We love and adore them, but do we know the true origins of the French fry? Their name would suggest that the little potato sticks of joy hail from France. But shockingly, French fries may not actually be French at all. Many claim French fries are actually Belgian.
Before you burn your beret, let us break down the history of the world-famous fry. According to a July 2018 BBC article, Albert Verdeyen, chef and co-author of Carrément Frites, the complete written history of the fry, says the salty, starchy delicacy is most certainly the property of Belgium.
That’s right. The French fry may not be French. Imposter!
“Americans call it a French fry,” Verdeyen told the BBC, “but it’s not a French fry, it’s a Francophone fry.” Le Gasp!
Verdeyen and countless others firmly believe that the fry was born in Namur in francophone Belgium, where the locals enjoyed eating fried fish. However in 1680, when the River Meuse froze over, locals had to resort to frying potatoes instead. Then, when World War I began, American soldiers posted in the town supposedly began calling them “French fries,” and voila — that is how the French fry came to be.
But wait. That’s just one potential origin story. Others like Pierre Leclercq, culinary historian and professor at the University of Liège, say that French fries are, in fact, French.
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Per the BBC, Leclercq believes that fries got their start in the late 18th century. His camp says French fries were first called pomme Pont-Neuf and sold by street cart vendors on Paris’s Pont Neuf.
And it was during this time in history that Thomas Jefferson fell for French fries while visiting the country as the American Minister to France. Jefferson had his slave, James Heming, stay in France and train as a chef to bring such fine dining back to the newly-minted states.
However, there is also evidence to suggest the French fry may even be a Spanish creation.
A 2015 National Geographic article points out that Pedro Cieza de Leon, a young Spanish conquistador and later historian, mentioned the South American potato in his 1553 memoir, The Chronicle of the Incas, or the Seventeen-Year Travel of Pedro Cieza de Leon Throughout the Mighty Kingdom of Peru (phew…that’s a long title).
National Geographic ventures a guess that, if taken back to Spain, the potato may have been fried, as is Spanish culinary tradition.
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Unfortunately, we will most likely never actually know who invented the French fry and where they did so. Theirs is a story lost in time. Even so, the French fry has become a globally renowned savory treat that has been absorbed by several different countries and cultures — and thank goodness for that.
Although its origin story is muddled with mystery, all we care about is the fact that the French fry is here and thriving in modern times.
