Belgian frites are traditionally made from potatoes called bintjes. They are cut and fried raw at 150°C to achieve a fluffy internal texture, then fried for a second time at 175°C.

Fortunately the professor is in good company in Belgium, where fried potatoes — how they are cut, twice fried, salted and served — is a serious, some would say fanatical, business.

A regional Belgian minister had alarmed the nation with warnings that the EU would force fries to be blanched before they hit the fat. But EU reaffirmed that was not their plan.

Belgium is the world's largest exporter of fries and other frozen potato products, with 5.3 million tonnes of potatoes processed per year and sent to customers in more than 160 countries.

In 2014, Belgium sought to give French fries a cultural heritage status. According to a 2014 report by Reuters, “Belgian fries are traditionally sold, in a paper cone, in a “fritkot ...

Belgian fries are traditionally sold, in a paper cone, in a "fritkot", generally a shack or trailer. There are some 5,000 of these in Belgium, making them 10 times more common, per capita, than ...

And unlike your basic fast-food-clone fries, these Belgian beauties are wonderfully asymmetrical, cut by hand into odd shapes and sizes, including the crispy little brown runts I adore.

Belgian fries (or frites) are cut thicker and are fried twice in animal fat and served with a mayonnaise-based sauce. Joyce Hanz is a native of Charleston, S.C. and is a features reporter covering ...