Now to the French argument: the popularity of the potato in France is largely credited to a French army medical officer named Antoine-Augustine Parmentier, who very famously championed the potato throughout France and parts of Europe. So, at least, the Belgians probably were among the first to have a crack at the potato, in terms of thinking up ways to prepare food from potatoes. Giving some credence to this story is that the Spanish controlled much of what is now modern day Belgium at the time the Spanish introduced the potato to Europe. So instead of frying up fish in these times, they would cut up potatoes in long thin slices, and fry them up as they did the fish. However, when the rivers froze up thick enough, it tended to make it somewhat difficult to get fish. How they supposedly came up with the idea was that, in this area, it was very common for the people to fry up small fish as a staple for their meals. In any event, historical accounts indicate that the Belgians were possibly frying up thin strips of potatoes as early as the late 17th century (though some claim it wasn’t until the late 18th century) in the Meuse Valley between Dinant and Liège, in Belgium. However, over time, larger and less bitter versions of the plant were cultivated and the plant gradually caught on elsewhere in Europe, though it was initially met with quite a bit of resistance (for more on that, see the bonus facts at the bottom). At this time, the potatoes were still quite small and bitter and didn’t grow well in either Spain or Italy. Among other things, they found in the native’s food stuffs potatoes, which the Spanish initially called “truffles”.Īround 20 years later, potatoes were brought back to Spain and also introduced to Italy. In 1537, Jimenez de Quesada and his Spanish forces encountered a village in Colombia where all the natives had fled. Potatoes were first introduced to Europe not through the French or Belgians, but through the Spanish. Among the various theories, it’s generally accepted that the French fry was invented by either the Belgians or the French. Today I found out about the history of French fries.Įxactly who introduced these golden strips of goodness to the world isn’t entirely known.
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