A history of French fries
No fries without potatoes
It is in the 16th century that the Spanish conquistadors discovered what the American Indians called "patata" and that we call "patates" or "apple of earth" in French. Not very popular in Europe until the XVIIth century, potatoes are given to animals to feed them before being really interested in them in the XVIIth century. In France, it is Mr PARMENTIER who discovered the interest of potatoes to fight against famine. His story is here :
And the invention of French fries : Belgium or France ?
There are two schools of thought: some say that it was the Belgians from the Ardennes who invented French fries, doing with potatoes what they were already doing with small fish. It was practical in winter when the rivers were frozen. They cut the potatoes in the shape of a stick of a size quite similar to the small river fish they used to fry.
The other school claims that French fries were invented in Paris where, during the French Revolution, a few years after the promotion of the potato by Mr. Parmentier, street vendors would have had the idea to fry potato sticks. They were easily found near the Pont-Neuf, hence the name "pommes de terre pont neuf" (new bridge potatoes) that was once given to the fries...
And yet the world speaks of "French fries".
An American soldier of the First World War. They were called "sammies" in France. Photo chosen by monsieurdefrance.com via wikipedia.
It is the American soldiers of the First World War who gave this name to the fries. Deployed on the front between the south of Belgium and Lorraine in France, they ate a lot of fries. And since French was spoken in the area they were defending (in Belgium and France), they didn't differentiate between nationalities and remembered that those who made them spoke French. They came back to the United States with this way of calling the fries: "French fries". For the anecdote, when the Americans decided the 2nd Iraq War in 2005, and France refused to participate, many restaurants renamed the "French fries" to protest.
French fries in a cone. The world consumes more than 11,000,000 tons of fries per year. Photo chosen by Monsieurdefrance.com: Shutterstock.
How to make french fries right:
Our tips
Don't make your fries too fat. They don't cook as well. Don't prepare them too far in advance. The best is just before frying them, otherwise your sticks will be "floury". Some people make them with oil, but in the North or in Belgium they are also appreciated with suet (beef fat). Always remember to salt them twice, once with fine salt, and again with coarse salt just before serving.
An original idea: bake them in the oven
You can make them in the oven by brushing them with oil and placing them on a baking sheet and heating them to 230°C thermostat 8. The best thing is to sprinkle them with a bit of Provence herbs when they come out.
Our recipe for mussels with french fries :
For 4 people
The fried mussels: the specialty of the North. We advise you to make them marinières it is even better. Photo chosen by Monsieurdefrance.com: shutterstock.
Ingredients:
- 1 kg of french fries
- 2,5 kg of mussels
- 2 onions (rather large)
- Flat parsley
- Laurel (one leaf not more).
- 25 Cl of white wine
- 50 grams of butter
- pepper
No salt is added, the mussels are already naturally salted by the sea water and they will "give water back".
The process:
- Clean your mussels. You scrape them by passing them under cold water, and you leave them a quarter of an hour in a basin full of water so that they return a little their sand.
- Peel your onions and chop them finely
- Chop your parsley finely.
- In a casserole, melt the butter.
- Fry the onions until they are transparent.
- Pour your mussels in the casserole
- Pour the white wine
- Add the parsley
- Stir with a large spoon for 5 long minutes.
- Keep on low heat while you fry your fries.
Tips :
You can replace the onions with shallots. Some people put a handful of flour in the bowl in which they put the mussels before cooking them. It helps to clean them and to blanch them. It is not advisable to eat mussels that have remained closed after cooking. The best season for mussels is between September and April. They are tastier. Bouchot mussels come from the Bay of Mont Saint Michel.
Please excuse the translation errors. Our translator has finished all the white wine left. He is ... well, anyway!
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