Fries unite Belgium's language groups
Source: Agencies |
February 17, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IN Belgium, everything from political parties to pigeon racing clubs is split into Dutch and French-speaking camps, and the country always seems on the verge of an acrimonious breakup.
But there's at least one thing that unites the Belgians - fries.
Nothing holds this conflicted nation together more than its hunger for deep-fried potato sticks served under landslides of mayonnaise and dozens of other sauces.
Research shows Belgium's 6.5 million Dutch-speakers and 4 million Francophones average a weekly visit to one of their country's 5,000 or so fry shops and shacks.
Many are lowbrow joints in converted campers with drooping awnings, loud lights, corny names and an overwhelming smell of bubbling fat and pungent sauce.
Dutch-speakers call such shops "frietkotten." Francophones call them "baraques a frites." Both mean "fry hovel" - and it's meant as a term of endearment.
"The 'frietkot' is the best symbol you can imagine for Belgium," says Paul Ilegems, author of four books about Belgians' love affair with fries.
A landmark event in their elevation as a national icon was the 2007 opening of a french fry museum in the medieval town of Bruges. It runs through the history of potatoes and displays french fry paintings, drawings and other collectibles. It used to exhibit a lard sculpture of a bag of fries but the smell got so bad it had to be tossed out.
The museum received 50,000 visitors in 2009.
It's "a little bit of Belgian culture," Peter Wellens, a University of Antwerp student, said.
But there's at least one thing that unites the Belgians - fries.
Nothing holds this conflicted nation together more than its hunger for deep-fried potato sticks served under landslides of mayonnaise and dozens of other sauces.
Research shows Belgium's 6.5 million Dutch-speakers and 4 million Francophones average a weekly visit to one of their country's 5,000 or so fry shops and shacks.
Many are lowbrow joints in converted campers with drooping awnings, loud lights, corny names and an overwhelming smell of bubbling fat and pungent sauce.
Dutch-speakers call such shops "frietkotten." Francophones call them "baraques a frites." Both mean "fry hovel" - and it's meant as a term of endearment.
"The 'frietkot' is the best symbol you can imagine for Belgium," says Paul Ilegems, author of four books about Belgians' love affair with fries.
A landmark event in their elevation as a national icon was the 2007 opening of a french fry museum in the medieval town of Bruges. It runs through the history of potatoes and displays french fry paintings, drawings and other collectibles. It used to exhibit a lard sculpture of a bag of fries but the smell got so bad it had to be tossed out.
The museum received 50,000 visitors in 2009.
It's "a little bit of Belgian culture," Peter Wellens, a University of Antwerp student, said.
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