It's said that this 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.
The French fry—though indisputably a fry—may not actually be French. Some claim that fries originated in Belgium, where villagers along the River Meuse traditionally ate fried fish. In winter, when the river froze, the fish-deprived villagers fried potatoes instead.
They are very French in the northern part of France, yet even if we called them just “fries”, for us they are Belgian fries. In the north of France and Belgium they have those shops called “Friteries”, entirely dedicated to fries (and they are really good!), a must try!
Do people in France call French fries French fries?
The French aren't keen on calling their fried potatoes French fries. Instead, they're called pommes frites, or, more simply, frites. Potatoes in French are pommes de terre (or “apples of the earth”) and fried is frite.
Many sources say the crispy spuds were most likely invented in the country's northeast neighbor, Belgium. According to lore, the dish was born in Belgium in the winter of 1680, when the fried fish-loving denizens of a city called Namur had to find something else to cook when the local river froze over.
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Why do the British call fries chips?
French fries are also known as 'pommes allumettes' (match potatoes) because they are substantially thinner compared to Belgian fries. In the US, you have French fries, the thin variant. Why do the British call them "chips" when they look like fries? Because they are made from “chipped” potatoes.
Despite its name and popularity, the French fries are not French. The origins can be found in Belgium, where historians claim potatoes were being fried in the late-1600s.
In the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, Ireland and New Zealand, the term chips is generally used instead, though thinly cut fried potatoes are sometimes called french fries or skinny fries, to distinguish them from chips, which are cut thicker.
Pommes (an abbreviation for Pommes frites (older spelling) or Pommes Frites (newer spelling)) is the most commonly used term in everyday speech. „Einmal mit Pommes“ (“One [of whatever it is that's being ordered] with chips / French fries”) is a phrase that must be heard several million times a day in Germany.
Despite the common name of this dish (and the fact that France has given the world many famous foods, from the baguette to the soufflé), the French fry is unequivocally Belgian, at least according to Albert Verdeyen, chef and co-author of Carrément Frites, which charts the history of the fry.
It is believed that Belgians were the first to begin the process of frying strips of potatoes, at some time between the late 17th and early 18th century.
In fact, French toast was invented long before France even existed. The first known recorded recipe for French toast comes from Rome around 300 A.D. The Roman author Apicius included it in his cookbook titled "Cooking and Dining in Imperial Rome". For centuries, the French themselves called this dish "Roman Bread".
French fries contain a significant number of carbohydrates. These molecules provide energy to your body, but too many carbohydrates can cause high glucose levels and lead to type 2 diabetes. This food also contains a large portion of fat, including 4.24 g of monounsaturated fats and 1.66 g of saturated fats.
French toast got its current name through a grammatical error. Albany, New York, innkeeper Joseph French introduced the dish to America in 1724. He intended to name his creation “French's Toast” but inadvertently left out the apostrophe and S. The phrase “French toast” first appeared in print in 1871.
Frites are the supercharged cousin to paltry American-style fries: made from soft Belgian potatoes called bintjes, they're thick-cut and—this is key—double-fried (in the olden days, in molten horse or ox fat, though modern options range from lard to vegetable oil).
Yankee is sometimes abbreviated as “Yank.” People from all over the world, including Great Britain, Australia, and South America, use the term to describe Americans. (In Spanish, it's spelled yanqui.) Sometimes, it's a negative description.
chuffed. Chuffed means “delighted, pleased, satisfied.” You might say you're chuffed that your favorite team won the soccer game. This word dates back to the 1800s, when it was originally used to mean “puffed up with fat.” It later became a slang term to express satisfaction.
What do the British call cucumbers? The cucumbers which are simply called 'cucumbers' in North America are not widely available in Britain and are seen as unpalatable in the UK. They are sometimes known as 'garden cucumbers'. What North Americans call 'English cucumbers' are just called 'cucumbers' in Britain.
This litigation centers around Lamb-Weston's development of frozen, parfried lattice-shaped french fries called “waffle fries.” In October 1979, an independent inventor, Mr. Matsler, offered to confidentially disclose his waffle fry slicing apparatus to Lamb-Weston.
Steak fries are large, thick French fries — so-called because they're best suited to steak or another hearty fare (though they're also well suited to fried chicken). Sometimes they're cut in a wedge shape, but usually, they're just rectangular.
