Foiled by Fravos

Today’s previously scheduled post has been delayed. Why? I’m actually doing some research!

If you’ve been following the blog recently, you are probably familiar with my new struggle regarding french fries. It all started with the Harvard professor’s finding that the right number of fries is six, provided they are accompanied by a side salad. And while I agree with most people that six is a ridiculously low number for a serving of fries, I support the notion of fewer fries.

What I discovered this week is that the problem isn’t just fried potatoes, but it can be fried anything. And yesterday, when I was trying to be moderate, fried foods foiled my best efforts.

One of the things I have always loved about Slidin’ Dirty is how you can order small portions a la carte. For example, you can get just one slider if you like. And you can ask for a side of macaroni and cheese, if you would rather have a few bites than a full plate.

The other thing I have always loved about Slidin’ Dirty is their fravos. Although back in the day, they were just called avocado fries. Have a written a post that’s an ode to the fravo? There are at least a couple that mention my love for these things.

So there I was at Slidin’ Dirty in Schenectady for a lunch meeting with a fellow who had never been to Slidin’ Dirty before. Clearly, we had to get a plate of fravos for the table to share. Because I was going to have a few slices of deep fried avocado, I decided to keep the rest of my order quite moderate. Lunch was just one chicken slider and a side arugula salad. And I thought that would be okay.

However, in the end, I had once again eaten too much.

Slidin’ Dirty isn’t to blame. They make it as easy for people to order as little food as possible. And while it’s hard for me to blame the fravos, as much as I love them, I’m totally going to throw these delicious treats under the bus.

Fried foods are just heavy. They are calorically dense. And when you start paying attention to just how full they make you feel, the idea of drastically limiting your intake is no longer that ridiculous. So even though it sounds absurd to say, intuitively I feel a serving size of fravos is probably around three… ideally with a small salad on the side.

Next time, the answer may be to get the smaller “side order” of avocado fries to share instead of the platter on the “sharables” portion of the menu. Because really, with the right utensils and serving ware, anything is sharable.

Live and learn. Live and learn.