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From: Dawn
Sent: Monday, July 28, 2014 3:18 PM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Subject: Recipe search
When I was a senior in high school we used to go to a bar called the Embassy Hotel in Windsor, Ontario .
This was approx. 35 years ago.
This bar is no longer open. While it was open, they served a deep fried bar snack called “Polynesian Chips“.
These would come to your table piping hot with wedges of lemon on the side. I have no idea how these were made
– they looked like deep fried fish – but were not fish. They were potatoes ? but cooked in a different way.
These were popular for years at this establishment . However , try as I might I cannot find anything on the
internet that resembles this. These are not potato chips in the conventional sense. They were thick cut and
maybe battered ?
This is a minor annoyance in my life – so if you cannot help, I will survive .
Thank you !
Hi Dawn,
Sorry, I had no success. The only mention that I can find of the Embassy Hotel Lounge in Windsor, Ontario is that
it was the last place that a band called “The Rationals” played before they broke up in about 1970.
The only mention that I can find of “Polynesian chips” is for a mixture of kettle-cooked potato chips and fried
won tons that is served with sandwiches at a restaurant in Disney World Florida called “Captain Cook’s.”
I could not find anything else.
I’ll post this on my site in case a reader can help.
Phaed
These are a Polynesian chip. Love your site. Bryan
Taro Chips
Taro Chips (like Potato Chips)
By Dug
Dug's Note:
The taro root, avilable in most supermarkets, is cultivated in many areas of the world including West Africa, A ...
Servings: 8
Ingredients:
2 -3 taro root, about 2 inches in diameter.
3 -4 cups vegetable oil, for deep frying.
salt
Directions:
1 Place oil in a deep fryer and heat to 350°F.
2 Slice Taro Roots thinly (perhaps a bit thicker than a potato chip).
3 Fry the sliced Taro in small batches until lightly golden (about 2 minutes).
4 Drain on paper towels and salt lightly.
5 Eat as they are or use as dippers.
=================================================
From: pattie
Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2015 9:56 PM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Subject: Polynesian chips
Just saw the question from Dawn about them well the Polynesian chips were at the DROP INN on Tecuhseh rd just a
few doors down from The Embassy in Windsor Ontario just wanted to let u know maybe u can get a receipe I would
love to make these as I use to go to The Drop Inn for them thank u Patricia London, Ont
Hello Pattie,
This site says it was the DO Drop Inn on Tecumseh: International Metropolis
Doesn’t matter. I didn’t find anything new at all about Polynesian Chips.
Phaed
From: "Carol"
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Subject: Polynesian chips please open
Date: Wednesday, August 17, 2016 6:25 PM
Hello
I am from Windsor and ran across your wanting the recipe for Polynesian chips.
I think I ran across your website from a google search. Anyways here is the basic idea.
They used to make them at the Drop Inn and it was only made from the polynesian cook they had.
I don't have the exact recipe but all it is is here:
Peeled whole potatoes cut as thin as possible but still leaving each piece whole.
Cut as many slices as you can. Now: Dip each piece in batter and then slide extra
batter off side of dish and drop in oil for frying. Since they are so thin just cook
until batter starts to light brown.
big question Batter. Use what you want. fish batter, pancake batter,flour and beer batter.
Try what you like and no matter how thick the batter make sure each piece only has enough
batter but not too much.
Takes awhile or big pot because you are doing each piece at a time. Just take a few seconds in
between each slice so they don't go into each other. salt them whrn you drain after.
Hint: I just put a whole bunch of potatoes in the batter and take one at a time out beside the
oil and drop them in.
May be able to get the exact batter recipe but I'm sure you will see what you like by trying.
Good luck and hope you get this email.Carol
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Subject: Polynesian Chips
From: Tim
Date: 1/9/2022, 4:30 PM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
On 1/9/2022 2:56 PM, Tim wrote:
Hello, I too am from Windsor and enjoyed the Polynesian Chips at the Drop In Tavern
on Tecumseh Rd in the late 70’s early 80’s.
I have tried different methods to recreate these and read the 2016 email Carol sent
you and the method she thought was the recipe.
