Have you ever wondered if French fries are actually from France? Well, it depends on who you ask! Some people believe that French fries originated in Paris during the late 18th century. According to a popular story, street vendors sold crispy potato sticks on the Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge in the city, and called them “pommes de terre.” However, in Belgium, people claim that fries were invented in the city of Namur. The tale goes that in the winter of 1680, the River Meuse froze, and people couldn’t catch fish to fry. So, they cut potatoes into fish shapes and fried them instead. But there’s a catch—historical records suggest that potatoes weren’t common in Belgium during the 17th century, so this story might not be entirely true.
No matter which story you believe, French-speaking countries played a big role in making fried potatoes popular. But how did potatoes become such a big deal in the first place? When Spanish explorers brought potatoes from South America to Europe in the 16th century, people were skeptical about eating them. A French army pharmacist named Antoine-Augustin Parmentier helped change that. He hosted fancy dinners with up to 20 courses of potatoes prepared in different ways. Famous guests like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson attended these dinners. Jefferson even served fried potatoes at the White House, calling them “pommes de terre frites,” which were more like thick chips than the fries we know today.
Even though Jefferson’s potato rounds weren’t exactly like modern fries, he’s often credited with introducing them to America. It took some time for fries to become popular. By the early 20th century, people were calling them French fries. During World War I, Americans were encouraged to eat more potatoes, and French fries became a favorite among soldiers. They were often served with hamburger steak, creating the iconic burger and fries combo we know today.
Fast food chains like White Castle, which opened in 1921, helped make fries a staple side dish. During World War II, meat shortages led White Castle to expand its menu, and fries were a perfect fit because they were cheap and filling. While fries were easy to find at fast food restaurants, they were harder to make at home without a deep fryer. This made fresh hot fries a special treat for many people.
In England, fries are called “chips” and are often served with fried fish. The first fish and chip shops appeared in the 1860s. In the United States, potato chips are thinly sliced potatoes fried until crispy. The most famous story about their origin involves a chef named George Crum, who supposedly created them in 1853 as a joke for a picky customer. Although this story might be a myth, potato chips became popular in Saratoga Springs, New York, and were known as Saratoga chips.
Hash browns are another form of fried potatoes, first mentioned by American food writer Maria Parloa in the late 1800s. They are chopped and fried potatoes, while potato pancakes, like Swiss rösti, are similar but usually held together with eggs or flour. Tater tots are a more recent addition to the fried potato family. In 1952, the Grigg brothers founded the Orida frozen food company and created tater tots from leftover potato scraps. They seasoned and shaped them into bite-sized pieces, and the name “tater tots” was born.
No matter what form they take, fried potatoes are loved worldwide. They connect people across cultures and might even bring about world peace someday! So, which do you prefer—tater tots or French fries? It’s a tough choice, but only one can win! If you have any questions about the history of food, feel free to ask, and we’ll try to answer them in future episodes. Thanks for reading!
Research the history of French fries and create a timeline that highlights key events and figures mentioned in the article, such as the introduction of potatoes to Europe and the role of Antoine-Augustin Parmentier. Use drawings or digital tools to make your timeline visually appealing.
Organize a tasting event where you and your classmates bring different types of fried potatoes, such as French fries, chips, hash browns, and tater tots. Discuss the origins and characteristics of each type, and vote on your favorite. Remember to consider the historical context of each dish as you taste them.
Create a short play or skit that dramatizes one of the stories about the origin of French fries, such as the Belgian tale or the Parisian street vendors. Perform it for your class, highlighting the historical context and cultural significance of the story.
Imagine you are living in the early 20th century and tasked with creating an advertisement for French fries. Design a poster or digital ad that captures the excitement of this new food trend, using historical references from the article to make your ad authentic and engaging.
Divide into two groups and prepare for a debate on which is better: French fries or tater tots. Use historical facts and cultural significance from the article to support your arguments. After the debate, discuss how different forms of fried potatoes have impacted food culture worldwide.
Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
—
Are French fries really French? It depends on who you ask. Some people trace the origins of the deep-fried potato product to Paris in the late 18th century. According to legend, street vendors at the time sold crispy potato spears to passersby on the Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge in the city. Appropriately, these proto-fries were named “pommes de terre.” Spreading that origin story would be considered blasphemous in Belgium, though, where the invention of fries is attributed to the city of Namur. As the story goes, the River Meuse froze over in the winter of 1680, preventing residents from catching and frying the small fish they typically ate with their meals. In an inspired move, they cut potatoes into the shape of fish and fried those instead, thus the Belgian fry was born. Allegedly, this account has some problems; the biggest of which is that, according to historical records, potatoes weren’t really a part of 17th-century Belgian diets. That means if fries were invented in Belgium, it likely did not happen in 1680.
Whichever version of events you believe, it’s safe to say that French-speaking countries played an important role in the history of fried potatoes. But when did tater tots enter the equation, and why did the luxury jewelry brand Tiffany & Co. sell sterling silver potato chip servers?
Let’s get an order of fun fried potato facts for the table. Hi, I’m Justin Dodd, welcome to Food History. The birth of French fries has gifted us with a whole class of fried potato dishes, from fast food to the freezer aisle. But before processed potatoes became a standard side in many cuisines, some people didn’t even consider them edible. As I covered in the first episode of Food History on mashed potatoes, when Spanish explorers imported potatoes from South America to Europe in the 16th century, they were met with skepticism. A French army pharmacist named Antoine-Augustin Parmentier was largely responsible for bringing potatoes to the forefront of French cuisine. Parmentier pulled a variety of stunts to accomplish this, such as hosting extravagant spud-themed dinners featuring up to 20 courses of potatoes served in different ways. Guests are thought to have included Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Parmentier’s feast may have even inspired Jefferson to serve fried potatoes at the White House when he was president. His handwritten recipe for “pommes de terre frites” called for potatoes sliced in rounds instead of sticks, so kind of like chips, only thicker.
Jefferson’s potato rounds weren’t exactly fries as we know them today, but he’s still often credited with introducing the food to America. In any case, it took some time for them to really take off. There are 19th-century recipes for French fried potatoes, and by the early 20th century, people were calling them French fries. A global war provided an unlikely bump to the American appetite for fries. During World War I, patriots banded together to increase potato consumption, noting that the average American consumed 2.3 quarts of potatoes a week while the average German was eating 16 quarts. One impassioned account proposed, “We can beat them at their own food.”
Just after the war ended, a newspaper told the story of an innovative home cook who, in light of wartime fat restrictions, had come up with a way to preserve grease by making what we today might know as oven fries. When looking at suggestions for feeding American troops during World War I, French fried potatoes were noted for being cheap and popular with troops. Sometimes they were even paired with another cheap and nourishing dish: hamburger steak. Today, it’s hard to find a burger place that doesn’t have fries on the menu. Burgers and fries are an iconic culinary couple, and their ubiquity can be traced back to the origins of fast food.
When White Castle officially opened in Wichita, Kansas, in 1921, it laid the blueprint for future fast food chains. Again, it was wartime that provided some unlikely culinary inspiration. Meat shortages during World War II forced White Castle to expand its offerings beyond its iconic sliders. They needed a side dish that was cheap, filling, and made from ingredients that could be stored for long periods of time. The potato French fry fit the bill. While fries were easy to pump out of fast food restaurants, they were harder to make at home. After all, not everyone wants a deep fryer in their kitchen.
All this to say that fresh hot fries were something special to the average consumer. The menu item was such a hit that fries are now a staple at every fast food chain that serves burgers. In England, fried fish is often paired with fries, or “chips,” as they’re called across the pond. The first chip shop selling fish and chips together began popping up in the country in the 1860s. During the 1870s, innovations in fishing and refrigeration made the dish even cheaper for shops to produce, and fish and chips became a go-to meal for the country’s working class.
