
Fries or chips?
In different parts of the world, it is an ongoing debate. In English, the issue is whether it is fries or chips.
Pommes frites
Papas fritas
Deep-fried potatoes.
You peel them all raw and slice them; stuff them and toss them in extraordinary hot frying; when fried, sprinkle them with salt.Charles-Yves Cousin d’Avalon
Belgium
Yet Belgium also claims to be the discoverer of this deep-fried potato product. For that, we can probably thank Frédéric Krieger, a musician from Bavaria. He learned this from street vendors of the product in Paris around 1842. In 1844, he took the recipe with him to Belgium and started the Fritz company with the slogan “la pomme de terre frite à l’instar de Paris” (“jacket potatoes Paris-style”) (source). Still, it became an ongoing battle between the French and the Belgians over who had now invented Chips or Chips. Then it was mostly about the modern version. Compare it a little with naming. What was the name used in Flemmish and Dutch? That could have been “friet” or “patat.”