Hail Thee,

> What are your views on vinegar?

YUCK !

I am looking forward to my trip to London with dreaded anticipation. The British have a reputation for torturing fries with vinegar and executing meat with peppermint sauce.

> Every chip shop here has those two squirt bottles on the counter for the client's personal preferences.

Hmmm, in Germany you'll mostly find 3 squirts and it will certainly fill your heart with joy to know that neither of them is vinegar:

white = mayonaise
yellow = mustard
red = tomato

> McDonalds-style fries (thin crunchy salty things from which all resemblance to potatohood has been deep-fried away) can be dipped in milkshakes.

Let me get this straight : you would dip something coated with a 1mm layer of salt into a milkshshake ? Ummm .... this might actually be slightly worse than soaking them with vinegar, you know ?

>Normal chips (big thick half-crunchy half-soggy things which come wrapped in greasy newspaper) dipped in milkshakes would be an abomination.

We call those "Belgium Fries". The rule of thumb is that the bigger and more soggy they are the more "Belgium" they are. Theoretical examination of this thesis leads us to suspect that a fried potato is the most "Belgium" you can get.

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Stephan