What’s the secret of Belgian Fries? | Europe’s Best Street Food

They may be called "French fries," but nowhere are they as popular - and as tasty - as in Belgium. There's basically a " Fritkot" - a chip shop - on every corner and, whereas they are just a side dish in other countries, in Belgium chips are a main course. Find out what makes Belgian fries so special and why both locals and tourists absolutely love them.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
00:34 What people love about Belgian fries
01:00 Meet Steve Peeters, fry vendor
01:31 How Belgian fries are made
02:34 The sauces
04:00 The secret: fresh potatoes
CREDITS
Report: Gönna Ketels
Camera: Henning Goll
Edit: Philipp Czegka
Supervisising editor: Ruben Kalus
#chips #fries #belgium
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[@Alexandre-Marius-Jacob]

It's true, anywhere you go in Belgium, you're always close to a Friterie. And I just have to take a bite of a frite anywhere else in the world to miss my home instantly. 🖤💛❤Thank you for this perfectly done vid, I loved the style.

[@bimmelhex3025]

I visit a festival in belgium every year and every year my personal headliner is the fries cart that lets me choose my potato, pushes it through a cutter, fries it twice and serves it with 2 of 10 sauces.

[@lifeonable]

The Turkic world has discussed Israel and therefore does not accept refugees, thereby supporting the war. But the Haredim rule the Jews and, when they send them to war, they do not hate their people and do not defend themselves, but love Muslims

[@hansmemling2311]

Wow you know afstand that still does that? Holy cow, I knew stands like that when I was a child but that was a long time ago.

[@jjildefonso3801]

@bimmelhex3025 which festival is it? And may I know the date?

[@bimmelhex3025]

@@jjildefonso3801 Its Desertfest Antwerp in october

[@jjildefonso3801]

@@bimmelhex3025 thank you ☺️

[@ottomatic3123]

Thank goodness for the Steve's of the world!

[@dean828]

The narration is superb... love the spaghetti western music in the background, ala "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly"... but I'm guessing most Belgium fries are delicious...!

[@Sig_P229]

I loved your original video on Belgium fries too

[@NazriB]

Lies again? Grab Food USD SGD

[@ethimself5064]

@@NazriB What lies?

[@loawkoes]

just perfect content

[@shankarkrishnan3320]

Excellent narration. Bravo 🎉🎉

[@mohammedcohen]

...pommes frites were an epiphany to me - and my Army buddies - 52 years ago in Bad Windsheim - at a place called 'Ullrich's Bierstube' (unfortunately defunct since 1994 (almost 30 years past) WOW!!! These things were GOOD!!! I'd never had any 'fries' as good then - or since - my days in Germany...and the ULTIMATE - the 'krauterbutter' dipping 'sauce'!!!

[@om7303]

I cant with this narration lmfao

[@sivaarun9234]

Tasty and crispy voice over 🍟

[@alphacause]

The narration makes fries sound more erotic than actual erotica. 😁

[@xtrasolido]

I'm going to Belgium soon. Where is this particular fritteriste located?

[@Zeitgeistmaster]

At metro Pannenhuis. Off track for many tourists and on the “other/“my side of the Kanal. But near tour and taxis just a short walk through a nice new urban park.

[@xtrasolido]

@@Zeitgeistmaster Thanks!

[@luis29j]

@@Zeitgeistmaster It would be nice to see Steve and try his fries firsthand.

[@prabhdeepdhahan1147]

This is one of DW's best videos!

[@CCCC-rc9ic]

Where to find this......😍

[@luis29j]

Steve, I got the office job, you are right, it sucks, I will change places and be happy as you are if I could.

[@alphacause]

One of the worst mistakes we made in cooking is switching from oils derived from animals to ones derived from seed oils. Beef tallow -as this cook uses (1:26 - 1:40) - lard, duck fat, and butter are far better, not only in terms of flavor, but in terms of health as well. Many may find the latter assertion preposterous, because many of those people are basing their ideas of nutrition around data that is decades old, which is based on shoddy epidemiology and spurious inferences made from such population studies.

[@randomoneforstuff3696]

That is debatable. While the high omega 6 to omega 3 ratio in chemically extracted seed oils is truly disastrous, non-GMO expeller pressed versions oftentimes are very heart healthy, especially compared to animal fats which are shown to be increase one's risk for colorectal cancer. The idea that all saturated fat is unhealthy, like you said, is preposterous. However, no study ever hints to a correlation between animal fats and good health; in fact, usually the opposite is found. From Harvard Health: "Heart disease risk was lower when unhealthy saturated fat (i.e. chemically extracted seed oils), refined carbohydrates (like bread), or trans fat (i.e. shortening / hydrogenated vegetable oil) was replaced by plant-based monounsaturated fat (like olive or avocado oil), but not by animal-based monounsaturated fat (like lard). Higher intake of the plant-based fats was associated with a 16% lower risk of dying from any cause. In contrast, higher intake of the animal-based fats was linked to a 21% higher risk of dying from any cause."

[@istoppedcaring6209]

cocos oil is also quite healthy

[@papiezguwniak]

Friture de la Chapelle. The best.

