Origins of French Fries


The origins of French Fries, Fries or Chips by A Class Catering.
You would all have to agree french fries or chips ( in Australia & UK )that we all enjoy them as a snack,w/fish,steak,salad,fried eggs or even after a big night on the town you name it french fries can be found on any menu around the world.Whether we smother them in tomato sauce (ketchup) mayonnaise,vinegar, gravy, chicken salt or even curry sauce you have admit we all love em ?.
But how & where did they originate ????
Some claim that french fries originated in Belgium but there is an ongoing dispute between the French & the Belgians as to where they were invented & both countries claiming ownership.
Being an Aussie I will call them chips & chips can be traced back to Belgium where historians claim potatoes were being fried in the late 1600s.The villagers in the Meusse valley (then Spanish Netherlands) now modern day Belgium had a custom of deep frying small fish but when the rivers froze over during winter & the small fish were hard to catch that they would cut the potatoes into the shape of the small fish & deep fry them.
But chips became more prominent during WW1 & were introduced to the American soldiers (by the Belgians)who were occupying the western end of the front.The Belgians were previously serving chips to the British army(who already had a love for the chip) & continued to serve them to the Americans.After WW1 ended the Americans took the recipe home & took them to be french fries as french was the official language of Belgium & Belgian soldiers spoke french hence french fries.
All countries have a variation of the chip (french fry) but they have been made world famous & popularized by the likes of McDonald’s,Hungry Jacks & KFC.
I have certainly learn something new myself researching French Fries.
Again for those reading this blog please feel free to comment or even share some facts of your own no matter how trivial ?
Chef Steve

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/perfect-french-fries-recipe-2119907