But Why – A show for curious kids
Why are fries called french fries?
7/19/2024 | 1m 34sVideo has Closed Captions
Why are fries called french fries? Asks William from Philadelphia.
French fries are delicious, but how did they get their name? The story might be more complicated than you'd think and it starts more than 100 years ago!
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But Why – A show for curious kids is a local public television program presented by Vermont Public
But Why – A show for curious kids
Why are fries called french fries?
7/19/2024 | 1m 34sVideo has Closed Captions
French fries are delicious, but how did they get their name? The story might be more complicated than you'd think and it starts more than 100 years ago!
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipWhy are fries called French fries?
Who doesn't love a crispy french fry or chip, as they call them in the UK and Australia?
There's just something about these greasy and salty bits of strip potato that no wa we should answer the question.
You've actually stumble into a bit of a heated debate.
Some people believe that the French fry was invented in Franc and some think it was invented in Belgium.
We have no official record, but many historians think the dish was first served up in the small fishing town of Namur in Belgium.
Others say it was a French dish the neighboring Belgians adopted.
Either way, they weren't called French fries in France or Belgium, you'd probably order les frites.
The story about why we call them French fries goes like this.
American soldiers stationed in Belgium in World War One loved the dish, brought it back to the U.S. and called them French fries because the people in Belgium speak French.
But here's the truth of the matter.
Potatoes don't originally come from France or Belgium.
They're native to South America.
Spanish invaders brought potatoes back to Europe from their travels in Peru.
So maybe we should be calling them Peruvian fries.
You can call them whatever you want.
I'm just going to call them delicious.
To find out more about But Why and listen to our full episodes, go to butwhykids dot org.
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But Why – A show for curious kids is a local public television program presented by Vermont Public