There isn't much to question when faced with a delicious plate of homemade French fries, usually there's just eating to be done! We all know that French fries aren't really French, so why do we call them as such? Do you know?
In America, we call most forms of sliced potato which is then cooked by almost any method... a French fry. Other parts of the world, most notably Europe, the term French fry is used only to describe the thinly sliced style of fries (think McDonalds vs. Red Robin... yum). The thicker cut fries (or as some may know them as steak fries) are typically called chips, which are pan fried in a skillet like the photo above.
In French, 'frite' is used to denote the process of deep frying a food, but in America when we say 'fried' it can mean anything from pan frying to sautéing or even full out deep frying. So by adding the word French before our fry it denotes what type of fried potato product we're actually talking about. Skinny and deep fried vs. fat and pan fried.
Who knew the potato was so complicated? All we know is that they're extra tasty! If all this talk of crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside potatoes has given you a hankering, try out one of these recipes and make some tonight!
• Good Eats: How To Make Perfect French Fries
• Blogging Bon Appétit: All About French Fries
• Looking Good: Baked Sweet Potato Fries
• Skip the Tortilla and Pass the Fries: Carne Asada Fries
Reference: Wikipedia
(Image: Flickr member stevebott & joyosity both licensed for use under Creative Commons)
Kitchen Before & After: A Cookbook Author Transforms His 1950s Kitchen
Recipe: Ham, Cheddar & Chive Egg Bakes
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Bacsac Bacsquare 04...
Dirty Little Secrets of Tidy Families
Hillary & Michael's Refined Roost
I always thought it referred to the potatoes being cut into strips (as with "frenched" green beans, which are split lengthwise).
ereuyi - That's what I had thought as well, but several sources (thank you Google) said that wasn't the case! I was totally intrigued!
According to author Bill Bryson's new book, 'At Home,' Thomas Jefferson was the first person to fry a strip of potato. How cool is that?
I thought that picture of my duck fat fries looked familiar!
American soldiers stationed overseas first encountered these chips in Belgium. Mistakenly believing themselves to be in France, they came to be known as French fries.
That first picture made my mouth water!
I don't think anyone but Americans call these things "French" fries. They are not French!
They are Belgian. They are called "pommes frites" which just means fried potatoes.
Hands down, the best pommes frites are, indeed, to be had in Belgium.
Carvillian is correct. "French fries" came from American service men statined in Europe. The same is true about the word "hamberger". The french fry as we know it probably originated in Belgium.
Frites. In Belgium. With mayonnaise. Perfection.
Pierre, that's what I was taught as well. The French men who sold them the frittes so they called them "French Fries" (Fries from the French) or French-fried potatoes shortened to french fries because the French were frying them for them.
The answer given her was hidden in the middle of lots of terms for fried and hard to follow.
I hadn't heard the mistaken France for Belgium part though. Interesting.
ha, I meant Belgium for France!
There is no way to know who invented fried potatoes, but it is said that probably ocurred in Spain.
Spaniards brought potatoes from america. In Spain it was usual to fry food in oil and surely they fried potatoes first. See Old Woman Cooking Egg by Diego Velazquez (1618). It's said that Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1518) used fried potatoes as a remedy for several illnesses.
The low countries were spanish and it's logical to think that the spaniards brought the fried potatoes with them. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_fries
I wouldn't be surprised at all if Spain was frying potatoes in slices and chips before American servicemen got lost in Europe. Also, in Spain the phrase "fried potatoes" (patatas fritas) seems to refer to a wide range of styles, so long as they are potatoes and fried/cooked in oil somehow. It's always been a mystery if my food was going to come with a side of french fries or a bag of potato chips.
I have a Russian cookbook reprinted from the mid/late 1800s that has them labeled as "potato straws" and being a "traditional" accompaniment to beef stroganoff. (which is pretty fabulous!)