Nutella Fries Exist, Please Discuss
I fully support the idea of Nutella fries. It also kind of makes my stomach hurt. A restaurant in Australia is breaking minds and hearts with its recent debut of Nutella fries, and naturally the internet has a lot of feelings about the dish. Is it gross? Is it the greatest amalgamation of snack foods to ever exist? An order of Nutella fries at Butter in Sydney is really quite simple: an order of standard-cut fries splatter painted with Nutella topped with a handful of crushed hazelnuts. The side dish (dessert?) that launched a thousand opinions was announced via Butter’s Instagram as a May special, so unless you want to make Nutella fries yourself, you may want to book a flight down under.
Are Nutella fries a good thing? My two-plus decades of experience eating both fries and Nutella with great passion has me feeling like this dish is all I’ve ever wanted. Sweet and salty is a dream combination, and I’d like to enter into the record chocolate-covered pretzels and Peanut M&Ms for any who disagree. While the idea of covering fries with chocolate isn’t novel, (McDonalds in Japan has tried to make chocolate fries a thing on more than one occasion) Butter seems to be onto something by choosing Nutella as their drizzle of choice. The rich, round flavor of the hazelnut chocolate spread makes a more appealing pairing to hot potatoes than saccharine chocolate syrup or plain melted chocolate, which is quickly to resolidify to a lumpy and unappealing texture. Plus, I challenge anyone to be put off my any dish topped with toasted hazelnuts. The salt and fat, the nutty chocolate, the finishing crunch all prep Nutella fries to be the most appealing Frankenfood since the Cronut.
On the other hand, “a pile of Nutella fries” also sounds something I’d create in a fever dream. I’m always down to order fries, and I firmly believe most bad days can be cured with a spoonful of Nutella. But somehow, even a chocolate-covered potato chip sounds more appealing than a plate of fries dripping with Nutella. There’s something about making a chocolate craving both hot and starchy that’s tripping me up. Just because one can create a Frankenfood doesn’t necessarily mean one should. Though, I guess it’s all going to the same place, right?
