7 Steps to Make Perfect Belgian Fries

In every family, the cook sooner or later hears … 'What's for dinner?' Some families plan their meals for the entire week, some go to the grocery store for inspiration, while some leave it up for debate with the question 'What would you like?' More often than not, the answer is 'French fries.'

Cooking French fries is often a disappointment though, the fries turn out under cooked and flabby, or overcooked and hard. As a last resort, some cooks turn to frozen fries. Not that they produce better results, they are either limp or rock hard.

Being from Belgium, land of the best chocolates, pastries and French fries, I am frequently asked how to make those delectable cakes, tarts, and petit fours. I tell everyone the same thing … I have no idea. When baking skills were handed out, I was not exactly in the front row. In fact, I think I wasn't even in the room. As for making the perfect French fries, there I can help you out.

1. To make perfect French fries, it's vital that you start off with a perfect potato. Finding the right potato can take a while. You might think that all potatoes are suitable for French fries, but nothing is further from the truth. What you need is a white potato, not a yellow one, not a russet one, only white potatoes will do. Not only that, the potato has to be rock hard. If the potato is slightly soft, it cannot produce a good fry.

2. Once the potatoes are peeled, place them in cold water. The colder the better and leave them there for about an hour.

3. Take the potatoes out of the water and, with a clean towel, thoroughly dry the potatoes. Place the towel on the kitchen counter and cut the potatoes into thick slices, about the size of a finger. Then cut the slices into fries, also about a finger thick.

4. When you're done, work the towel over the fries so that they're as dry as possible. Next, place the fries in a pot and cover them with the towel.

5. In a French fries cooker or a stove top pot, pour about a liter of oil. This can be sunflower oil or vegetable oil and heat it up to maximum heat. If you have an electric fries cooker, the light will tell you when the oil has reached maximum heat. If you have a stove top pot, drop one fry in the oil and when it sizzles the oil is ready.

6. Place the raw fries in the oil and turn down the heat. After a minute, lift the fries out of the oil, leave them to cool for a minute or two and then place them back in the oil.

7. When the fries are golden brown, lift them out of the cooker or stovetop pot and shake off the excess oil. Place kitchen paper on a serving tray and pour the fries on the tray. The kitchen paper will absorb any remaining oil.

Lightly sprinkle with salt. Serve plain, with mayonnaise, ketchup, or gravy.

There you have it, that's how you make perfect Belgian fries. Not sure why they are commonly known as French fries though, as fries found their origin in Belgium.

In a small village, in the 1600s, the people of the Meuse Valley used to cut fish they caught in a river into small strips and serve them with boiled potatoes. When the folks fell on hard times and fish was no longer available, they cut potatoes into small strips and thus fries were born.

Since that time, the preparation of fries has been copied the world over, but according to popular opinion, nobody makes them better than the Belgians.