And speaking of chips, when I was young my (Londoner) Mum used to make "french fried" potatoes. These were made by boiling potato slices (about half inch or one centimetre thick), and then frying them in butter in a shallow pan.

Properly made they were crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, and were delicious.

The penchant for McDonalds to call skinny chips "french fries" or "fries" is therefore odd to me.

Does anyone know the true origin of the term?

Regards
Chris