The original name for french fries was "potatoes, fried in the French manner" that is how Thomas Jefferson first described the dish. So when that method was applied to potatoes they were called "French Fried Potatoes." In the 17th century people from Dinant in Wallonia (Belgium) fried little fish to accompany thier meals, but when the rivers froze in winter they had to find something else. This theory is incorrect, for a couple of reasons. "And while the jury is out on the nutritional worth of your favorite bar snack or side dish, everyone is in agreement about one thing: frozen french fries are the worst kids on the block. Fries then to be long and thin, whereas chips are much thicker. You can tell they’re chips because they’re quite thick, they look like they were once a potato and (this is the giveaway) they’re lying next to a … My friend Rick Knowles is a potato researcher at Washington State University and told me all about the spuds. The julienne cutting technique is a French cutting technique which is used for vegetables. Yes, there was a time when some Americans decided to call French fries "freedom fries"—embarrassingly, a number of those people happened to be elected officials in … This origin does not have a set date of labeling and just has a general colloquial evolution of the language. Jefferson introduced french fries to … French Fries are relatively quicker to make, but the process requires a special cutting technique called julienne. 5 months ago. The real history of French fries. French Fries or French Onion Soup are called "french" NOT because its french but because of the cutting techniques used with a chef's knives/ french knives... when you make a thin strips out of whatever (french fries, onions) 0 0. When the River Meuse froze in 1680, potatoes were cut into the shape of fish, fried, and used as a substitute to their main staple. According to other sources, Thomas Jefferson introduced them to the colonies in the late 18th century after spending time in France (where he was introduced to them). Anonymous. So to Americanize it, it's called French Fries meaning fried potatoes done french style. Though french fries are now exclusively made of potatoes, the term used to refer to a cooking method rather than a food. I'm wondering! The world’s most favourite potato fritters also have cultural variants. So… Just to get the first one out of the way, we call crisps “crisps”, because of their crispiness. Since half of Belgium was once part of France, then I think that is where the name came from. However, while all frites are french fries, not all french fries are chips, not from the British perspective at any rate. Wild potatoes are still eaten in South America, called "native potatoes" or papas criollas. Whether that story is true is up for debate, but it was common enough for Escoffier to name his … There are many varieties of wild potato, some growing at altitudes as high as 13,000 feet (almost 4,000 meters). The long, thin ones are commonly called fries … And in Canada we usually just call them French fries or fries … To British eyes, these are chips. A good French fry starts with the right potato. Answer Save. Republican Representatives Walter Jones and Bob Ney, who was the chairman of the House Administration Committee at the time and angered at "our so-called ally, France," made it happen. Fries tend to be crispy whereas chips tend to be softer. Whatever the case though, it is the French that spread the fries to both Britain and America and that’s why they are called “French fries”. It is one of the few things which most people can agree on in the world today. French fries did not originate in America. The modern day term for this size and shape of cut is a "Batonnet", which refers to the long, thin stick type of cut. But it is nice to actually know that they were invented in Belgium. By Gary Arndt. Back to French fries I thought they were called that because the French invented deep fat frying, how fries are cooked, so they were named after that. It cuts the food into long, thin strips, almost like matchsticks. Depending on who you ask, french fries could be considered the deep fryer's gift to hungry people everywhere, or as some describe them (via Harvard Health Publishing), a "weapon of dietary destruction. Other parts of the world, most notably Europe, the term French fry is used only to describe the thinly sliced style of fries (think McDonalds vs. Red Robin… yum). To get the first one out of the language they 're by far the popular! A couple of reasons in America for creating French fries at McDonald 's world today item at most food. 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