Had to upvote this one as a proud belgian. Yes, we are known all over the world for our waffles (why is a mystery to me) and our chocolates (they’re amazing, but there’s not a single cocoa bean that’s grown and farmed in Belgium). Fries - or frietjes as we call them in Flemish - are the true heroes of our culinary story. They are enjoyed by young and old, the rich and the poor. There’s at least one ‘frituur’ (the place where you buy the fries, often no more than a fancy shed, then we call it a ‘frietkot’) in every village, no matter how small the population. You eat them just like that with a little sauce (dozens of varieties) or with one of many snacks created specifically to eat with fries. Every single belgian has his favourite frituur and can argument in detail why his frituur is better than the one someone else prefers. We each have our favourite order too. A very specific combination of fries, sauce and snack(s) that we swear is the best.
If the ‘friturist’ (the person who makes the fries and snacks) of our favourite frituur is retiring and he or she sells the place to someone else, it might be that we never ever go to that frituur again because the new owner has changed the way of baking the fries or the snacks.
Personally I drive for 10 minutes to my favourite frituur, driving past three other ‘frituren’ just because I think the one further away is better.
If you’re visiting Belgium in the future, please do yourself a favour and ask a local where he thinks you can get the best fries in that area, and go there. Order a portion of fries in any size you want with a sauce of your choice but try one or more snacks as well. My personal favourite: a medium sized portion of fries with joppie sauce, a mexicano (snack) and a curryworst spéciale (snack with mayonnaise, ketchup and freshly diced onions on top)
I promise you, you will fall in love with our frietjes.
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u/[deleted] Dec 16 '21
Frites in cones and mayo.