Who invented "french" fries ?

Dave   Monday, February 28, 2005, 20:44 GMT
?
Andrew   Monday, February 28, 2005, 20:47 GMT
Well , that's easy ...
The Belgians did !
JEAN GAB1   Monday, February 28, 2005, 21:29 GMT
I agreee . The Belgians. ( wonderfull country :-)
Deborah   Monday, February 28, 2005, 23:38 GMT
Do the French (or the Belgians) eat something like what we in the U.S. call "French toast?" That's bread dipped in a mixture of eggs and milk, then cooked in a frying pan, and served with butter and some sweet topping, such as syrup, jam or honey.
Fredrik from Norway   Monday, February 28, 2005, 23:57 GMT
In Norway "French toast" is called "arme riddere" = poor knights!
Damian   Tuesday, March 01, 2005, 00:16 GMT
Chips! Basically, that's what we usually call them but restaurant menus, of course, have them down as "French Fries" or perhaps simply "Fries".

If you went into the average British chippy (a fish and chip shop) you would get some pretty strange looks if you asked for "One cod and a double portion of French Fries, please." They would probably think that you were thinking you had mistaken them for McDonalds round the corner, only they don't actually sell cod!
Deborah   Tuesday, March 01, 2005, 00:22 GMT
Fredrik, what does "arme riddere" mean (besides French toast)?
Deborah   Tuesday, March 01, 2005, 00:26 GMT
I never had Belgian fries, and in France I usually tried to eat something I couldn't get easily in the US, but I did have pommes frites in the restaurant of the campground in the Bois de Boulogne, and they were yummy. I wish more places in the US made them that way -- skinny, crisp (but not hard) on the outside and soft on the inside.
Ergo   Tuesday, March 01, 2005, 00:31 GMT
>>Fredrik, what does "arme riddere" mean (besides French toast)?

Fredrick from Norway already said it: "arme riddere" = poor knights!
Elaine   Tuesday, March 01, 2005, 00:40 GMT
I used to wonder about that as a child, Damian. We'd call them french fries, but whenever they were served with battered fish filets, all of sudden they were called "chips". And clearly these were not "chips" (what you in the UK call "crisps"), so I was confused.
Damian   Tuesday, March 01, 2005, 00:56 GMT
Elaine:

To put it bluntly, it's just plain "fish and chips" here! "Fish and french fries" is just not on! People would think you'd just come back from a foreign holiday! ;-)

Yeah, crisps come in packets.....deep fried thin slices of potatoes and flavoured any which way you want. Personally I love prawn flavour. Each packet contains over 300 cals though! ;-(
Ved   Tuesday, March 01, 2005, 02:34 GMT
>>Chips! Basically, that's what we usually call them but restaurant menus, of course, have them down as "French Fries" or perhaps simply "Fries". <<

Here (in Canada) it is indeed "fish and chips", but don't you even dream of ordering "chips" at a fast food restaurant, as you'll surely end up with a bag of crisps.

I still remember my first morning in Canada. I was at a grocery store and asked a cashier where I could get a trolley. I had never got(ten) such a blank stare before, I swear. For a few long seconds there, she had NO CLUE what I was talking about. Of course, I did a bit of miming and she did a bit of searching through her mental inventory of Britishisms and I got my trolley.

Fast forward to today: a trolley is always a cart and I never say trolley anymore when I'm at a grocery store. However, I still forget myself from time to time and say things like "flat" and "lift". Sometimes, however, I do it just for the knack of it.
Paul   Tuesday, March 01, 2005, 06:56 GMT
Are you in Toronto Ved?

I'm surprised you weren't directed to a streetcar stop when you asked that.
Jameson   Tuesday, March 01, 2005, 09:41 GMT
The 'french' in french fries doesn't reffer to 'France'
French Fries = FrenchED Fries

Yes indeed , fries were invented by Belgians.
I assure you , their 'fries' ROCK !
Damian   Tuesday, March 01, 2005, 11:34 GMT
Regarding UK v US English misunderstandings my gem occurred in the library at uni when I asked a fellow student (an American and a girl at that!) for the loan of a rubber. I was drawing a graph and had simply made a mistake which needed correction and I did not have my ERASER with me. Most of us know what is the alternative (chiefly US) meaning of the word but here we always say rubber not eraser....I wasn't thinking on those lines on that occasion.

On the same theme in a way, to get knocked up in the morning is quite innocent here.....it just means getting someone to wake you up, to rouse.

Anyway, what does this have to do with French fries?