Sounds very plausible but I have a hard time thinking that every potato slice was
dipped and individually dropped in oil then removed.
These came by the basket and our group of shuffleboard beer drinking buddies ordered
baskets at a time. Usually there were 5-8 guys ordering these.
Every time they came out hot, fluffy and tasted great.
There must be a step missing and these must have somehow been frozen like fries or
onion rings then dropped in the oil by the handful.
I think Carols very close but perhaps 6 years after her submission there’s another
person from WF Herman SS who can shed more light on these tasty treats.
Tim
Hi Tim,
Your email reminded me that I had a another, more recent email that contained information that I had never posted:
Hi,
The Polynesian chips came from the Drop In on Tecumseh Rd at George. Lily and Albert
did the cooking and Albert sometimes was at the door when live music played and there
was a cover charge to get in. The Drop In closed around the mid 80’s, not sure exactly.
Hope this helped. Cheers, G.
My source doesn’t remember their last names, but Lily told my source that she used
pancake mix and dollar sliced potatoes – deep fry. I’ll have to try it and see lol.
Cheers, Glen.
Carol dipped hers and fried them as she did because she probably didn't want them crowding together, sticking to
each other and clumping. She wasn't actually saying that they were fried that way at the Drop In. I worked as a
fry cook for a couple of years when I was in high school, and it seems to me that perhaps her oil wasn't hot enough.
If the oil were hotter and the chips were stirred a bit as they cooked, or the basket shaken, if cooking them in a
fry basket, Then I think they would quickly form a crust that would prevent them from sticking together. Another thing
to consider is the size of the deep fryer or fryer basket or pot. The Drop In might have had a large fryer with large
and multiple baskets.
Glen's source claims to have gotten their information directly from Lily, one of the cooks at the Drop In, so I'd try
a batter made from pancake mix. It seems to me that another batter that would be worth trying would be beer batter
like that used for deep frying fish.
Phaed
From: Paula
Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2014 7:27 PM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Subject: Leslie's Chicken Shack - ROLLS
Dear Uncle Phaedrus:
Please work your magic and find the recipe for Leslie's Chicken Shack's yeast rolls. They don't have a "name" -
but they were the most delicious, melt in your mouth yeast rolls ever. Came served in all-you-could eat baskets -
the Baylor football guys would eat mountains of them. Some people dredged 'em in honey, but they were simply
delicious without.
I ate my share of them circa 1982-1986 at the original Leslie's Chicken Shack on the Old Dallas Highway in Waco, TX
that opened back in 1934 (I remember the 50th Anniversary, and several websites listed this as the original location's
founding, and my dad remembered stopping there in driving through Texas in the 1930's as a boy). It closed in the 1990's,
I believe - they had other locations through the years in Dallas, Ft. Worth, etc., but the original one was in Waco.
I did my required homework (site archive search :) ) and have seen posts on your page and on several blogs discussing
various supposedly authentic recipes for the chicken - but it's the rolls that were the best. Can't believe no one's
asked for them! I've also seen posted stories that someone in the family (I think several original family members
owned it in the end...seem to be called the Strange Family...have seen Leslie Strange and Frank Strange) owned it in
the end, and I've never known why it closed - family dispute? money issues? but some of the bloggers say someone in
the family at one offered to sell the place + the recipes for $600k. So, not sure if that's why you don't find the
real recipes floating around. No one discusses the roll recipe....
Will be forever grateful if you can sleuth and find this one.
Best regards,
Paula
Hi Paula,
Sorry, I found lots of raves about the rolls, but no recipes, not even a copycat or tastes-like.
I’ll post this.
Phaed
From: Vickie
Sent: Monday, July 28, 2014 9:21 PM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Subject: Mrs Wages mix recipes
Hi
I am looking for recipes for Mrs Wages salsa mix, bread and butter pickle mix and pasta mix. I can't find them anywhere.
Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Hello Vickie,
Sorry, I had no success finding any copycat recipes or tastes-like recipes for any of Mrs. Wages commercial dry mixes.
Phaed
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