The best...Paris..Gotta love the frites!<BR>I know the french can make anything superb, it's just that I want to know what's the secret? Does everyone dip in Mayo? Yummm..

Marie Claire,<BR>The best &quot;french&quot; fries are to be found in Belgium. The &quot;secrets&quot; that I have heard is the use of animal fat and double frying. The Belgians also claim to have both invented and perfected the &quot;french&quot; fry.<BR>Murray

This is just my own thought but I think one of the secret to the fries I've had in Europe is the &quot;cook to order&quot; mentality. &quot;You'll wait until we think your food is ready&quot; works much better than most of the US where the food is waiting on you.<BR><BR>I completely agree with murray. McDonalds fries have never been the same, and I've never bothered to eat them much, since they went away from the animal fat frying oil sometime in the 80's.

I, as a Belgian, can tell you the secret of real Belgian frites.<BR>You peal your potatoos and cut them in frites (not too thin).Dry them in a towel or paper and then bake them for 3 minutes (untill they are glazy dark-yellow) in &quot;blanc de boeuf&quot; on 180°C. And that is ...yes... animal fat.<BR>You let them slink off at least for 3 minutes and then you put them again in the hot fat untill they are coloured gold and are crusty. <BR><BR>Lots of people in Belgium already use oil to bake their frites because of the healty thing, but the real old ones are baked like above.<BR><BR>I will tell you why you call them French fries. It is a story I got from my grandfather who survived the great war (WW I). It was in the neighbourhood of Ypres and the French border where also fought American soldiers.<BR>Those soldiers sometimes crossed the border without knowing it. Belgian housewifes (who didn't spoke English at that time) baked frites for the American soldiers. The American who thougt they were in France called it French fries, while it were Belgian frites.

I have to add something to my previous post.<BR>Yes, we dip them in mayo and pickles. And the best you can buy are in stalls in the street.<BR>For instance , because American like Bruges: the dark green stall on the &quot;Grote Markt&quot; in Bruges where they sell excellent frites! <BR><BR>And while you ask for frites, don't forget to order a &quot;curryworst special&quot; with it. Mmm! You won't regret!

Here's a great site to check out. <BR>http://www.belgianfries.com/

Martine,<BR><BR>What type of potatoes do the Belgians use to make their frietjes? Thanks.<BR><BR>Jinx Hoover

This is making me hungry!