National French Fry Day lands on Tuesday, July 13, 2027, and Belgium and France still argue over who invented the dish. Either way, the potato sticks taste best hot and salted.
When Does National French Fry Day Fall?
Every July 13. Like most food days, it’s informal, with no time off.
Belgium or France
Who started the food day is unknown. The potato itself came from the Andes in South America, where wild kinds grow as high as about 4,000 meters.
Spanish conquerors brought it to Europe in 1537, Belgium’s news agency Belga reports. Warm weather in Spain and Italy didn’t suit the plant, so growing moved north.
Belgium’s claim
Belgians cite a manuscript from 1680. When the Meuse froze and fishing stopped, it says, locals cut potatoes into fish shapes and fried them. Historians treat it as a legend.
Bernard Lefèvre, president of the Belgian fry group Navefri, disagrees with the French. Good fries need special frying potatoes, he argues. Those weren’t first grown in France. Belgium also has the highest concentration of frietkoten, or fry shops, he notes.
France’s claim
France’s side holds that fries were first eaten on the Pont Neuf in Paris. Food historian Pierre Leclercq calls them “French to the core.”
In the 18th century, French pommes frites were round slices pan-fried in very little fat. Sticks fried twice came later. They showed up on Paris streets around 1885, along with the first recipes in French cookbooks.
Another clue is a 1755 French cookbook, Les soupers de la cour, which holds an early mention. Belga’s verdict is that the old sources settle nothing.
Across the ocean
Thomas Jefferson served “pommes de terre frites à cru, en petites tranches” at an 1802 dinner. He may have picked up the recipe from his French cook, or during his years in France in the 1780s. By 1882, Miss Parloa’s New Cook Book had a recipe for “French fried potatoes.”
Where the Name Came From
One popular tale credits World War I soldiers in French-speaking Belgium. Michael Quinion of World Wide Words calls that folk etymology, since the term was older.
Margaret Dods, a British cookbook writer, noted in 1828 that “The French fry sliced potatoes in goose-dripping.” Eliza Warren’s cookbook used “French fried potatoes” in 1856.
The short form “French fries” turned up in an 1886 ad in the Springfield Republican, Wordorigins.org records.
Fries by the Numbers
Idaho grows more potatoes than any other state, with Washington second. Together they produce more than half the U.S. crop.
Most potatoes never reach a grocery bin. About 63% go to processors, the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center reports. In 2017, some 170 million hundredweight became frozen products like fries and tots.
Each American ate about 49.7 pounds of frozen potatoes in 2015.
Ideas for National French Fry Day
- Try the double fry that Leclercq traces to Paris.
- Stop at golden brown. The FDA says acrylamide forms at high heat and builds with longer cooking.
- Bake oiled potato sticks in a hot oven for a lighter batch.
- Line up shoestring, steak-cut and waffle fries for a family taste test.
- Shake on garlic, parmesan or chili flakes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does acrylamide only form in fried food?
No. Roasting and baking can produce it as well. Boiling and steaming usually don’t, the FDA notes.
What does “frenched” mean?
In North America, it means cut into thin strips. That use came after the cooking term, Quinion says.
When was the French term first recorded?
The long French name for fried potatoes is on record by 1808, Wordorigins.org notes. It was later shortened.
Can any country claim frying?
Not really. Cooking in hot fat is as old as cooking itself, Lefèvre told Belga.