUT, BIT CRUNCHY CHIP REGARDLESS OF PREPARATION, STANDS ALONE AS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT. MARIS PIPERS OR ALBERT BARTLETT ROOSTERS, SUNFLOWER OIL OR OLIVE; SO LONG AS YOUR CHIP IS BIG AND CRUNCHY, TSR IS SATISFIED!!

Nice one, tsr.

[TotoMimo]

WEDNESDAY 11TH JULY

TODAYS DEBATE: In your opinion, and state your reasoning - which cuisines are the most and least vegetarian-friendly?

[dani_1991]

Jeeeeze Toto, wanna get us thinking ey!
I'd say one of the most vegetarian friendly places/cuisine is the great NYC. Why you ask? Because they are so goddam fussy that the restaurants HAVE to cater for them, so if you're a veggie it's easily done. It's all the sorry I don't eat 'x', im on a tomato diet, can you take 'x' out or change this for that etc etc. they may as well have open menus like pizza places with their choose your own toppings! But due to the growing demanding customer id say the NYC welcomes a simple veggie! It's probably easier to cater for them than most others!

I'd say one of the least veggie cuisines may be something like German, because much of their dishes are based around the infamous sausage and a lot of meat like beef. But I may be mistaken, so shoot me!

[skunky x]

Most friendly - Indian and Sub Indian Continent food. A lot of their stuff is originally vegetarian as a) it was very hard, prior to the invention of the fridge, to keep meat from going rancid and b) both Hindus and Muslims either have restricted meat diets or are vegetarian.

Least friendly - German. Wurst, and schnitzel, the moral vegetarian's worst nightmare. 'Nuff said.

[MelissaJayne]

I'd agree in saying Indian is most friendly, or definitely up there. Given that about Hindus and Muslims and diet restrictions. Also, the Indian cuisine is so vast and varied given it's regional make-up. It's closely followed by Med food though, SO many vegetables. Also, if you can allow pescitarians or however it's spelled, they have a lot of fantastic fish dish.

Least i'd say yeah now Skunky says it, GERMAN! Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeat. *german accent*

[helen-a-ravenclaw]

This is a big toughie and took me a while to decide. For most friendly to vegetarians I'd have to say either Indian or American (simply because they have such a diversity so they have to cater to veggies.)

And for least, it's either got to be Greek (because the thought of someone being a vegetarian is an alien concept to some of them), German (as so many people have said) or Chinese (not because they don't offer a lot of vegetarian dishes, but because of the numerous different animals they use in recipes, I imagine it would be enough to put some vegetarians off eating if they saw it in a restaurant).

[TotoMimo]

VERDICT: TSR BELIEVES THE RELIGIOUS CULTURAL ASPECTS OF THE INDIAN REGIONS TO LEND THEMSELVES FAVOURABLYTO A VEGETARIAN DIET, AND THE SHEER TENACITY OF THE AMERICAN DEMEANOUR OF DEMAND MEANS WHAT ONE WANTS, ONE SHALL GET. ON THE OTHER HAND, AN ALMOST UNANIMOUS OPINION SAW GERMANY AS THE LEAST VEGETARIAN-FRIENDLY, PERHAPS DUE TO BEING SYNONYMOUS WITH WURSTS AND MINCED MEAT DISHES.

Good going, chipolatas!

[TotoMimo]

thursday july 12th,

today's debate: If you could pick only one meat, plant, and treat to eat forever (very specifically one of each, not "all lettuces" or "all galaxy products"), which three would you choose, taking into account health, desirability and flexibility?

[Mr. Orange]

you're still doing food threads after all this time?

fair play

[dani_1991]

Meat: Chicken. If I can't have fish, I go for chicken. I prefer it in general to other meats and it's quite adaptable.

Plant: Mushrooms. Because I love em raw, cooked, grilled, baked, fried, breaded, you name it! And it goes with mushrooms, where cucumber does not.

Treat: Dairy Milk. It's simple and effective. Gets rid of your choco cravings. Crunchie is good, but not as adaptable as DM. Melt it, or eat it solid. It's all gooood.

[MelissaJayne]

Meat: Venison. It's lean, full of good stuff, tastes amazing, can be part of a "stew" - can be a burger, can be a steak. Live like a Queen, every single day.
Plant: Mushrooms. A good protein alternative if I'm fed up of my deer. And it goes well with so many things, also they're one of my favourite flavours.
Treat: Rice pudding. Cold or warm. In a can, pot, homemade. Light of my life.

[kikukaede]

No meat, its disgusting.
Onions
No treat.

so yea just onions.

[Peggles_*]

Meat: Pork, more specifically smoky bacon. I could eat smoky bacon for the rest of my life without a worry! mmmmm so good
Plant: Mushrooms. The variety of mushrooms just trump any other vegetable.
Treat: Chocolate fondant. Just

[ihaveyourcat]

Meat: Chicken
Plant: Brocoli- yum
Treat: apple crumble with cream <3