Frites, Glorious Frites!

There's been a bit of an uproar about chips, frites and French fries lately, as caterers serving food within the Olympic park have been forbidden from serving chips due to "sponsorship obligations" with McDonald's. Even though superstitious people around the world feared last Friday (the 13th), there was a positive aspect to it: in the USA it was National French Fry Day. This week's been all about chips, so what better time for a little history!


It's not just 21st century Stratford that's suffering through a chip-ban. In the mid 16th century potatoes were banned in France - on the grounds that they caused leprosy? Fortunately for several global fast food chains, that belief seems to have all but vanished nowadays. Actually, it took the best part of a century before potatoes were given a clean bill of heath, but by the end of the 1700s potatoes were being sliced thinly, fried up and enjoyed.


And in 1802, American president Thomas Jefferson requested his White House chef to prepare potatoes in the French style: "deep-fried, while raw, in small cuttings". But - leprosy aside - why shouldn't French fries have been French to start with? They might even have been Belgian. All we know is that Belgian Frites truly are the King of all fried potato products. All those Olympians who are going to be suffering through the chip drought in Stratford this summer, feel free to come along to Belgique, and we can serve you up a steaming plate of the finest Moules and Frites that Belgium has to offer!