Fry-day night fever: Idaho spud-lovers break record with largest serving of French fries
On a Friday afternoon, with the sun shining against the blue sky in Idaho, USA sky, you see it – a gigantic fiberglass potato, larger than a minivan, being pulled atop a fiery red flatbed truck.
That’s right folks, the French fry masters are here… and they’ve brought veggies aplenty.
On 2 October, the Idaho Potato Commission teamed up with the Boise restaurant Spud Daddy (both USA) to take on the Guinness World Records title for the largest serving of chips (fries) on Earth.
With Idaho being the largest producer of potatoes in the USA, the Potato Commission protects, identifies (with a “Grown in Idaho” sticker), and promotes their taters across the States – while Spud Daddy turns them into delicious baked potatoes for hungry mouths in the area.
Naturally, the two groups thought they’d combine their efforts to bring the title back to the US, overtaking the previous record of 659 kg (1,452.85 lb) set by Chandresh Bayad (India) back in 2018.
And that they did – chopping up thousands of Sun Supreme potatoes to create 668.6 kg (1,474 lb) of flash-fried French fries, and officially taking the tuber title.
To produce the massive amount of French fries that they’d need for the attempt, Spud Daddy and the Commission sliced many of the potatoes in advance, freezing and storing them in an enormous truck to prepare for the big day.
They did prepare all the chips on-site, however, within four giant commercial fryers that bubbled with golden-coloured oil and released the scent of crispy potatoes into the Idaho air.
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It took the volunteers hours to prepare all of the fries that they’d need to break the record, as they transferred the salted sticks into a mammoth container marked “Spud Daddy” on the site.
Yet as it filled higher and higher, and the smells of the freshly-cooked frites filled the surrounding area, the crowd became more and more excited to taste a part of potato history.
By 8 p.m., the record-setting spuds were finally ready to be weighed, so Guinness World Records Adjudicator Michael Empric met up with health supervisors to confirm the size of the giant pile.
It officially clocked in at 668.6 kg (1,474 lb) – that’s roughly the size of a full-grown cow – granting Spud Daddy and the Idaho Potato Commission the tater-tastic title.
As the groups celebrated, the volunteers then began portioning out the fries for the hungry crowd, preserving the rest of the uncooked potatoes for future use at the Spud Daddy restaurant and food trucks.
The mascot of the brand, Spud Daddy – a giant anthropomorphic Idaho potato – went around giving high-fives and congratulating the crew, continuing the festive French fry spirit.
Attendees were thrilled to then pick up their servings of the delicious spuds – and as they munched on the crispy chips, they could watch the sun go down on a record-breaking Idaho night… with its rays falling gracefully atop the massive potato, shining on its giant truck.