In the United States, chips are potatoes that have been sliced into very thin rounds and fried until crispy. According to the most famous story about their origin, the first chips started as an order of thicker, more fry-like potatoes. Legend has it that railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt ordered fried potatoes at a Saratoga Springs restaurant in 1853 and sent them back when they were cut too thick for his liking. The person responsible for the order was George Crum, a famous Black and Native American chef, who is remembered as one of the first celebrity chefs in American history. Irked by the request, Crum supposedly sliced the next batch of potatoes paper-thin and fried them to a crisp. Vanderbilt loved the dish, and Crum’s act of potatopettiness backfired. While the story is regarded as a myth by food historians, potato chips were popularized in Saratoga Springs, New York, and were known as Saratoga chips in the mid-19th century. They were considered a delicacy, served in fine hotels and luxury cruise liners, and Tiffany even sold sterling silver chip servers to families eating them at home.
Another form of fried potatoes that emerged in the 19th century is hash browns. The term can be traced back to American food writer Maria Parloa in the late 1800s, who mentioned hashed brown potatoes, or potatoes that have literally been hashed up, as in chopped and browned or fried. Elsewhere in the world, processed potatoes are shaped and fried into potato pancakes. Unlike hash browns, potato pancakes are usually held together with some sort of binding agent, like eggs or flour. Swiss rösti may be the potato pancake most similar to hash browns, as it’s made from potatoes with generally limited additional ingredients.
One of the most recent entries into the fried potato pantheon is the tater tot. French fries are directly responsible for the invention of this crispy convenience food. In 1952, brothers F. Neffy and Golden Grigg founded the Orida frozen food processing company in Ontario, Oregon. They started out making French fries and were looking for a way to use up the potato scraps they were left with at the end of the day. They decided to chop up the leftover bits, season them, and shape them into bite-sized pellets. A research committee eventually dubbed the product “tater tots” after consulting a thesaurus. The name is still trademarked by Orida today, which has led to some creative alternatives from competitors. In freezer sections around the world, you can find the item marketed as hash bites, potato pom poms, spud puppies, oven crunchies, and tasty taters. But no matter what they’re called or what form they take, the world will always have an appetite for crispy, crunchy potatoes. They are the unifying link that connects all of humanity, and I truly believe one day they will bring about world peace.
Thank you very much for coming. As we wrap up today, let me ask you this question: which do you prefer, tater tots or French fries? Only one can win! Have at it, and as always, if you have a question about the history of food, drop it in the comments below, and we will try to answer it in an upcoming episode. Thanks for watching!
—
This version removes informal language, jokes, and any potentially sensitive or inappropriate content while maintaining the overall structure and information of the original transcript.
French – Relating to France or its people – The French Revolution was a significant event in world history that began in 1789.
Fries – Thin strips of potato that are deep-fried and eaten as a snack or side dish – French fries became a popular fast food item in America during the 20th century.
Potatoes – A starchy plant tuber that is one of the most important food crops, cooked and eaten as a vegetable – Potatoes were first cultivated in the Andes Mountains of South America over 7,000 years ago.
History – The study of past events, particularly in human affairs – Learning about the history of food can help us understand how different cultures have influenced each other.
America – A continent in the Western Hemisphere, consisting of North, Central, and South America – The introduction of potatoes to America changed the agricultural landscape significantly.
Popular – Liked or admired by many people or by a particular person or group – Pizza is one of the most popular foods in America today.
Fast – Done in a short time or at a great speed – Fast food restaurants became widespread in the 1950s, offering quick meals to busy families.
Food – Any nutritious substance that people or animals eat or drink to maintain life and growth – Studying the history of food reveals how diets have changed over time.
Chips – Thin slices of potato that are fried until crisp and eaten as a snack – Potato chips were invented in the 19th century and have become a popular snack worldwide.
Tater – Informal term for potato – Tater tots are a favorite side dish in many American households.
