While a portion of fries sizzles in the deep fryer, Paul-Henri Doumenc measures the temperature of the fat, while his colleague washes and dries cut potatoes for the next batch. The operator of a food truck puts his deep-frying skills to the test on a large stage in the large square in Arras, northern France.
In what the city says is the first French Fries World Championship, dozens of pre-selected international French fry restaurateurs competed against each other in four categories: authentic fries, creative fries, amateur fries and the fries sauce of the year.
“These are Parisian fries,” says Doumenc, “they are ten millimeters thick.” Under the eye of a critical jury and accompanied by several camera teams, the snack bar operator, who offers fries and burgers in his truck in the greater Paris area, starts the competition.
A few meters further, Vincent Pécourt from near Angers makes sure his potato sticks are properly browned. Family and friends cheer him on in the packed square in the historic center of Arras. They traveled hundreds of kilometers to take part in the competition. What makes good fries? “Love is the first ingredient,” laughs Pécourt – and of course potatoes from the north of France.
The right potatoes for the perfect fries
One person who really knows everything about fries is Jean-Paul Dambrine (75), who runs a large network of mobile fries stalls in northern France. He has been frying fries in the region for 55 years. Good potatoes from northern France are the be-all and end-all, he says.
The fries would then have to be fried in two stages. “French fries are a universal product, you can eat them with anything at any time,” he says enthusiastically. For the 2008 film “Welcome to the Sch’tis” set in the region, he created the “Friterie Momo” at the request of actor Dany Boon. He now waves to people in Arras from this stall – everyone knows him here.
As is typical of a gastronomic event in France, a top-class jury of experts assesses the fries – including specialist journalists, representatives of the Chamber of Agriculture and the potato industry as well as farmers. However, the jury is chaired by the regional fry king Dambrine.
The north, which formerly belonged to Flanders for a time, is the French fries stronghold in France. Half of the country’s approximately 1,400 french fries shops, known as friteries in France, are located in the Hauts-de-France region. That’s why there is a competition between northern France and neighboring Belgium as to where the best fries are and who actually invented them.
Belgian vs. French fries
Sébastian Viloria can explain the difference between the fries. The Brussels native and his school friend Fabian Frances run “Les Ptits Belges du Golf de Saint-Tropez” and delight customers with Belgian fries with their food truck in the south of France.
“In the north of France the fries are similar to those in Belgium,” says Viloria. While Belgian fries have a diameter of twelve millimeters, fries in the rest of France are only six to eight millimeters thick. Of course, good fries have to be made from real potatoes and fried in two stages – in beef fat, as the Belgian emphasizes.
As soon as Arras announced the World Cup, the northern French newspaper “La Voix du Nord” said: “Our Belgian friends will be jealous!” However, the newspaper admitted that Belgium is already celebrating Fries Day on August 1st.
“Is there a Franco-Belgian duel? Will we finally know whether the fries are Belgian or French?” wrote the Belgian newspaper “Le Soir”. In any case, according to the newspaper, Belgium trumps its large neighboring country when it comes to the number of french fries shops: there are 5,000 Friteries – or, depending on the region, also called Frituur or Fri(e)tkot – in Belgium.
