Regardless of its name, the French fries are not from France. The origin of fries is found to be from Belgium. French Fries that is popular for its crunchy, salty and tasty nature has been claimed by Belgium.

"Fries, they are the orphan of street cooking, of low birth. That is why it's hard to establish where they really come from," says French historian Madeleine Ferriere.

There are many theories, but this Paris origin theory has a long history and has been widely accepted, regardless of Belgian claims that fries were invented in Namur, in the south of their country.

According to local Belgian tradition, when the poor villagers from Meuse ate fried food, they take fish from river and fry it. However, in winters, the river freeze, and it was impossible to make fish during winters for the villagers. In order to have food, villagers started searching things that can be fried in alternate of fish, and ended up, doing slices of potatoes, and fry them in oil. Thus, French fries were born.

It is also said that, the American soldiers stationed in Belgium were the first who introduced the French fries during World War I. As the language of the soldiers was French, so they named the fried potatoes as ‘FRENCH FRIES’. The name stuck and from many years, and the credit is given to wrong country, it is known as French fries.

French fries are one of the most popular side dishes on earth. When it comes to dipping, people covered fries in ketchup, mayonnaise, or vinegar, but in any way, French fries have always been considered as a ‘universal favorites’.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2016