French fries back on House menu

[Lord Avalon]

French Fries

It just goes to show that you can't keep their deep-fried, obesity-inducing, potatoey goodness down.

[Blaupanzer]

Why are they called "French" fries? Not that I thought the name change was anything but blather, funny in its own way.

[BeBMan]

We call them Pommes Frites anyway

[alva]

Re: Re: French fries back on House menu

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui


You already have a waffle, don't push it.

But we don't even eat waffles ourselves!!!

[SlowwHand]

Origin

The logical explanation of the origin of the North American 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.

Some feel that the word "french" in "french fries" refers to the verb "to french", which means "to cut in thin lengthwise strips before cooking" (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Ed.) On the other hand, "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) in other dictionaries, seeming to suggest that the meaning of this process is not necessarily as set as it may appear. In addition, the verb "to french" did not start appearing until after "french fried potatoes" had appeared in the English-speaking world.

Other accounts say that they were once called 'German fries' but the name was changed either for political reasons (Germany was the enemy of the United States and Allied forces during WWI and WWII) or for simple historical reasons (a traditional theory poses that it was in France during World War I that American soldiers first encountered the dish). This seems unlikely, as Germany was not as famous for its "french fries" as other European countries, in addition to the fact that German immigrants did not seem to bring the dish over to the United States.

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 the national dish, and they (Belgium) are the "symbolic" creators, at least for the rest of Europe. Another claim is that the inclusion of the word "French" in the fried potatoes is most likely a confusion as to the nationality of those who introduced the food to American and Canadian soldiers in World War I. When American and Canadian soldiers were stationed in southern Belgium, where many major battles of World War I took place, they were served "pommes frites". Since the region of Belgium the soldiers were in was predominantly French-speaking, the soldiers brought the dish back to North America incorrectly as "french fries".

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by BeBro
French

French fries

Beer

Mexican beer (dont ask)

Liberty cabbage

Boardwalk fries

Boardwalks

Saltwater Taffy

Turkish Taffy

Turkish Taffy, my EU AAR about the Ottoman empire, being generally ignored

Not being able to play Paradox games, cause the laptop is in the shop


Getting Colonization to play on the ancient desktop

Tech problems with Colonization

Playing colonization for Dos instead

[snoopy369]

Colonization

Hot Dogs

[Colon™]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
Getting Colonization to play on the ancient desktop

Tech problems with Colonization

Playing colonization for Dos instead

Not getting the mouse to work in DOS on ancient desktop and therefore being condemned with constant crashes by playing it in Win 98.

[Winston]

French fries are called pommes frites here, or actually "pomfritter", which, now that I think about it, has a slightly naughty ring to it when typed on an English-language board..

[SlowwHand]

while the French pommes frites or patates frites ("fried potatoes") refers unambiguously to deep frying.

I knew it. French at heart.

[Hueij]

Originally posted by atawa
Where is the Dutch fries option?

Yeah! Patatje speciaal

Actually, French fries is the only good thing we got from Belgium. And the saxophone of course

[SlowwHand]

What else is there?

[Winston]

Sprouts.

Again, I'm reminded of the Monty Python sketch where a TV-show host asked viewers to call in with their suggestions for a derogatory term for Belgians. "The Sprouts" was tabled, as was "The Phlegms", and one caller thought they shouldn't be called anything at all, just ignored. But in the end, they decided the winning entry was clearly "Miserable fat Belgian bastards".

Yeah, sprouts, and divine inspiration for crazy comedy shows.

[Hueij]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
What else is there?

Hey! Without Adolphe Sax's invention there wouldn't be a music scene in Austin

[SlowwHand]

I mean, what else worth a damn do they have to offer?
A hunk of metal?