SC - OOP-belgian fries

[Marilyn Traber]

I ran across this in one of my news clippers and found it
interesting, albeit out of peroid.
My next question-did they make fries out of turnips or some
other starch [other than fried dough] in period?
margali
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Pride Urged for Belgium's Fries
 By ROBERT WIELAARD=
 Associated Press Writer=
           ANTWERP, Belgium (AP) _ When the news broke a few
years back,
 Belgium was abuzz. Giuseppe Bonsignore of Herstal, an
otherwise
 forgettable town in eastern Belgium, won a patent for
six-sided
 French fries.
           His fries were healthier than four-sided ones,
government
 research found.
           Alas, the health-in-fries crusade fizzled fast,
which says much
 about tinkering with Belgium's favorite food.
           Belgians eat fries with a passion. In homes,
restaurants and
 roadside shacks that French-speakers call ``baraques a
frites'' and
 Dutch-speakers refer to as ``frietkoten.''
           ``Talk about Belgium, and you talk about fries,''
says Paul
 Ilegems, an Antwerp art academy teacher who has explored,
exposed
 and explained the Belgian love of fries in three books and
a
 traveling art show.
           His not wholly tongue-in-cheek campaign aims to
make fries a
 national symbol and a source of national pride, which is a
tall
 order.
           ``Belgians are ashamed of their fries culture
because it figures
 in Belgian jokes in France and Holland,'' Ilegems said.
           Belgians get their fry-fix at shacks or
hole-in-the-wall
 eateries that challenge your senses. Often converted
campers, buses
 or plywood shacks, these eyesores are sometimes dressed up
as Swiss
 chalets, Venetian palazzos or upscale, diner-style snack
bars.
           A basic order costs $2 to $3 a portion and comes
with a dusting
 of salt. There are also toppings that include landslides of

 mayonnaise and Mexicano, Gypsy, Americaine, Andalousian,
Tomagrec
 and other sauces with names as mysterious as their
ingredients.
           Belgium's grease emporiums feature chaotic
styles, unusual
 hours, and a bucking of a low-fat health ethic that screams

 anti-uniformity.
           Such is the anarchy, there is not even an agreed
spelling. Dutch
 speakers call fries ``Frit,'' ``Friet,'' ``Frieten,''
``Fritten''
 or ``Patat.'' French speakers call the fried potato sticks
 ``frites,'' ``pommes frites'' or ``patates frites.''
           Ilegems' first two books _ ``The Fries Shack
Culture'' and ``The
 Belgian Fries Book'' _ dissect Belgium's fries history in
deadpan
 prose.
           They contain photos of campy shacks, routes
featuring
 top-scoring fries, a glossary of shack types and fry tales,

 including the Brussels soccer stadium vendor who issued a
free
 condom with every order in 1994.
           Ilegems' third book, ``The Definitive Belgian
Fries Book,'' is
 still awaiting a publisher. It explains how Belgium's fries
culture
 is a metaphor for this country of 10 million. Ilegems sees
Belgium
 as one unorganized, rickety shack, stapled together on a
slow
 Saturday.
           Ilegems' art collection includes models of fries
forks,
 paintings featuring a fries theme and a lard sculpture in
the shape
 of a bag of fries.
           Lucien Decrayer, leader of the 7,000-member
Belgian Fryers
 Federation, estimates there are 3,500 shacks in Belgium,
down from
 4,500 in the mid-1980s.
           ``The number drops because local governments
clamp down on
 shacks on health and aesthetics grounds,'' he said. His
group
 campaigns to keep health and quality standards high among
its
 members.



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