no more "French Fries"

Well, there can be a compromise solution. Such potato meal may be called "potato chips" or simply "chips" (I guess, it is a British term).

actually the term French Fries was wrong from the beginning.

The correct term is "Belgian Fries" But I guess that isn't a solution since Belgium isn't that popular in the US.

Did the Belgians really invent such a way of cooking potatoes? Hmm, I thought that these were pre-Columbus American Indians that did it...

It's even worse. Various congressmen who have clearly not enough on their plates, so to speak, have pressured the congressional cafeteria to add "freedom fries" and "freedom toast" to the menu.

I assume these idiots will mention their achievments in their campaign literature in 2004.

You've never been in Belgium and/or tried the Fries here. Best fries in the world, no doubt about that. But i guess Fries aren't kosjer :wink: .

I am not concerned about kosher food; I am rather a Christian than a Judaist (BTW, I have mixed origin, my late father was an ethnic German with Soviet citizenship). Well, I have no doubt that food in Belgium is tasty, including fried potatoes. But were the "Fr*nch fries" invented there?

Of course, in good food tradition, the French claim to be the inventors of our beloved fries. As with most "French" inventions, they forgot to note the name of the inventor and they are still searching for proof. Actually the word "French Fries" has nothing to do with the French.

Pictures and texts proof that fries were all around our country in the second half of the 19th century. The oldest written proof is dated 1862 and mentions a certain Fritz and the widow Descamps as owners of a fry stand on the Liège 'kermis(=fancy fair)'. In 1891 a picture of both stands was taken.

Jo Gerard, a famous Belgian historian, claims to have proof that fries were invented in the region of the Meuse in 1680. Based on an unpublished document, he writes that the poor inhabitants of this region ate mostly fish. When the river frooze, they cut their potatous in a fish-shape and fried them.

The Americans have their own story. I quote 'The Official French Fry Page': "French Fries, at least in the US, seem to have been first named "Potatoes, fried in the French Manner," which is how Thomas Jefferson described a dish he brought over to the colonies in the late 1700s. Presumably, he brought over the method, and not an actual plate or two, as they would have become rather soggy and possibly rancid on the 5- to 8-week Atlantic crossing. He served this to guests at Monticello and it became popular, serious dinner fare."

Nothing much on the history of chips in Great Britain except this quote from the Dundee City Fact Sheet: "... whilst, in the 1870s, that glory of British gastronomy - the chip - was first sold by Belgian immigrant Edward De Gernier in the city's Greenmarket.

Why are they called "French Fries"?

Explanation 1: the French invented fries, that's why we call them French Fries. Wrong, as we have seen above.

Explanation 2: during the first World War, American soldiers came to our country and discovered our fries. As the inhabitants spoke French (the biggest battles were fought in Ieper near the French border), the soldiers called them French Fries. Wrong again.

In fact, the explanation is quite simple: in English, 'to french' means (or at least meant) 'to cut into lengthwise pieces'. You probably know 'frenched beans'. So logically, French Fries is short for 'frenched and fried potatoes'. In fact, the English call them 'chips', a word which has a similar meaning (a chipped piece of wood).

Anyway: it's Belgian Fries, not French Fries, so it doesn't matter, not?

OK, let the fries be Belgian, if they were invented there. But taking into account the current political situation, I would rather use the British term "chips".

i think this merits a "darwin" award for abject stupidity.

steissd

It wasn't a Britsh noblesse family but a German one - Hessian, royality, to be correct. They (some living in Britain) just translated their name by wish of King George V. [Btw: Prince Alexander von Battenberg served in the Russian army against the Turks (1877-78). He was appointed soverign prince of Bulgaria in 1879.

The 'changing' from St. Petersburg to Petrograd is IMHO simply a translation as well.

Frowning fries! :-(

Mr. Hinteler, I agree, and I knew all this. Well, I know also that the Battenberg family was of German origin, but by the time they changed the surname they were subjects of the British monarchy.
I wanted only to mention that when these countries found themselves in war against Germany, some names were changed there, from these that sound German into more "domestically" sounding.
More, I knew (here in Israel) one Jewish family with typically Irish surname Shannon (and they are not converts to Catholicism). The story is as follows. In 1914 their ancestors lived in the UK and had a surname Schoenemann. It sounded for their neighbors too much German , and they changed it after three months of war to one that seemed sounding close to the original. Occasionally, their new surname was as typical to the Irish Catholics as, for example, Levy for the Jews.
These were extreme examples of the name changing due to political environment. And, of course, Peterburg and Petrograd mean the same thing. But no one considered such a change necessary for about two hundred years, until the beginning of WWI. Later the city ceased being a capital and was renamed twice, and now it is again St. Petersburg. Both name changes also reflected the political situation: the necessity to immortalize the name of the late prime-minister in 1924, and anti-Communist feelings of people in early '90s.

I will still order french fries.

Pommes frites

What a lack of gratitude. After all the French were instrumental in giving us our freedom.... and this is how we are going to show our thanks?

I am certainly not going to stop enjoying toast, fries, or kisses.

Childish. I guess some people never grow up.

So, it is possible to use the words "gratitude" and "French" in the same paragraph, with a straight face after all.

Here's another idea for those who wish to express their support of the French during these parlous times: Buy a bottle or two of a nice French wine. I plan to do so this as soon as I can get to my provisioners. Vive la France!