Who knows why they are called "French Fries" instead of another name.....?

Question

like "German Fries" or "England Fries" or "Italian Fries"?

Answer 1

So how did potatoes come to their present popularity? The generally accepted story is that a French army officer named Parmentier was taken prisoner during the Seven Years War (1756-1763), and ate potatoes as part of his prison diet in Hamburg, Germany. He found that he liked them. After his release, he managed to introduce them to the French court ("Your majesty, the potato. Potato, I have the honour to introduce King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. Introductions all the way round.") Marie Antoinette reportedly once wore a potato flower as a corsage. But she decided to take a break from eating cake and so ate potatoes. What the queen did was what everyone did, so the potato became fashionable and entered French cuisine. From France, to the world.

Answer 2

they are called french fries (and I KNOW this for a fact) is becuase of the way the potatoe is cut to make the fries. thats why when writing the word 'french fries' you dont capitalize the 'f' in 'french' becuase its not the language, or country. Don't listen to any of those LAME a$$ answers others may tell you, this is the TRUTH!!!Look it up. Its in the uncle John's 'long lasting, fast acting bathroom reader'

Why they call it freedom fries in america escapes me.

Answer 3

The dish originated in France as 'pommes frites' -- literally 'potatoes fried'. When they came to the U.S., people ordered "those French fried potatoes." That got shortened to 'French fries.'

Answer 4

It isn't a GREAT accomplishment. But they've done damn well. I'd be happy with the Europa title if I were Chelsea. Of course doing the double CL would be amazing, but the Europa is still a significant trophy and they've done well in getting it. They could've just folded over and dropped the ball after a bad CL campaign. But they recovered, stepped up and improved so significantly that they won it. I have respect for that attitude.

Answer 5

Most Americans call it "French Fries." Some moron Americans call it "Freedom Fries" in order to denote that they have separatist, hating, and discrimatory feelings towards the French because they opted out in the Iraq War.

The Japanese, also... call it "French Fries," just like the American pronunciation.

The French call it "les frites" or "les pomme de terre frites" (the latter being more uncommon...). They don't call it "American Fries"... as it would sound ridiculous saying "les frites americaines." They simply refer to them with the above two sayings I've posted. The French also call it "patates frites" or "pommes frites."

SOURCE: I'm French, myself.

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Why they're called French Fries:

Well, for starters... the potatoes are jullienned, or "French-cut."

WIKIPEDIA: A speculative theory is that the word "French" in "French fries" may refer to potatoes which are French-cut, with a later derived verb from this term, "to French," which means "to cut in thin lengthwise strips before cooking" (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Ed.) . It is true that "to French" is defined as "to prepare, as a chop, by partially cutting the meat from the shank and leaving bare the bone so as to fit it for convenient handling" (Oxford English Dictionary). However, the verb "to French" did not start appearing until after "French fried potatoes" had appeared in the English-speaking world (see History).

Next, the potatoes are deep-fried in oil- a process which was created by the French.

WIKIPEDIA: One proposed explanation of the origin of the North American and Japanese name of the dish is that it derives from potatoes that have been "fried in the French manner". The English verb fry is ambiguous: it can refer to both to sautéing and to deep-fat frying, while the French pommes frites or patates frites ("fried potatoes") refers unambiguously to deep frying. Thomas Jefferson, famous for including (then relatively unknown in America) European, especially French, cuisine in his writings and recipes, referred to fried potatoes in this same manner.


The Belgians, more than everyone else, want the credit for the creation of the French Fries.

WIKIPEDIA: During the controversy over Freedom Fries, French people from around the world repeatedly clarified that the food was actually Belgian. Belgium itself also lays claim as the "origin" of French Fries. Jo Gerard, a famous Belgian historian, claims to have proof that this recipe for potatoes was already used in 1680, in the area of the Meuse valley between Dinant and Liège, Belgium. The poor inhabitants of this region had the custom of accompanying their meals with small fried fish, but when the river was frozen and they were unable to fish, they cut potatoes lengthwise and fried them in oil to accompany their meals. (Belgian Federal Portal) In 1861, a Belgian entrepreneur named Frits is said to have opened a stand selling this product. He is also said to have given it its own name, frites, which is the French name for the dish in Belgium. Even up to today every village in Belgium has several of these fries (friterie) stands selling fries as the main dish and, in case something extra is desired, a varied choice of fried meat products to go with it.

and WIKIPEDIA: The Belgians are noted for claiming that French fries are Belgian in origin, but have presented no absolute evidence; the French have also been cited as possible creators of the dish, though most in France associated fries with Belgium. The Spanish claim that the dish was invented in Spain, the first European country in which the potato appeared via the New World colonies, and then spread to Belgium which was then under Spanish rule. However, as Belgian immigrants lived in Spain at the time, it may have well been a 'Spanish' dish invented by a Belgian chef. Whether or not French fries were invented in Belgium or Spain, they have become Belgium's national dish, making belgians their "symbolic" creators, at least for the rest of Europe.

**Keep in mind, that there's no REAL word in French which means "to fry," let alone "to deep fry." So there might be some validity that they took it from a Belgium man who was named Frits. Maybe "friter" originated from that. Keep in mind, that this was long, long ago. So it might hold some validity.

Hope than answers your question, lol. :-p

Answer 6

I don't know.

People in France call them "American Fries" because they do not want people to think that France makes things that make you fat. (That is what I heard).

Answer 7

OMG quit givin points to tha wikopeidia boyz-

Answer 8

Maybe a french guy invented them.

Answer 9

wow, I was just going to say because they can. Everyone had to be "smarty pants".

Answer 10

how about " Yahoo Fries " .....