{"id":26045,"date":"2017-02-15T19:46:03","date_gmt":"2017-02-15T18:46:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=26045"},"modified":"2018-03-23T12:37:44","modified_gmt":"2018-03-23T11:37:44","slug":"are-french-fries-french-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/are-french-fries-french-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Are French Fries French? Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

The history of how English words use French<\/em> as an adjective can be surprising and interesting. We\u2019ve already looked at quite a few words in part 1<\/a> and part 2<\/a>, and in this final part we’re going to look into la pol\u00e9mique<\/strong> (the controversy) surrounding the French<\/em> origin of les frites<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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D\u2019o\u00f9 vient les pommes de terre frites ? La Belgique<\/a> ou la France ?<\/strong>
\nWhere do French fries comes from? Belgium or France?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

La question<\/strong> is harder to answer than you\u2019d think! There are conflicting reports in history and les deux pays<\/strong> (both countries) claim les frites<\/strong> as their own.<\/p>\n

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Flag of France<\/p><\/div>\n

France:<\/h2>\n

Perhaps the most romantic story, les frites<\/strong> are said to have been sold during la revolution fran\u00e7aise<\/strong><\/a> (the French Revolution) on le Pont Neuf<\/strong> where they were known as les pommes Pont-Neuf<\/strong><\/em>. There are other earlier French claims to les frites<\/strong> leading the French journalist, Maurice Edmond Sailland<\/em>, to declare in 1927 that:<\/p>\n

Les pommes de terre frites sont une des plus spirituelles cr\u00e9ations du g\u00e9nie parisien<\/strong>
\nFrench fries are one of the most witty creations of Parisian genius.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are other references to les frites<\/strong> in historical cookbooks dating as far back as 1794. Cependant<\/strong> (however), they tend to all be slightly different than what are now French fries<\/em>.<\/p>\n

A recipe from 1823, par exemple<\/strong> (for example), has la recette suivante<\/strong> (the following recipe) for des pommes frites<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\u00ab Vous coupez vos pommes de terre crues en tranches, vous les jetez dans une friture bien chaude ; quand elles sont bien cassantes et de belle couleur, vous les retirez, les saupoudrez de sel fin et servez chaud. \u00bb<\/strong>
\n“You cut your raw potatoes in slices, you put them in hot oil; when they are brittle and of a good color, you take them out, sprinkle fine salt on them and serve them hot.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While la recette<\/strong> clearly includes fried potatoes, they are cut into des tranches<\/strong> (slices) and not des b\u00e2tonnets<\/strong> (sticks), but it could still be an early version of les frites<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Another interesting source for the \u201cFrench\u201d name comes from Thomas Jefferson. He wrote about les frites<\/strong> in one of his manuscripts:<\/p>\n

Pommes de terre frites \u00e0 cru, en petites tranches<\/strong>
\nPotatoes deep-fried while raw, in small slices<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thomas Jefferson received la recette<\/strong> from his French chef, Honor\u00e9 Julien<\/em>, adding to the idea that les frites<\/strong> came from France.<\/p>\n

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Flag of Belgium<\/p><\/div>\n

Belgium:<\/h2>\n

The Belgian claim for les frites<\/strong> is a bit stronger because les Belges<\/strong> see them as a part of their national identity. A common idea is that they became \u201cFrench\u201d instead of \u201cBelgian\u201d when les soldats am\u00e9ricains<\/strong> (the American soldiers) entered Belgium pendant la Premi\u00e8re Guerre mondiale<\/strong> (during the First World War), but because everyone still spoke French<\/a>, they didn\u2019t realize they were in Belgium.<\/p>\n

Les soldats Am\u00e9ricains les appelaient \u00ab French fries<\/em> \u00bb parce qu\u2019ils pensaient qu\u2019ils \u00e9taient en France !<\/strong>
\nThe American soldiers called them “French fries<\/em>” because they thought they were in France!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are historical claims for les frites en Belgique<\/strong> going back as far as 1680. Cependant<\/strong>, the claims going back that far doesn’t seem to be possible because it\u2019s unlikely that les pommes de terre<\/strong> (potatoes) made their way to Belgium before 1735.<\/p>\n

Aujourd<\/strong>\u2019hui (today), les frites<\/strong> are an important part of la culture belge<\/strong> and in 2014 les friteries<\/strong> (French fry vendors) were declared a part of l\u2019h\u00e9ritage culturel immat\u00e9riel flamand<\/strong> (Flemmish intangible cultural heritage).<\/p>\n

Peu importe l’origine<\/strong> (no matter the origin), one thing everyone can agree on is their taste! Whether they are called French fries<\/em> as a reference to la France, la cuisine fran\u00e7aise, la langue fran\u00e7aise ou la culture fran\u00e7aise <\/strong>(France, French cuisine, French language, or French culture) doesn\u2019t change what les frites<\/strong> are and doesn\u2019t stop either country from enjoying them.<\/p>\n

If you want to learn more about words that use \u201cFrench\u201d as an adjective in English, be sure to check out the other parts in this series:<\/p>\n