French Fries Fried Right: ‘Taste the Difference’ Challenge Set for July 23 at the Orange County Fair

Remember how McDonald’s used to cook up their fries way back when?

Beef fat (technically, beef tallow) was the secret ingredient and the taste was, well, legendary. Evoking the good old days, Coast Packing Company, the West’s leading supplier of animal fat beef tallow and lard, and Charles “Chicken Charlie” Boghosian – the deep-fry king of San Diego and points north – will host the Taste the Difference Challenge, a blind taste test for “French Fries Fried Right.” The Challenge is set for Sunday, July 23, from 5:00 – 6:30 p.m., on the Main Culinary Stage at the Orange County Fair, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa, 92626.

Selected fairgoers will have an opportunity to literally taste the difference between Burbank russet potatoes cooked in vegetable oil versus beef tallow, as Chicken Charlie fries up the two varieties for blind taste-testings on-stage. The 50 consumers will then vote for the fries with the best flavor, texture and color, submitting their ballots to determine what really constitutes “French Fries Fried Right.”

“As it happens, July 13 has been designated as National Beef Tallow Day and while that doesn’t become official until next year, we think beef fat truly does produce a better French fry – any day of the year,” said Eric R. Gustafson, CEO, Coast Packing. “That said, we trust that participating OC Fairgoers will feel the same way. Let the frying begin!”

“We’re delighted that the OC Fair will host this very special ‘Taste the Difference’ Challenge,” said Pamela Wnuck, Culinary Supervisor for the Orange County Fair. “It’s exactly the kind of FARM FRESH FUN, hands-on experience that we love to offer to fair-goers. People are passionate about French fries, and with Chicken Charlie and Coast Packing cooking things up, it promises to be a delicious fry-off.”