Would you like some fries?

[BoobieCootie 0]

But only if they're "freedom" fries

Because our elected officials got nothing better for a protest.

[SkydiveMonkey 0]

Now if you only called them chips like most people

____________________
Say no to subliminal messages

[karma 3]

Can I get a large order to go?

[BoobieCootie 0]

CHiPs? That's the TV show of 2 CA Hwy Patrolman riding around on their bikes ain't it?

Fish n Chips sound mighty good now that lunch time is rolling around

[sinker 0]

jeezlouise gimme a break

-the artist formerly known as sinker

[Meathorse 0]

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The French Embassy in Washington had no immediate comment, except to say that french fries actually come from Belgium.

I find that much funnier than it should be :)

[BoobieCootie 0]

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jeezlouise gimme a break

You hungry for a KitKat bar? 'Coz you ain't getting a tax break from these fools
I wonder if there's any truth to Muenkels's thread now that I think about it.

Not that I'm questioning it's credibility

[wildblue 7]

from http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mfrenchfry.html

Quote

And so we arrive at your question. For also in the 1840s, pomme frites ("fried potatoes") first appeared in Paris. Sadly, we don't know the name of the ingenious chef who first sliced the potato into long slender pieces and fried them. But they were immediately popular, and were sold on the streets of Paris by push-cart vendors.

Frites spread to America where they were called French fried potatoes. You asked how they got their name--pretty obvious, I'd say: they came from France, and they were fried potatoes, so they were called "French fried potatoes." The name was shortened to "french fries" in the 1930s.

By the way, the verb "to french" in cooking has come to mean to cut in long, slender strips, and some people insist that "french fries" come from that term. However, the French fried potato was known since the middle 1800s, while the OED cites the first use of the verb "to french" around 1895, so it appears pretty convincing that "french fried potatoes" came before the verb "frenching." The origin of the name is thus the country of origin French and not the cooking term french.

In the U.K., fried fish had been on sale by street vendors since the 1600s. In 1864, a brilliant (but, alas, unknown) Brit teamed French fried potatoes (called "chips" in English) with fried fish, to create the famous and popular fish and chips.

Today, of course, the worldwide popularity of McDonalds and Burger King and Wendy's and their ilk have brought French fries to the world. Amusingly, they are now often called "American fries" in many countries.

French fries are commonly eaten with ketchup in the U.S., but with malt vinegar (delicious) in the U.K., and with mayonnaise (appalling) in the Netherlands. The French mostly take them straight, but the Belgians have the best idea (as is so often the case with food): they eat frites with buckets full of mussels.

While we're on the subject, potato chips (British: crisps) are a purely American invention. In 1852, a chef (George Crum) at a resort in Saratoga, N.Y., was annoyed when a patron (the story says Cornelius Vanderbilt) sent some French fried potatoes back to the kitchen, complaining that they were too thick. Somewhat spitefully, Crum sliced a potato so thin that it couldn't be speared by a fork, and then fried the slices. One can hear him mutter, "That thin enough for you?" But the patron was delighted, not annoyed, and the potato chip was thus born. They were called "Saratoga chips" and were popular in the Northeast (often eaten with raw clams and oysters) until the 1920s, when they spread through the U.S. and thence the world.

And to add to your base of useless trivia...
from http://csmweb2.emcweb.com/durable/2000/05/02/p18s1.htm

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'Do you want Belgian fries with that?" That's what you might be hearing at fast-food restaurants today if it hadn't been for World War I. The Belgians claim to have invented "French" fries, though no one knows for sure. The dish was first prepared as early as the 1700s and was simply called fried potatoes. Thomas Jefferson sampled them in Paris and brought the recipe home. At a White House dinner in 1802, the menu included "potatoes served in the French manner." But that's not how they got their name.

Their commercial success began in 1864, when Joseph Malines of London put "fish and chips" (French fries) on the menu. His success inspired others across Europe. But they weren't French fries until 1918 or so. American soldiers stationed in France gobbled up fried potatoes. They dubbed them "French fries" and liked them so much they wanted to have them at home, too. Americans still love French fries. Last year alone, more than 4.5 billion pounds of them were sold in the United States.

Anyone ever dip french fries in a Wendy's frosty? Good stuff.
Friend of mine dips his fries in applesauce. I haven't tried that, but sounds gross.

it's like incest - you're substituting convenience for quality

[jfields 0]

I'm a frite freak. I like them dipped in mustard, or if I can get my hands on it, satay sauce! Now, that is delicious.

[karma 3]

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Friend of mine dips his fries in applesauce. I haven't tried that, but sounds gross

Well actually it isn't. I did this as a child and trust me it isn't gross.

[wildblue 7]

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Quote

Friend of mine dips his fries in applesauce. I haven't tried that, but sounds gross

Well actually it isn't. I did this as a child and trust me it isn't gross.

You're from the Netherlands, aren't you?

it's like incest - you're substituting convenience for quality

[karma 3]

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You're from the Netherlands, aren't you?

Yes and damn proud of it.

[wildblue 7]

Quote

Quote

You're from the Netherlands, aren't you?

Yes and damn proud of it.

Not saying there's anything wrong with that, I just think he's from that area.

it's like incest - you're substituting convenience for quality

[karma 3]

I know you didn't mean that there's anything wrong with that.
And if you where, I'm not messing with you because you're a hardened criminal.

[SkyDekker 1,465]

Quote

You're from the Netherlands, aren't you?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Yes and damn proud of it.

Remember, if you ain't Dutch, you ain't much

I love fries with mayonaise. fries with apple sauce is pretty good too. Used to have the kids dinner: chicken, fries and apple sauce.......

[karma 3]

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Remember, if you ain't Dutch, you ain't much

Spoken like a true dutchmen, O wait you aren't.

[karma 3]

Now let's get back to the topic at hand.


Editted for spelling.

[SkyDekker 1,465]

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Spoken like a true dutchmen, O wait you aren't.

Well, sort off, both parents are Dutch, grew up in Holland, lived there for 24 years.

Ohhh, if you ever jump at Texel, say hi to my high school buddy Rutger.

[karma 3]

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Well, sort off, both parents are Dutch, grew up in Holland, lived there for 24 years.

Whoops, I spoke to soon.

Quote

Ohhh, if you ever jump at Texel, say hi to my high school buddy Rutger

I'll tell hi this summer. Will be there to do my AFF levels.

[SkyDekker 1,465]

Quote

I'll tell hi this summer. Will be there to do my AFF levels.

Great, he is one of the instructors...

[karma 3]

*post whore style*

I know.

[SkyDekker 1,465]

damn, I remember going to het koor in Groningen om in the vechten.

How are things in the northern parts these days?


Post whore away

[karma 3]

Dude, come to bletherchat.

I'm lurking right now. Ask away.

[quade 4]

And HERE'S and interesting take on the whole thing.

I think it's history repeating itself and just a little bit 1984ish in newspeak.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver