Chips or French(?) fries

Fries, deep-fried chipped potatoes, are batonnet- or allumette-cut deep-fried potatoes. They are very popular in Belgium, where they are thought to have originated. The earliest evidence of the dish comes from a book entitled Curiosités de la table dans les Pays-Bas-Belgiques, written in 1781, which describes how Belgians had been eating fried potatoes since around 1680. Though they are usually known as “French fries” in the United States, it is argued that American soldiers during First World War erroneously believed that they were in France when being served the dish.

In Belgium, fries are sold at fast-food stands or dedicated fast-food restaurants called friteries, frietkot or frituur. They are often served with a variety of sauces and eaten either on their own or with other snacks. Traditionally, they are served in a cone-shaped piece of white cardboard wrapped in a sheet of paper, with the sauce on top.

At “Chez Léon”, we like them thick-cut, fried twice in fat, the first time at 150°C to cook the potato, the second at 180° to make them crisp and golden.