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7 min
21/01/2026
The ‘French’ part of the most loved fried foods in the world, potato-based “French fries”, might just be a historical mislabeling. Somewhere between fact and fiction is the story of World War I and Americans who, apparently, witnessed potato fries being made when rivers froze up in winter, making fish scarce. This was allegedly happening in an obscure Belgian village; with French being the dominant language, it got these fries the name, French fries. There begins the ownership battle over the delicious fried snack.
When it comes to the origin of French fries, there are as many origin stories floating around as versions of this fried potato treat. The most famous story goes something like this: the Belgians added the word French to the potato fries they were making along the River Meuse (in France). As per them, the French picked it up. But the French say they were already selling them in Paris. Then there’s a Spanish version too. So, what exactly is the history of the French fry?
The Belgian story centres on the Meuse Valley, where villagers used to catch and fry small fish from the river. According to Belgian folklore, during a harsh winter in 1680, the Meuse River froze solid, cutting off access to the fish that was the staple diet.
So what the villagers did was cut potatoes, which were available in abundance, into strips resembling the small fish and fried them in oil as a substitute. It was the Belgian journalist Jo Gérard who brought this story to prominence in the 1970s, claiming he discovered a 1781 family manuscript that described these early fried potatoes.
However, food historian Pierre Leclercq points out that potatoes weren't even introduced to the region until the 1730s, making the Belgian claim impossible. He also notes that peasants and villagers would not have had the means to deep fry potatoes in fat, as these were expensive commodities generally consumed raw on bread, soups and stews.
One enduring origin story from France holds that French fries were invented by street vendors on the Pont Neuf bridge in Paris in 1789, just before the outbreak of the French Revolution. These vendors sold what the French call pommes frites, or pommes de terre frites, to passersby, and the dish quickly became embedded in Parisian culture.
Belgian researcher Pierre Leclercq discovered that a German-born, Paris-trained cook named Herr Krieger was travelling through Belgium in the early 1800s, selling sliced, fried potatoes he described as ‘Paris-style fried potatoes’. By 1845, Krieger began cutting his potatoes into sticks to cook them faster.
Also, the first recorded mention of French fries appears in a Parisian book in 1775. By the early 19th century, fried potatoes had become a popular street food in Paris, appearing in French literature and songs of the era. The French argue that while the Belgian tale is charming, documentary evidence points to Paris as its true birthplace.
Spain enters the fries debate with perhaps the oldest claim of all. Spain was the first European country to receive potatoes from New World colonies, and deep frying is a traditional part of Mediterranean cuisine. Professor Paul Ilegems, curator of the Frietmuseum in Bruges, Belgium, believes that Saint Teresa of Ávila of Spain cooked the first French fries. They call their stick-like fries or fried potatoes patatas fritas or papas fritas, a term that predated both the Belgian and French claims.
The oldest documents mentioning fried potatoes, though, come from Chile, found in ‘Happy Captivity’, a personal written account (diary) by Chilean Francisco Núñez de Pineda in 1673, who narrated his experiences as a captive war soldier at the hands of Mapuche warriors. In the text, he mentioned that in 1629, he was eating ‘papas fritas’ (fried potatoes), with women sending ‘fried and stewed potatoes’ to the chiefs.
The Chilean evidence dates back even earlier than Belgium's 1680 claim and more than a century before the French Pont-Neuf style of the late 18th century. While the exact shape of the fries is unclear, they were likely wide slices or cubes fried in lamb or guanaco tallow; this represents the earliest documented reference to fried potatoes anywhere in the world.
So if Belgium has the strongest claim and the earliest European evidence points to Paris, how did they become ‘French’ fries? The popular World War I story that American soldiers in Belgium called them ‘French’ because French was the official language of the Belgian Army might be a myth. It is said that the name ‘French fries’ was used in English long before 1917, and the term only got popular decades after World War I.
The more likely explanation involves the cooking technique of ‘frenching’, which is a term for cutting food into even, thin strips – a julienne cut. The term ‘French-fried potatoes’ may simply describe this cutting method rather than the country of origin. By 1856, the term ‘French fried potatoes’ was being used in print, first appearing in an E. Warren cookbook.
Thomas Jefferson is credited with introducing French fries to America after returning from France with a recipe for ‘pommes de terre frites à cru en petites tranches’, which translates to deep-fried potatoes in small cuttings. During his time as American Minister to France from 1784 to 1789, Jefferson had his enslaved chef James Hemings trained in French cooking techniques.
In 1802, Thomas Jefferson requested ‘potatoes served in the French manner’ to accompany a White House meal. However, the fried potatoes Jefferson served likely looked quite different from today's French fries. His version was cut in rounds or ‘in shavings round and round, as you would peel a lemon’, more resembling thick potato chips than stick-shaped fries.
Despite Jefferson's efforts, French fries didn't really catch on with the American public until the early 1900s. American soldiers returning from Europe after World War I sought out their new favourite snack, and the rise of fast-food restaurants like White Castle, which began offering French fries with hamburgers, helped popularise them.
The true globalisation of French fries came with the rise of fast food chains, particularly McDonald's. Introduced to the McDonald's menu in 1949, French fries were originally cooked in a mixture of 93% beef tallow and 7% cottonseed oil. Ray Kroc, who bought the franchise rights in 1954, fell in love with these beef tallow-fried fries and became a master of the French fry, developing potato curing methods and a ‘potato computer’.
The signature fry transcended its humble origins to become a beloved treat across the globe, captivating everyone from James Beard and Julia Child to French master Paul Bocuse. With globalisation in the 1900s, the French fry also started appeasing Indian palates.
So who really invented French fries? The truth is likely that multiple cultures developed their own versions of fried potatoes. Chile has the earliest written documentation from 1629, but the claims of 18th-century Parisian street vendors can’t be ignored. While the historians argue, the foodies enjoy.
