The story most often told goes back to the 1600s in what is now Belgium, where villagers along the Meuse River loved to fry small fish from the river. In winter, when the river froze and the fish stopped biting, they cut potatoes into fish-shaped strips and fried those instead. The fried strips became a national favorite.
So how did they end up being called “French” fries? One story says American soldiers stationed in Belgium during World War I tasted them and loved them. The Belgians they met spoke French, so the soldiers assumed the dish was French. They brought the name back to America, and “French fries” stuck.
Belgians still take their fries very seriously. There are more fry shops per person in Belgium than in any other country. They’re traditionally fried twice, so the inside stays fluffy and the outside gets really crisp - and they’re eaten with mayonnaise, not ketchup. There’s even a Belgian Fry Museum in the city of Bruges.
