Curly fries

The creation date of the curly fry has yet to be pinpointed, but its existence can be traced back to the 19th century.[1] Oklahoma City's Dolores Restaurant and Inn served curly fries as “Suzi-Q potatoes” in 1938.[3] In the 1980s, Washington company TaterBoy had the debut of the industrial “Curley Fries.”[1] The first company to produce curly fries in mass quantities is Simplot, which used the specific blend of spices that became popular.[2] Arby's is well known for curly fries, but they didn’t introduce them until 1988.[1] However, Arby’s may have been the first company to utilize Cajun-style seasoning on their “Curly-Q Fries.”[4]

Arby's curly fries

ConAgra Foods, the company which produces Arby's famous curly fries, uses powerful industrial machinery such as spiralisers or spiral scissors to turn whole potatoes into the curly fry shape.[5] First, the potatoes are cleaned, then are propelled through a set of pipes at 60 miles per hour by water. In the pipes, the potatoes are held in place and sliced by rotating blades, producing a spiral that has been found to go over two and a half feet long when stretched out. The fries are then blanched, dried, battered with a mixture with the seasoning inside, fried, frozen, and refried at the restaurant.[2]