Interesting Fact of the Day...

In 8000 BC, Incas began growing potatoes.

Around 1536, Spanish Conquistadors brought potatoes back to Europe.

Meanwhile, in Belgium, people would catch small fish, cut them into strips, deep frying them for a snack. One winter, in the late 1600’s, when a river in the Meuse Valley was frozen and villagers were unable to catch fish, they began to cut the potatoes into small pieces and deep fry them...exactly like they did to their fish.

Eventually, the fried strips of potatoes became a common dish throughout Belgium.

During the first world war, American soldiers befriended some Belgian soldiers who gave them their fried strips of potatoes to eat. The Americans loved them...because what’s not to love!

However...because the Belgians were speaking French, the Americans mistook them for Frenchmen, telling everyone about the delicious FRENCH fried potatoes they’d sampled.

The truth is...they’re Belgian Fries.

There are five foods to sample while in Belgium:

-Waffles

-Chocolates (they invented the little stuffed chocolates in boxes we all know and love today)

-Beer

-Ghent Noses, and

-“French” Fries

There is an art to how fries are made there, including deep frying them twice to achieve perfection- soft and fluffy inside, crispy outside.

Served most often with mayonnaise and/or gravy, the fries in Belgium are AMAZING.

So, there you go.

Your interesting fact of the day. The birthplace of French Fries: Belgium.

And now I’m hungry.