[@rodjones117]

In the old days the very best frites were fried in horse fat, but beef fat is very nearly as good. Just not vegtable oil, not the same at all.

[@istoppedcaring6209]

to be honest it's more about the doubly frying, the kind of fat matters but that's a matter of taste

[@jessoncote1172]

I just learnt that Belgian Fries when they talk sound like Tom Hiddleston

[@adityapal4862]

Potato is not the root, but the stem of the plant.

[@Lootensansy2308]

Is Belgium fries

[@JPJ432]

Belgium French Fries are the best!

[@Ykh66]

How much is fries all devices if we want start this business in another country ?

[@AntiSociety100]

I would guess about 100k for a full installation i would guess. Ad to that the price of the location staff etc

[@barrys8503]

double-cooked in beef tallow

[@waraqas]

Owh! I guess this is why they call the dish French fries! Everyone speaks it in Belgium! 😁

[@hansmemling2311]

Oh nononono big no no. We have 3 regions with each their own language: French, Dutch and German. There are places where not a lot of people will be able to talk to you in French.

[@nunosilva187]

I wish they still used beef fat where I'm from. You can't even find it in stores.

[@tnductai]

people are so stuck up with the false propaganda that cooking oil is heart healthy, beef fat has better flavor and healthier

[@paquitoignacio3449]

I like French fries as long it’s been fried in fresh cooking oil.

[@tnductai]

processed cooking oil is worse for you health than beef fat, flavor is also worse, so why not settle for the better option?

[@R_CA]

you mispelled beef fat

[@deenyc1049]

It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Belgium but I enjoyed a host of fried items at the frites store. There’s a lot more than frites at many of these shops.

[@bensmith7536]

probably didnt need the whispering too close to the mic narration.

[@guro4679]

Why are fries lone rangers? Waffles were eroticized and fries are cowboys? 😂😂😂

[@LClarke]

_Stay thirsty, my friends..._

[@fredcraven1699]

Yeah they used to cook McDonald's fries beef fat until 1990

[@PanamanianMan317]

It's funny fries are all part of the Belgian lifestyle, yet notice almost none of them, if not none of them, are overweight nor obese.

[@tnductai]

cuz it's not that kind of junkfood in fast food restaurant that is highly processed, full of chemicals and sugar. obesity is caused from mainly sugar and bad fat from processed oil

[@hansmemling2311]

Sugar is what makes people fat the mos. One can eat lots of fat and carbs and not get that fat. Add sugar to the same mix and voila you gain weight.

[@mcgibs]

Was the weird first person anthropomorphism really necessary for this? It's distractingly infantilizing.

[@danilomilk]

Curiously, all the potatoes came from South America....

[@Appie-rd2bg]

The potato that is most used or one of the best to make fries I believe are Dutch, or created/invented in Friesland, a Dutch province. It is called “Bintje”.

[@robertfink1126]

Belgium invented the fries but Texas made them bigger into steak fries 😅😊

[@atmosphere1605]

Seductive Narrator

[@grahamstubbs4962]

Well, your cardiologist might take issue with it, but fries twice-cooked in beef fat can't be improved.

[@alphacause]

Actually, the idea that beef fat, or animal fat in general, being atherogenic is the result of very poor epidemiology. The idea that switching over to vegetable oils is somehow healthier is now being contested by many, even those within the field of cardiology.

[@grahamstubbs4962]

@@alphacause Interesting, isn't it? Nothing is perfect and breathing fresh air is going to kill you at some point. There ain't a game in town that doesn't leave you dead. I'm having the beef dripping fries with battered fish.

[@m.k480]

i can tell you best fries are from belgium and netherlands.

[@goodputin4324]

Duh

[@tnductai]

the "french" fries that the american soldiers brought back home actually originated from belgium region that speaks french, so maybe the solders thought it was french

[@nihadabdulhameed7365]

No only Belgium

[@zebounce]

Chippy??? This aint England !!

[@goodputin4324]

Founded in Belgium

[@hughreilly2023]

what no whiz?

[@dylanvittel9449]

The fries smell very good with cow oil

[@huus5682]

beglium but cowboy music

[@Phobero]

That they don't have anything else that's edible? 😅

[@user-kg6nb9ew5k]

Apparently you don't know the Belgian food culture. The quality of French food combined with the quantity of the German food. Not to mention our beers

[@Bobsk3]

So what is the secret?

[@goodputin4324]

Beef tallow

[@berfunkle4588]

I don't like fries cooked in anything other than beef tallow. Cooked in vegetable oil just tastes awful

[@Jnaga199]

Try duck fat, tastes amazing.

[@y0kozuna]

Everyone going to hate me for this but i have taste it, it is good but i prefer mine from mickey d 😅

[@abhijeetdey]

Simp for 0:28 goddamn

[@Anesthesia069]

Interesting theme and overview, but that narration is terrible...

[@blueball765]

STOP CALLING FRENCH FRIES ! FRIES WERE CREATED IN BELGIUM AND BELGIUM MAKES THE BEST FRIES IN THE WORLD

[@Appie-rd2bg]

Ok, patat.

