Fry sauce with fries | |
| Type | Sauce |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | United States |
| Region or state | Utah |
| Main ingredients | Ketchup, mayonnaise |
Fry sauce is a condiment often served with French fries or tostones (twice-fried plantain slices) in many places in the world. It is usually a combination of one part tomato ketchup and two parts mayonnaise.[1] Historically, the Argentinian salsa golf is most likely the first ketchup and mayonnaise sauce,[2] having been invented in the 1920s by Luis Leloir.[3]
Although sauce composed of a mixture of equal parts ketchup and mayonnaise appears in a New Orleans cookbook published in 1900,[4] fry sauce was popularized in Utah.[5] It may have first appeared there in 1955 at Stan's Drive-In, which was then a franchise of Arctic Circle. Another possible origin for fry sauce was the "pink sauce" served in 1941 at Don Carlos Barbecue in Salt Lake City.[5] [6] In his essay on Utah fry sauce, Michael P. Christensen noted that fry sauce "functions as a cultural identifier for Utahns."[6] The Arctic Circle chain still serves fry sauce in its western United States restaurants.[7]
In April 2018, Heinz announced the release of "Mayochup", a mixture of the two sauces,[8] because 500,000+ users voted "yes" in a Twitter poll asking Americans if they wanted to see it in stores. A number of Twitter users responded that such a mixture already existed as "fry sauce" and "fancy sauce".[9][10] The sauce arrived at U.S. retailers' shelves in September 2018.[11][8]
The sauce is also closely related to Yum Yum sauce, which is popular in Japanese steakhouses in America.[12]
In Argentina and Uruguay, a similar condiment known as salsa golf (golf sauce) is a popular dressing for fries, burgers, steak sandwiches, and seafood salads. According to tradition, the sauce was invented by Luis Federico Leloir, a Nobel laureate and restaurant patron, at a golf club in Mar del Plata, Argentina, during the mid-1920s.[5][3][13]
In France, many Turkish restaurants and fast food establishments serve fry sauce and call it sauce cocktail; 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 sauce cocktail and the Thousand Island dressing-like sauce cocktail can often be found in supermarkets.[14][15]
In Germany, a popular product called Rot Weiß (red white) is sold in toothpaste-style tubes; it consists of unmixed ketchup and mayonnaise, which form a red-and-white striped string when squeezed out. Fries at restaurants are sometimes served with an equal mixture of ketchup and mayonnaise.[16] This style of serving is often called Pommes Rot-Weiß or, colloquially Pommes Schranke (barrier gate) due to the red-and-white coloration of those. Pommes-Soße or Frittensoße (fry sauce) is a lightly spiced mayonnaise similar to the Dutch Fritessaus. A condiment similar to the American fry sauce is known as Cocktailsoße, but it is more often used for döner kebab than for French fries.
In Iceland, a condiment similar to fry sauce called Kokteilsósa (cocktail sauce) is popular.[17]
In the Philippines, a similar sauce is made by combining mayonnaise and banana ketchup. It is commonly used as a dipping sauce for fried food like french fries and cheese sticks (deep fried cheese wrapped in lumpia wrapper) but also for appetizers like lumpia.[18][19]
In the United Kingdom, more specifically, London, this sauce is known as "burger sauce", and is served in one of two ways:
In Puerto Rico, mayokétchup is widely used with tostones, sandwiches, burgers, and fried foods. It is made of two parts ketchup and one part mayonnaise with the addition of garlic.[21]
