Frites

Frites are potatoes cut thick, fried twice until the outside shatters and the inside stays fluffy, and sold from a frietkot — a dedicated fry stand — on nearly every street corner in Belgium. Belgium and France have argued over who invented them for well over a century, and no document settles the question conclusively; what's certain is that the double-fry technique and the frietkot culture built around it are distinctly Belgian.

What it really is

Potatoes cut into thick batons fry once at a lower temperature until cooked through but pale, then rest before a second, hotter fry crisps and browns the outside — that two-stage process is what separates a genuine frites from an ordinary fry, giving a shattering crust around a soft, steamy interior. Traditionally the fat is beef tallow, though vegetable oil is common now; either way, the thickness of the cut and the double fry matter more to the result than the fat itself.

The "French" in French fries has nothing to do with France, by the most common account. One popular explanation traces the name to American soldiers in Belgium during the First World War, who encountered the dish in French-speaking Wallonia and assumed it was French — a mix-up that stuck internationally even as Belgium kept calling them simply frites.

How it's served

• In a paper cone, straight from the frietkot, eaten by hand with a small fork.
• With mayonnaise as the default dip, though dozens of specialty sauces are offered at most stands.
• Alongside mussels, steak, or nearly any main course as a standard side.

How to write it on the menu

• Say what fat they're fried in, since beef tallow and vegetable oil taste and cook differently.
• It's naturally vegetarian unless fried in beef tallow; flag that if it applies.
• Note that mayonnaise, not ketchup, is the traditional Belgian dip.