PRI’s The World:
If you are a true connoisseur of the potato, then you know that the Belgians have turned the humble spud into an art form. Belgian fries, or frites, make “French fries†look like child’s play.
Until recently, though, Belgians have mostly kept their frites to themselves. But now some Belgian companies are looking to take the frites shop, or fritkot, as it is called, global.
You can get a true taste of the Belgian love of fries at Fritkot Max in Antwerp. The shop itself is named after a man who started one of Belgium’s first fritkot back in the 1830s.
Behind the counter, Gerda is manning the register and the fryers. She has been working here for a decade, and the customers like to call her “Queen of the Fries.†As she scoops another batch of golden potatoes into the fryer, she waxes poetical.
“You can hear them swimming and singing,†Gerda says. And when you ask what the secret to the perfect frites is, she answers “every day I cook them with love.â€