French FRIES!

Are French Fries really French?

Mon amour is originally from Belgium where steak and frites|fries and moules| mussels and frites are practically national dishes.

So when he asked if French Fries originate in France, (hoping I think that the French had stolen the idea from the Belgians) I had to find out.

What I discovered in my research was a bit of a mishmash — so I decided to put it to you all to guess what is true…

Are French fries really French?

Explanation #1

The dish was discovered by American soldiers in Belgium during World War I and, since the dominant language of southern Belgium is French, they dubbed the tasty potatoes “French” fries.

It was a Bavarian musician in Germany who first cooked these potatoes in a lengthwise method with a roaster on rue Montmartre in Paris in 1842. He then took the recipe to Belgium in 1844, where he would create his business called Fritz and sell “les pommes de terre frites à l’instar de Paris”, which is “Paris-style fried potatoes.’

Explanation #3

Common lore claims that the original fry was born in Namur in francophone Belgium, where the locals were particularly fond of fried fish. When the River Meuse froze over one cold winter in 1680, people ostensibly fried potatoes instead of the small fish they were accustomed to, and thus the fry was born.

There is also much debate over who first invented the hamburger (Germany or the US?) but it was in the US that first paired hamburgers with fries.

So what do you think?

The points of contention and debate about French fries seem to be by whom and exactly when they were invented. The common denominator is that the French fry originated or took hold in French Belgium, so French fries ARE indeed French — just not from France.

Mon amour is smiling.

Maybe time to remind him that he is not French Belgiun but Flemish Belgian! And I could not find any source that claimed it was the Flemish who invented the French fry.

Skinny fries — too bad eating them doesn’t keep you skinny!

Fun Fact About French Fries

Did you know that the French aren’t keen on calling their fried potatoes French fries? Instead, they call the called pommes frites, or, more simply, frites. Potatoes in French are pommes de terre (or “apples of the earth”) and fried is frite.

A little like a French kiss eh? If you are French, is it just a kiss?

CLICK HERE to read my blog about that!

Comments Encouraged!

Tell us, how you feel about FRENCH FRIES!

Do you like skinny ones or fat ones? (I love homemade fat ones.)

How do you eat them?

With, salt, malt vinegar, catsup|ketchup, or mayonnaise?

(Mayo for me, and mon amour, who says that is what Belgians prefer. And he adds “don’t forget ‘the mustard pickles!”

Mustard pickles? on French fries?

I better leave that conversation for another day.

hmmmm….

Please LEAVE a Comment BELOW where it says “Leave a Comment” or “Read the Comments.”

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Diana Bishop the founder of The Success Story Program and A Woman of a Certain Age in Paris as well as a well-known correspondent with over 25 years working for CTV, CBC News, and NBC News. She loves travel, writing, and all things Parisienne.

8 Comments

Gretchen Greene O'Brien on March 27, 2023 at 9:29 am

Ah, the ubiquitous FRENCH FRIED POTATOES ! Haven’t found store-bought ones I like better than those made by New York Fries !!! Occasionally, Swiss Chalet serves thin fries with their chicken, which are good! Best served salty! Poutine is a treat! And hold any type of pickles!! Gretchen

- Diana Bishop on March 27, 2023 at 3:22 pm
  
  I love all of those too —- just learned from a follower, that Belgian Fries are cooked in beef fat … no wonder they are soooo good.
  Diana
  
Ellen Bishop on March 27, 2023 at 2:15 pm

I like the large steak fries (like Red Robin’s) eaten with a good ranch or blue cheese; but still the best is any variety with cheese and a good gravy.

- Diana Bishop on March 27, 2023 at 3:21 pm
  
  Oh yes, French Fries with gravy — yum! Great to hear from you Ellen! Diana
  
Hamish le Lurker on March 27, 2023 at 4:10 pm

Surely a ‘hamburger’ was originally from a ‘hamburger steak’. Similar to a Wienerschnitzel or a Frankfurter wurstchen or a Nurnberger wurstchen or a ‘schnitzel Holsteiner art’. Gradually all but the geographical distinction is dropped. Or as a kippered herring becomes just a kipper.
Crocuses are up today in my yard,
Yen ye ken

- Diana Bishop on March 28, 2023 at 3:15 pm
  
  Yes it was Jim — -but the American also claim they invented it somewhere in Texas. I am betting on Germany however. Love hearing from you my dear friend. Hope you are keeping well, Dina
  
Kelly on March 28, 2023 at 7:40 am

Thank you for the history lesson on French fries. We have a lovely little French bistro in our town that serves amazing pommes frites with their Eggs Benedictine for Sunday Brunch. We are soon moving 700 miles away and I will miss this little gem so much! I am still waiting to hear more about how you and “mon amour” met. I hope I didn’t miss a post on it somewhere along the way. I can’t help myself, I love a good romantic story!

- Diana Bishop on March 28, 2023 at 3:17 pm
  
  Ha ha, no Kelly, you did not miss a blog about how I met “mon amour.” It is indeed a love stary that I did not expect. I am definitely putting it in my new memoir, Woman of A Certain Age in Paris. So much to do! Diana