[@tnductai]

blame the american soldiers, lol, but "french" fries rhymes and sounds better though.

[@JambalayaJimmy]

It's one of Belgium's national languages. Calm down.

[@misterbogs]

FRENCH FRIES FRENCH FRIES FRENCH FRIES FRENCH FRIES

[@DartboardDiaries]

French Fries

[@jeansvanjeansington1794]

So... what's the secret.. ?

[@Milaandlukeliketodostuff]

Perfect until he let them steam in plastic bags

[@concepta2z632]

Indian food is best in all over the world I am talking about only vegetarian food

[@marcomorosino6081]

I tell you that: it's just fried potatoes mostly frozen product, an example of how poor some local remote recipe are. C'mon, wake up.

[@envsf03]

French fries were first invented in Morecambe in 1898. They were made to celebrate the French poodle of the Lord Mayor of Morecambe. They then were exported to the United States of America by the Family of George Washington who lived in Morecambe but moved to the USA because they didn't like the cold winters of Lancashire.

[@Bhaerts]

source?

[@Kuricang31]

Source: trust me bro. Mate, who you're trying to fool lol?? 😂😂😂

[@Bhaerts]

What do you try to say?@@Kuricang31

[@Kuricang31]

@@Bhaerts Not talking to you mate, I'm talking this bloke who claims French Fried was made in Morecambe one

[@tnductai]

1898 and George Washington, something doesn't add up mate.

[@user-xv3lc7ni9e]

FRENCH FRIES FRENCH FRIES

[@tarjei99]

Been tallow does not handle heat well over time. We get a lot of nasty byproducts which ruins peoples health. Which is why McDonald's had to change their frying oil.

[@Kuricang31]

True but McDonald's also added chemicals and preservatives called TBHQ to their fries not long after its oil bath (yummy stomach tumor!) 😂😂

[@tnductai]

do more research and read more scientific articles mate, beef tallow or animal fat handle heat much better over time. vegetable oil is highly processed with heat and chemical, what you see in the bottle is already bleached and deodorize to get rid of the odor and dark color, these oils turn dark way faster than tallow or lard. Your McD uses frying oil because it's cheaper, that's all

[@adrienhb8763]

Belgium has, without any doubt, one of the finest French fries culture and its twice fried in beef tallow recipe is one of the best. But French fries were invented in Paris, France and the best recipe is English, thanks to Heston Blumenthal.

[@Robalogot]

The first time fries were sold was in Paris, but the invention is still unclear, even though there's a lot of circumstantial evidence that points to Belgium. Mainly the ports of Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp at the time were the center of trade and is how potatoes entered Europe. Because of the high population during the Middle Ages, waterways got polluted and fish stayed away. So people started to substitute fish with potatoes and chicken. So we know of other dishes, and we know that in Belgium fried strips of fish was one of the main dishes before the fish supply ended. The fact that it's still heavily rooted in Belgian culture throughout the region also suggests that people never thought it was special enough to sell. So the current hypotheses is that a French person ate some fries in Belgium and thought it would work in Paris. Think of it like Italians starting a pizza shop in New York, even though in Italy it was just regular food of the people.

[@adrienhb8763]

@@Robalogot Where did you get your story? Cause there was no potatoes during the Middle ages. And usually that story is set in the XVIIth century, but fat was too expensive for farmers to use for cooking. According to the Liège University (yes a Belgian one), fries were indeed created in Paris at the beginning of the XIXth century, even at the end of the XVIIIth century. They arrived in Brussels around 1838 thanks to a German born fairground dealer who learned the recipe… in Paris. So yes fries are French, the Belgian have had the best recipe for decades, but since 1992 the best recipe is English.

[@hansmemling2311]

What’s this English recipe? I have never heard of it.

[@hansmemling2311]

I just checked out his recipe I should taste it before I judge but the way he describes it doesn’t really sound tasty to me.

[@adrienhb8763]

@@hansmemling2311 Look for "Heston Blumenthal’s Triple-Cooked Chips".

[@MVEProducties]

They are NOT French Fries, but Flemish Fries!!!!!!! 😡

[@uriustosh]

Belgian fries are no better than fries in any other nation. Fries arent that hard to master, many a people have one it all over the world. Best fries I have ever ate were in Colombia so go figure, the Andes where potatoes are actually from.

[@vaughnwilliams1208]

Belgian chips are made from a special Bintje potato, are fried twice, often fried in dripping. They are accompanied by special Sauces. That's what makes them special. Interesting to know about the Andes being home of potatoes 👍

[@hansmemling2311]

Well this is where you are wrong. I’m Belgian and have eaten fries in France, the UK, Poland and Spain. Belgian fries are better.

[@hansmemling2311]

Anyone can copy us though if they want. The recipe is not a secret and I believe there is a Brazilian in Sao Paolo making it the same way so I’m sure out method as been thought of or discovered by other people as well. Feel free to copy and try our method it’s much better than every fry I ate anywhere else.

[@kykeon]

How do you compare to McDonald's?

[@goodputin4324]

Don't eat fake products