Maple Syrup Is What Your French Fries Have Been Waiting For

The little ramekin or packet next to an order of french fries is usually filled with ketchup, but fries can be dipped into a seemingly endless number of sauces. Aioli with garlic or kimchi, plain mayo, or cheese sauce are savory crowd pleasers. Many popular pairings for a salty french fry, like ketchup or barbecue sauce, have a hint (or even a hit) of sweetness. The new sweet kid on the block for french fries is maple syrup.

The sweet of the syrup and savory of the fries work together to wake up our palate. Sweet maple syrup is used in many beloved savory dishes, like chicken and waffles, maple glazed bacon, and maple bourbon pork ribs, because that layering of flavors (hitting more than one of our taste sensations at a time) makes our taste buds happy. It is the same effect as adding salt to desserts, which makes the sweet even sweeter. (Have you ever tried to make butterscotch taste good without salt?)

Serving crispy, salty french fries with maple syrup offers more complexity and novelty than most traditional fry sauces. And if you like your dipping sauce to have a little more body, simply mix the syrup with mayo and a bit of sugar to make your own creamy maple dip. 

One restaurant in the U.S. that gained attention for serving french fries with maple syrup is Kolachi, a New York City "rolls & fries" restaurant in the East Village. The restaurant's Diesel Fries, named after a popular Pakistani street food, are spicy, traditional-cut fries that are perfect for dipping in maple syrup. In Pakistan, these fries are served with a sweet sauce, so Kolachi substituted maple syrup to achieve a similar flavor. 

Kolachi is not alone in the maple syrup trend. Another Manhattan restaurant, Schnipper's, offers french fries with a maple dipping sauce. Maple-glazed sweet potato fries are a staple on the menu in Wyoming at The Depot. Even maple syrup producers, like Parker's Maple, are getting into the maple fry game, encouraging a maple-mustard dipping sauce. 

Try this combination at home and serve fries with your version of a sweet and spicy dipping sauce. Long-time favorite honey mustard made with maple tastes of caramel and highlights the zing from the mustard, and adding red chile flakes to ricotta, olive oil, and maple puts a new spin on whipped ricotta dip.