French fries, as they’re known in North America, have captured the hearts and appetites of people worldwide. Traditionally prepared by deep-frying thin strips of potato in oil before seasoning them with a generous helping of salt, the French fry has become a staple of fast-food establishments. Yet although the name “French fry” suggests an undisputed origin, the truth is a little more complicated.
Some historians claim that French fries are not, in fact, French but were first introduced in Belgium in the late 1600s. According to folklore, villagers living in the Meuse Valley stumbled upon "French" fries during a bitterly cold winter when their usual dietary staple of small fried fish was made inaccessible when the river froze over. Unable to catch fish, the villagers turned to the potato, slicing the root vegetable and frying it as they would usually prepare fish. This is sometimes described as the first iteration of the French fry. However, the dish didn’t get its name until much later. During World War I, American soldiers in Belgium named the dish French fries as French is the dominant language in southern Belgium.
However, this origin story has its skeptics. Belgian gastronomy historian Pierre Leclerq has disputed that 17th-century villagers in the Meuse Valley would have been able to deep-fry potatoes in oil, as this would have been far too expensive. Alternative theories suggest a French or even Spanish origin for the beloved fry. Specifically, some historians argue that French fries were first sold by street vendors in Paris on the Pont Neuf bridge in the 1780s, just before the French Revolution. Others argue that the Spanish were the true pioneers of the French fry, as potatoes were introduced to Europe from South America in the 1500s. Art historian Paul Ilegems goes further, asserting that Saint Teresa of Avila cooked the first French fries in Spain in the 1500s. He even claims that Saint Teresa carved figures of Christ from the potatoes before frying them in oil. Sometimes, these figures would fall apart, leaving strips of potatoes that resulted in the classic French fry shape.
French fries, pommes frites, frieten:
- Belgians consume the most fries of any nation (an average of 165 lbs, or 75 kg, per person per year), a third more per capita than Americans.
- Bruges, Belgium, is home to a museum devoted to the history of potatoes and Belgian fries (known in French and Flemish-speaking parts of Belgium as frites or frieten, respectively).
- President Thomas Jefferson is credited with bringing the French fry to the U.S. after first trying the dish while serving as minister to France in the early 1800s.
