Fries: a Walloon speciality

Fries (called frites in French) are part of Belgium’s gastronomic, cultural and tourist heritage. Wallonia wouldn’t be Wallonia without its plethora of frites stalls.

© WBT - Philippe Lermusiaux

A nice bag of frites is good to eat with friends and family, in a cone or a carton, from noon till dawn. And there are just as many of these stalls in towns as there are in the country, in motorway service station car parks, village squares, etc.

The right sauce for every frite

You can’t have frites without a nice sauce here in Belgium, and there are plenty to choose from, from the traditional mayonnaise to sauces with evocative names like Mammoth, Andalusian, Mafia, Brazil, Bansai, Tsigane, etc.

Frites may well be a Belgian invention, but they’re Walloon first and foremost

One legend, from 1781, has it that during harsh winters, the River Meuse in the Namur region would freeze over, so the locals couldn’t get at the small fish they used to fry, so instead they would cut up potatoes in the shape of fish and fry them instead.

Frites and quality

Frites have their own special charter – the measure of quality for a good frite.

Not just any old frite will do: a good frite officially has to be 1 cm thick and fried first at 150° and then at 175°. The result is a golden frite that’s crispy on the outside and soft on the inside

And to make good frites, you need good potatoes, which is why our frites taste so good. The Terra Nostra label is the quality mark for potatoes produced in Wallonia.

Numerous varieties of potato are grown in Wallonia. There are the classics, like the Charlotte or the Nicola, and the more traditional ones, like the Corne de Gatte, the Ratte and the Plate de Florenville.

Not to be missed under any circumstances:

• Every year there is a week-long festival celebrating the Walloon frite.
  From 28/11 to 04/12/2011: La Semaine de la Frite (Frite week).
   
• Visit the website of Terra Nostra: the quality label for Walloon potatoes