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Politics : DON'T START THE WAR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tsigprofit who wrote (20415)	3/13/2003 3:35:50 PM
From: Kenya AA	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25898

French Fry Ban Targets Wrong Country? Thu Mar 13, 9:42 AM ET Add Oddly Enough - Reuters to My Yahoo! PARIS (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress picked on the wrong country when it replaced "French fries" with "Freedom fries" on its menus to protest France's opposition to a possible U.S.-led war in Iraq (news - web sites), according to a Belgian fry expert. Michel Mes, who runs the Web Site www.belgianfries.com, said that fried potatoes were invented in Belgium, not France, and were only referred to as French fries in the United States. "Of course, in good food tradition, the French claim to be the inventors of our beloved fries," he writes on the Web Site. "Anyway, we modest Belgians don't mind the French claim, because we know that fries are God's gift to our people." Restaurants in the U.S. House of Representatives replaced the name "French fries" with "Freedom fries" on Tuesday in a small ceremony widely broadcast with bemused commentaries on French television. The fast food staple -- known simply as chips in Britain -- is considered a national treasure in Belgium, where "pommes frites" are sold on many street corners in shacks known as "fritures" and are generally served with mayonnaise. Historians are divided on its origin but agree it became a popular dish in both Belgium and France during the 19th century. According to legend, American soldiers stationed in French-speaking Belgium or France during World War One brought back a taste for fries, which were subsequently associated with Gallic culture in the United States. Mes said this was a myth. "In fact, the explanation is quite simple. In English, 'to french' means (or at least meant) 'to cut into lengthwise pieces'," he explained. "So logically, French fries is short for 'frenched and fried' potatoes." Such distinctions may not matter much to members of the U.S. Congress, which has taken no such symbolic step against Belgium. Belgium has stood up against the United States on several occasions during the crisis over Iraq, joining France and Germany last month in briefly blocking a request to NATO (news - web sites) to protect Turkey in the event of war in Iraq. story.news.yahoo.com