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ANOTHER culinary institution has yielded its secrets to science. Last year
physicists described the mathematics of biscuit dunking, now a group of chemical
engineers has done the same for the humble French fry.

Mazda Krokida and her colleagues at the National Technical University of
Athens in Greece have spent a year studying what happens when chips are cooked.
鈥淭he main reason for doing this is for health reasons, to find ways of reducing
the oil content of chips,鈥� Krokida says.

The team came up with six lengthy equations that describe the physical and
chemical processes that occur when a basket of raw potato chips is dunked into a
commercial deep-fat fryer. Three of them deal with moisture loss, the others
with fat absorption. 鈥淒eep-fat frying is a complex operation,鈥� says Krokida.

The results confirm what any chip fryer knows: the fatter the chip, the
longer it takes to cook. But make the oil hotter to speed up cooking and the
chips soak up more fat, Krokida warns.

She has already used the team鈥檚 model to find ways of reducing fat
absorption. Her advice is to cook your French fries in the microwave for a
minute before tipping them in the fryer. It鈥檚 also better to use a middling
temperature and refined oil. 鈥淏ut thickness should be a matter of taste,鈥� she
adds.