Origins of not-so-French-fries up for debate, with Belgium claiming ownership

Food & Travel

Published: 01 Jun. 2023, 13:22 Updated: 13 Jun. 2023, 00:45

Origins of not-so-French-fries up for debate, with Belgium claiming ownership

Fries inside paper cones in Belgium style, cooked by Ae Jin Huys, the owner of the Korean food business in Belgium “Mokja!” [MK LIM - KYUMS PHOTOGRAPHY]

Many have likely heard of Belgian waffles, chocolates and beer, but French fries? Despite its name, Belgium is looking to claim back the dish as its own and wants more Koreans to enjoy the potato dish Belgian-style.

“Les frites [potato fries] are an essential part of Belgian culture, though often, people around the world don’t tend to associate the food with us,” said Hartwig Moyaert, the project coordinator of Flanders' Agricultural Marketing Board (VLAM) which organized a press event in Mapo District, western Seoul, on Friday. “Belgians and potatoes are inseparable. About 60 percent of the population eats frites at least once a week.”

VLAM is a non-profit organization promoting products and services of the Flemish agriculture, horticulture and fishery sectors in Belgium and abroad.

“Claiming back fried potatoes is sort of a sensitive issue to us Belgians!” said Julian Quintart, a Belgian TV personality in Korea who was the host of the recent event. “It’s like other countries laying claim on kimchi when kimchi is clearly Korean.”

“We hope that going forward, more people in Korea can recognize that fried potatoes are from Belgium,” said Moyaert.

From left, Julian Quintart, a Belgian TV personality in Korea; Ae Jin Huys, the owner of Korean food business in Belgium “Mokja!”; and Francois Bontemps, Belgian ambassador to Korea, pose for photos during the Belgium fries press event on Friday in Mapo District, western Seoul. [MK LIM - KYUMS PHOTOGRAPHY]

The origins of fried potato sticks illicit a culturally-charged debate between the French and the Belgians.

The French claim that fried potatoes originated from Pont Neuf in Paris during the French Revolution (1789-1799), but the proponents of the dish’s Belgium origin say that fries came from Namur, a French-speaking region in the country. Namur residents favored fried fish but in the particularly cold winter of 1680, the nearby river froze and people began to fry potatoes instead of fish. According to this legend, the original fry got its popular name “French fry” from American soldiers stationed in the Francophone regions of Belgium during World War I.

The first written evidence of double-fried potatoes is recorded in a Belgian book, titled “Traité d’Economie Domestique et d’Hygiène (Treatise on Domestic Economy and Hygiene, translated, 1931).”

Belgium is the world's No.1 exporter of frozen fries with some 6.2 million tons of potatoes processed in Belgium last year, according to the International Trade Center. It also has a share of more than 30 percent in the global frozen fries export market, preceding The Netherlands, Canada and the United States. Eurostat reported that in 2022, Belgium exported more than 2.8 million tons of frozen fries.

Belgium’s fritkot (fries hut) is “a uniquely Belgian culture, deeply rooted in the lives of everyday Belgians,” said Moyaert.

There are some 5,000 frikot stands across Belgium, selling fries with other street food like hamburgers, sandwiches and chicken wings.

Fried potatoes dipped in sauce, all made by Ae Jin Huys, the owner of the Korean food business in Belgium “Mokja!” [MK LIM - KYUMS PHOTOGRAPHY]

“Unlike the French, who usually eat fries with a knife and a fork as sides, like steak frites, just the fried potatoes themselves can be a whole meal in Belgium!” said Quintart.

Ae Jin Huys, the owner of a Korean food business in Belgium called “Mokja!” said that the key to cooking proper Belgium fries is “double-frying.”

“When you make Belgian fries with fresh potatoes, you need to fry them twice, just like Korean fried chicken, for the best result.”

She hoped that Koreans could enjoy fries the Belgian way and came up with “pomaek,” a portmanteau of the words "potato” and "maekju" which means beer in Korean.

“When VLAM reached out to me to introduce Belgium fries to Korea, chimaek [Korean term combining chicken and beer] came to mind, and this led me to think of pomaek!”

Huys on Friday served freshly cooked fries Belgian-style, inside simple paper cones to be eaten with fingers, with four vegan sauces including kimchi mayonnaise, tartar and horseradish sauce.

“Belgium has many kinds of sauces but mayonnaise and ketchup are the most popular ones,” she said. “Variations like tartaarsaus made with fresh parsley, onion, lemon juice, gherkins, and maybe capers, and cocktailsaus made with mayonnaise, ketchup, whiskey, and paprika powder are widely enjoyed sauces as well. Arguably, Beligian’s most popular pairing with their fries is a sauce made from beef stew made with beer and mayonnaise.”

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]