Editing French fries (section)

==Origin==
[[File:Steak frites.jpg|thumb|left|[[Steak frites]] in Fontainebleau, France]]

=== Chile ===
The oldest documents where a fried potato is mentioned are from Chile in 1629 in the city of [[Nacimiento, Chile|Nacimiento]], extracted from ''[[Happy Captivity]]'', written in 1673 by Chilean [[Francisco Núñez de Pineda y Bascuñán|Francisco Núñez de Pineda]], where he narrates his experiences as a captive war soldier in 1629 at the hands of [[Mapuche]] warriors.<ref name=Chile>{{cite web|url=https://www.meganoticias.cl/nacional/469847-orgullo-nacional-nuevo-hallazgo-plantea-que-papas-fritas-tendrian-origen-mapuche-brk-16-12-2024.html|title=¿Orgullo nacional? Nuevo hallazgo plantea que las papas fritas tendrían origen mapuche|work=Mega|date=16 December 2024|access-date=1 January 2025|language=es}}</ref> In the text, he mentioned eating "papas fritas" (fried potatoes) in 1629 and women "sent fried and stewed potatoes" to the chiefs.<ref name=Chile/><ref name="cronica"/> The exact shape is unclear, likely cubes fried in butter which was customary.<ref name="cronica"/> However, the cane shape originates from Europe.<ref name="cronica">{{cite web |website=Diario Crónica |title=Este 20 de agosto se celebra el Día Mundial de las Papas Fritas |quote=“enviaban las papas fritas y guisadas” |date=August 20, 2020 |url=https://www.cronica.com.ar/info-general/Este-20-de-agosto-se-celebra-el-Dia-Mundial-de-las-Papas-Fritas-20200820-0046.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240305233028/https://www.cronica.com.ar/info-general/Este-20-de-agosto-se-celebra-el-Dia-Mundial-de-las-Papas-Fritas-20200820-0046.html |archive-date=Mar 5, 2024}}</ref>

===Spain===
French fries as we know them may have been invented in [[Spain]], the first European country in which the potato appeared from the [[New World]] [[colony|colonies]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rupp|first=Rebecca|date=8 January 2015|title=Are French Fries Truly French?|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/are-french-fries-truly-french|url-status=dead|access-date=26 October 2021|website=Culture|language=en|archive-date=18 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118212851/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/are-french-fries-truly-french}}</ref> Professor Paul Ilegems, [[curator]] of the [[Frietmuseum]] in [[Bruges]], Belgium, believes that [[Teresa of Ávila|Saint Teresa of Ávila]] of Spain cooked the first french fries, and refers also to the [[tradition]] of frying in [[Mediterranean cuisine]] as evidence.<ref name="ilegems1">{{cite book|last=Ilegems|first=Paul|title=De Frietkotcultuur|publisher=Loempia|year=1993|isbn=978-90-6771-325-2|language=nl}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Swalec|first=Andrea|date=28 July 2010|title=In Belgium, frites aren't small potatoes|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-belgium-food-fries-idUSTRE66R1JI20100728|access-date=26 October 2021|archive-date=3 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220303052447/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-belgium-food-fries-idUSTRE66R1JI20100728|url-status=live}}</ref> 

===Belgian–French dispute===
The Belgians and French have an ongoing dispute about where fries were invented.<ref name="SW158">{{cite book|last1=Schehr|first1=Lawrence R.|title=French Food: On the Table On the Page and in French Culture|last2=Weiss|first2=Allen S.|publisher=Routledge|year=2001|isbn=978-0415936286|location=Abingdon|page=158}}</ref>

The Belgian food historian Pierre Leclercq has traced the history of the french fry and asserts that "it is clear that fries are of French origin".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.histoiredelafrite.com/|title=Histoire de la pomme de terre frite|website=Histoiredelafrite.com|access-date=8 June 2022|archive-date=29 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220429204217/https://www.histoiredelafrite.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> They became an emblematic [[Paris|Parisian]] dish in the 19th century. Frédéric Krieger, a [[Kingdom of Bavaria|Bavarian]] musician, learned to cook fries at a roaster on [[Boulevard Montmartre|rue Montmartre]] in Paris in 1842, and took the recipe to Belgium in 1844, where he created his business Fritz and sold "la pomme de terre frite à l'instar de Paris" ("Paris-style fried potatoes").<ref name=LeFig2018>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/langue-francaise/actu-des-mots/2018/08/01/37002-20180801ARTFIG00017-non-les-frites-ne-sont-pas-belges.php|title=Non, les frites ne sont pas belges|date=1 August 2018|website=Lefigaro.fr|access-date=8 June 2022|archive-date=14 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714192432/https://www.lefigaro.fr/langue-francaise/actu-des-mots/2018/08/01/37002-20180801ARTFIG00017-non-les-frites-ne-sont-pas-belges.php|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ladepeche.fr/2021/10/18/les-frites-sont-elles-belges-ou-francaises-voici-enfin-la-reponse-9861237.php|title=Les frites sont-elles belges ou françaises ? Voici enfin la réponse !|website=Ladepeche.fr|access-date=8 June 2022|archive-date=16 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220416093523/https://www.ladepeche.fr/2021/10/18/les-frites-sont-elles-belges-ou-francaises-voici-enfin-la-reponse-9861237.php|url-status=live}}</ref> The modern style of fries born in Paris around 1855 is different from the domestic fried potato that existed in the 18th century.<ref name=LeFig2018 />

[[File:Belgian frites shop.jpg|thumb|A Belgian frites shop]]
From the Belgian standpoint, the popularity of the term "french fries" is explained as "French gastronomic hegemony" into which the cuisine of Belgium was assimilated, because of a lack of understanding coupled with a shared language and geographic proximity of the countries.<ref name="SW158" /> The Belgian journalist {{ill|Jo Gérard|fr}} claimed that a 1781 family manuscript recounts that potatoes were deep-fried prior to 1680 in the [[Meuse]] valley, as a substitute for [[Fried fish|frying fish]] when the rivers were frozen.<ref name="frites1">{{in lang|fr}} Hugues Henry (16 August 2001) {{cite web|title=La Frite est-elle belge?|url=http://www.frites.be/v4/index.cfm?context=article&ContentID=354|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524003848/http://www.frites.be/v4/index.cfm?context=article&ContentID=354|archive-date=24 May 2013|access-date=3 March 2012|language=fr}}. Frites.be. Retrieved 12 September 2012.</ref><ref name="ilegems1"/> Gérard never produced the manuscript that supports this claim, and "the historical value of this story is open to question".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Beaufils |first=Thomas |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/491677873 |title=Les Belges |publisher=le Cavalier bleu |year=2004 |isbn=2-84670-072-9 |location=Paris |pages=86 |language=FR |oclc=491677873}}</ref> In any case, it is unrelated to the later history of the french fry, as the potato did not arrive in the region until around 1735; furthermore, given 18th-century economic conditions: "it is absolutely unthinkable that a peasant could have dedicated large quantities of fat for cooking potatoes. At most they were [[Sautéing|sautéed]] in a pan".<ref>Leclercq, Pierre (2 February 2010). [http://www.musee-gourmandise.be/fr/articles-de-fond/77-articles-fond/132-la-veritable-histoire-de-la-frite La véritable histoire de la pomme de terre frite] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209164507/https://www.musee-gourmandise.be/fr/articles-de-fond/77-articles-fond/132-la-veritable-histoire-de-la-frite |date=9 February 2022 }}, Musee-gourmandise.be, mentioning the work of Fernand Pirotte on the history of the potato</ref>