Extra virgin olive oil rarely comes to mind when we think about French fries. Yet cookbook author Fran Gage has completely changed that perception.

“You can absolutely deep-fry with extra virgin olive oil,” explains Gage. “There is a widespread misconception that extra virgin olive oil cannot withstand the temperatures required for deep frying — which simply isn’t true.”

She describes how she used extra virgin olive oil to prepare what she called “fabulous” French fries for a lunch celebrating the release of her book The New American Olive Oil (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2009), dedicated to small-scale, quality-driven olive oil producers.

After several trials, she concluded that Russet potatoes performed better than Yukon Golds. She also opted for a two-stage soak in cold water: first with the potatoes peeled, and then again after cutting them into the classic fry shape.

The olive oil was heated to 380°F (approximately 193°C). At that point, as she admits, she “crossed her fingers.”

“The timing on the day of the event was perfect. As I was finishing the olive oil tasting, the kitchen staff was putting the final touches on the dishes. When everyone was seated, the fries were served straight from the fryer — crisp, aromatic, and with a cleaner taste than any fried potato I had ever experienced.”

On her website, Gage provides further insight into deep frying with extra virgin olive oil:

“While 450°F is indeed too hot for extra virgin olive oil, at 380°F — or slightly higher — the oil does not smoke, which indicates that its components are not breaking down.”

“The smoke point depends on the level of free fatty acids. Most refined oils used for deep frying have had these removed. Extra virgin olive oil, however, naturally contains very low acidity, making it particularly suitable.”

Food scientist Harold McGee, in his classic work On Food and Cooking (Scribner, 2004), notes that the breakdown of fats during deep frying can be slowed by using a tall, narrow pan, thereby reducing the oil’s exposure to air.

He also highlights an important consideration: “The smoke point of a frying fat is lowered each time it is reused, as some degree of degradation is inevitable and small food particles remain in the oil.”