While most people these days have seen the long-standing narrative that French Fries are actually from Belgium, two Belgian academics are throwing cold water on the crispy delights with a claim that they really are French, after all.
The ‘fries are Belgian’ story goes this way: In the 1680s, the Meuse river at Namur river froze over, denying locals their typical fried fish meals, so they fried potatoes instead, according to a history first published in 1781. When American soldiers in World War I saw Belgians making fries, and hearing them speak French, called them French fries.
Now, the two academics, at the University of Liege, say it’s fake news because potatoes only reached Namur around 1735, and oil for frying that way was a luxury available only to the wealthy. Pierre Leclercq, one of the authors, claims that Paris in the 1780s is where it started as fried slices; the sticks we know, he says, only became popular in the 1840s, and came to Belgium with a traveling carnival in 1844, where they were sold as “Paris-style fried potatoes.”
Which story is true? Is either the real deal? Does either answer the true existential question: Mayonnaise, ketchup, vinegar or …?
Image: At a fries festival in Belgium
