- Charcuterie boards seem to be having a big moment, with several Instagram accounts dedicated solely to the art of building visually pleasing cheese platters.
- Food blogger Sarah Gim of “The Delicious Life” puts her own spin on the charcuterie board by filling it with a rainbow of french fries and dips.
- Insider spoke with Gim, who shared her dos and don’ts of building the perfect french fry board.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Cheese boards have always been in style.
But for Sarah Gim, a Los Angeles-based food blogger behind the colorful Instagram account and blog, “The Delicious Life,” the classic charcuterie board is a blank canvas that can always benefit from a creative twist.
Gim told Insider that in her mind, everything is better with french fries. In July 2019, when she was asked to do a sponsored post involving frozen french fries, she developed the concept of the “fry board.”
“Things have gone way beyond just cheese and charcuterie,” Gim said. “You can really put anything on your board that’s inspiring at the time.”
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After Gim shared her first french fry board photo on Instagram over the summer, she said she's noticed the arrangement popping up under the hashtags #FryBoard and #FriesBoard, as well as at restaurants.
"I have noticed some restaurants picking up on the trend," she said. "I love seeing people add their own twist to it."
That being said, the blogger has a few guiding principles when it comes to building a tasty (and visually appealing) presentation of everyone's favorite starchy snack.
1. Stick to between three and five types of fries
Gim said that the secret to a successful fry board is using as close to five shapes of french fries as possible.
"You could just do two types, like half shoe-string fries and half sweet potato fries, but that's nothing special because you could get it anywhere," Gim said. "I think three to five types of fries just makes it more interesting to look at."
Above, she separated each fry type into its own section: steak fries, shoe-string fries, sweet potato fries, crinkle fries, and waffle fries.
2. Use frozen fries and bake them all at once
Gim said there's no need to overcomplicate things by hand-making the fries, "unless you're a hero."
The food blogger said she swears by frozen french fries that can be found at most grocery stores.
"I like to do everything with frozen fries. It usually takes about 20 or 25 minutes, and while they're baking, you can put together all of the sauces," Gim said.
3. Add contrast with fresh elements, like vegetables, citrus, and seasoning
Gim said that adding contrast - both in color and in taste - is the key to making a visually interesting and delicious fry board.
For example, Gim made a homemade beet hummus, which is the fuchsia-colored sauce in the board pictured above. She used chickpeas and roasted beets.
"It's just something different. You could use regular hummus, too, which also adds a freshness," she said. "I just think it's fun to have a pop of color."
She also suggested adding avocado slices, limes or lemons, or fresh seasonings or grated cheese on top of certain sections of fries.
4. Set a limit and don't overthink it
When in doubt, Gim said, go with your gut and don't overcomplicate the board.
"There are a lot of things I've thought of adding to my french fry boards, like potato chips, for example," she said. "But I think sticking to one category of food, in my case, fries - and playing up different types, is the way to go and keeps the board from looking too messy or overcomplicated."
Gim said she has more of these french fry displays up her sleeve, and that her philosophy is to bring her wildest food dreams to life and share them with her fans online - as well as with friends who can help her eat her creations in real life.
"Honestly, whatever I can imagine, I put it on the board," she said.