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French Fries First Appeared In America When Thomas Jefferson Had “Potatoes Served In The French Manner” At A White House Dinner In 1802

Updated April 7, 2024

(July 12, 2021) National French Fry Day on July 13th recognizes a staple food on menus across the country. It comes in so many different cuts and styles, there’s a favorite for everyone to enjoy!

  • 1781 – French Fries are one of many foods whose name is most misleading, as the origins of this fat fried food seem to be in Belgium. The story of their creation can be found in a family manuscript dated 1781, which reveals that potatoes were originally cut into the shape of fish and served in lieu of the fish normally caught in a series of small villages in Belgium. It seems the river had frozen over and the fish they normally caught and fried were unable to be caught.
  • 1802 – Thomas Jefferson serves “potatoes served in the French manner” at a White House dinner
  • 1850s – Between the 1850s and 1930s, French fries were known more illustratively as “French fried potatoes” in America.
  • 1856 – Recipe for “French Fried Potatoes” included in “Cookery for Maids of All Work” by E. Warren.
  • 1930s – Around the 1930s, everybody dropped the “potatoes” on the end and just called them French fries.
  • 1940 – The first McDonald’s opens in San Bernardino, California, selling hamburgers, sodas, milkshakes, and French fries.
  • 1990 – McDonald’s starts cooking their French fries in vegetable oil.
  • The expression “French Fried Potatoes” first occurs in print in English in the 1856 work Cookery for Maids of All Work by E. Warren.
  • Charles Dickens, who was surprisingly something of a 17th-century “foodie,” was the first author to pen french fries into literature. Dickens wrote about dozens of breakfast foods, dinner plates and pints of beer, and included an allusion to french fries in his 1859 novel “A Tale of Two Cities.” It was the best of fries, it was the worst of fries… Dickens described the dish we now know as fries as, “husky chips of potato, fried with some reluctant drops of oil.”
  • It is believed by some that the term “French” was introduced to the potatoes when the American soldiers arrived in Belgium during World War I and consequently tasted Belgian fries. Since French was the official language of the Belgian Army at that time, it is possible the American soldiers began calling the fried potatoes “French” fries.
  • In Belgium, people prefer to eat French fries with cooked mussels or with a fried egg on top.
  • In England these are referred to as “chips”
  • Fish and chips is one of the most popular meals in Great Britain.
  • In the Middle East, fries are wrapped in pita bread with chicken, and in France they are served with grilled steak.
  • Canadians serve up poutine, a dish consisting of french fries and cheese curds, topped with brown gravy!
  • French fries are one of the most popular side dishes in the world.
  • Though French fries were invented in Europe, the potatoes, from which they are made, originated in the Americas and were imported.
  • Leaving the potato skin on French fries actually leaves in important vitamins that are lost if the skins are peeled away.
  • A medium-size potato packs a mere 150 calories or so, is fat-free, and is a great source of complex carbohydrates, a major source of the body’s energy. An equivalent serving of fries contains over 500 calories, over 30 percent of which come from fat, and over a dozen additives carefully calibrated to make fries taste yummy.
  • The first occurrence of French fries in America was when Thomas Jefferson had “potatoes served in the French manner” at a White House dinner in 1802.
  • North Americans refer to any elongated pieces of fried potatoes as fries, while in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, long, thinly cut slices of fried potatoes are often called fries to distinguish them from the more thickly cut strips called chips.
  • McDonald’s uses about 7% of the potatoes grown in the United States for its French fries. They sell more than 1/3 of all the French fries sold in restaurants in the U.S. each year.
  • To burn off the calories in a medium order of McDonald’s French fries, you would need to do: 58 minutes of cycling, 90 minutes of bowling or 47 minutes of high-impact aerobics.
  • Sweet potatoes aren’t actually potatoes. They are actually swollen roots and belong to the same family as Morning Glories. But they sure do make the best French fries!
  • There is a whole museum dedicated to French fries called the Friet Museum in Belgium.
  • The European Space Agency did a study to see how fries would be in space. As the gravity gets stronger, the fries get crispier. But since the gravity in space is less, the fries would be soggy and gross. Even though they are gross with less gravity, they were also the first vegetable grown in space because of NASA.
  • Almost ¼ of all potatoes in America are consumed as French fries. According to National Geographic, the average American eats nearly 30 pounds of french fries each year.
  • Belgians, per capita, consume a third more French fries than Americans.  And their dip/sauce of choice is mayonnaise-based.
  • The USDA actually considers frozen fries as “vegetables,” which is why you might find them in the frozen vegetable aisle at the grocery store.
  • The world’s largest ‘French Fry Feed’ is in North Dakota.   A French Fry Feed is an event wherein huge swarms of people consume french fries simultaneously. The largest in the world, the Potato Bowl, takes place in Grand Forks, North Dakota. According to their website, up to 10,000 people attend each year, which is even better attendance than some of the best food festivals in America see.
  • There are actual fry-tasting rooms at the McDonald’s headquarters in Illinois.
  • Burger King’s French fries (and probably McDonald’s too) are sprayed with a sugar solution just before being packaged and shipped to the various franchise locations. This produces the golden color through caramelization of the sugar when it is fried.
  • The town of Florenceville-Bristol, New Brunswick, headquarters of McCain Foods, calls itself “the French fry capital of the world” and also hosts a museum about potatoes called “Potato World”. It is also one of the world’s largest manufacturers of frozen french fries and other potato specialties.

Sources:

National Day Calendar

Faith Based Events

Foodimentary

Mobile-Cuisine

Shooters Wood Fire Grill

The Daily Meal

Buzz Feed

Just Fun Facts

National Today


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