There is a debate that they originated either in Belgium or Spain. Belgian historian Jo Gerard recounts that potatoes were already fried in 1680 in the Spanish Netherlands. The poor inhabitants of this region allegedly 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. Some claim that the dish was invented in Spain, the first European country in which the potato appeared via the New World colonies, and assumes the first appearance to have been as an accompaniment to fish dishes in Galicia, from which it spread to the rest of the country and further to the Spanish Netherlands, more than a century before Belgium was created there.

oohhhh a FOOD CULTURE question.. I'm a Chef, I live for this. Although the practise of cooking raw potato in fat has been around for centuries, the French popularized this dish as a soldiers meal during WW2 and introduced it to other outfits. Potatoes and lard are easily transported so it became a common dish among soldiers allover, but earned the name "french fries" during the war.

Belgium. If they are made in France, they are called "pommes frites," not "French Fries."

Some feel that the word "french" in "french fries" is refers to the verb "to french", which means "to cut in thin lengthwise strips before cooking" (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Ed.) One 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" ("fried potatoes") refers unambiguously to deep frying. The Belgians are noted for claiming that french fries are Belgian in origin, but have presented no absolute evidence. Since the region of Belgium American soldiers were in was predominantly French-speaking, the soldiers brought the dish back to the United States as "french fries". The Spanish claim that the dish was invented in Spain, since they were the first European country to import potatoes.

"The straightforward explanation of the term is that it means potatoes fried in the French sense of the verb "to cook", which can mean either sautéing or deep-grease frying, while its French origin, frire, unambiguously means deep-frying : frites being its past participle used with a plural feminine substantive, as in pommes de terre frites ("deep-fried potatoes"). Thomas Jefferson, famous for serving French dishes, wrote exactly the latter French expression. In the early 20th century, the term "French fried" was being used for foods such as onion rings or chicken, apart from potatoes. The verb "to french", though not attested until after "French fried potatoes" had appeared, can refer to "julienning" of vegetables as is acknowledged by some dictionaries, while others only refer to trimming the meat off the shanks of chops. In the UK, "Frenched" lamb chops (particularly for serving as a 'rack of lamb') have the majority of the fat removed together with a small piece of fatty meat from between the ends of the chop bones, leaving mainly only the meat forming the "eye" of the chop attached. - Belgium Belgians claim that "French" fries are in fact Belgian, but definitive evidence for the origin has not been presented. Belgian historian Jo Gerard recounts that potatoes were already fried in 1680 in the Spanish Netherlands, in the area of "the Meuse valley between Dinant and Liège, Belgium. The poor inhabitants of this region allegedly 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." The Dutch concur with a Southern Netherlandish or Belgian origin when referring to Vlaamse frieten ('Flemish fries'). In 1857, the newspaper Courrier de Verviers devotes an article to Fritz (assumed pun with 'frites'), a Belgian entrepreneur selling French fries at fairs, calling them "le roi des pommes de terre frites". In 1862, a stall selling French fried potatoes (see frietkot) called "Max en Fritz" was established near Het Steen in Antwerp. A Belgian legend claims that the term "French" was introduced when British or American soldiers arrived in Belgium during World War I, and consequently tasted Belgian fries. They supposedly called them "French", as it was the official language of the Belgian Army at that time. But the term "French fried potatoes" had been in use in America long before the Great War. Whether or not Belgians invented them, "frites" "quickly became the national snack and a substantial part of both national dishes — making the Belgians their largest per capita consumers in Europe, and their "symbolic" creators. - France Many Americans attribute the dish to France — although in France they are almost exclusively thought of as Belgian — and offer as evidence a notation by U.S. President Thomas Jefferson. "Pommes de terre frites à cru, en petites tranches" ("Potatoes deep-fried while raw, in small cuttings") are noted in a manuscript in Thomas Jefferson's hand (circa 1801-1809) and the recipe almost certainly comes from his French chef, Honoré Julien. It is worth noting, though, that France had recently annexed what is now Belgium, and would retain control over it until the Congress of Vienna of 1815 brought it under Dutch control. In addition, from 1813 on, recipes for what can be described as French fries, occur in popular American cookbooks. By the late 1850s, one of these mentions the term "French fried potatoes". Recipes for fried potatoes (not clearly specified how) in French cookbooks date back at least to Menon's Les soupers de la cour (1755). It is true that eating potatoes was promoted in France by Parmentier, but he did not mention fried potatoes in particular. And the name of the dish in languages other than English does not refer to France; in French, they are simply called "pommes de terres frites" or, more commonly, simply "pommes frites" or 'frites'. - Spain Some claim that the dish was invented in Spain, the first European country in which the potato appeared via the New World colonies, and assumes the first appearance to have been as an accompaniment to fish dishes in Galicia, from which it spread to the rest of the country and further to the Spanish Netherlands, more than a century before Belgium was created there. Professor Paul Ilegems, curator of the Friet-museum in Antwerp, Belgium, believes that Saint Teresa of Ávila fried the first chips, referring also to the tradition of frying in Mediterranean cuisine." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_fries#Culinary_origin

They come from the French Fry stork!!!

why are the called FRENCH fries.. i dont get it. i wanna say there from france but so many people say there not... somone just say the country

Listen: I know that this is hard to believe but two french fries equals one baked potato. Keep this in mind.

Belgium! (French speaking part)

I believe they came from potatoes and still come from potatoes. But that's just me.