National French Fry Day is upon us. And this fictitious food holiday is so special, you can celebrate it over two days – or more.
For years, National French Fry Day was observed on July 13. But last year, fast-food chains Checkers & Rally’s gathered online petition signatures asking the arbiter of “fun, unusual, and unique” national days, the National Day Calendar, to move National French Fry Day to the second Friday in July. That way, the day would always fall on a Fry-day (get it?).
National Day Calendar founder Marlo Anderson agreed. “I, in good conscience, cannot ignore the voice of the people, who simply want to ‘fry-ght’ a wrong that’s been in place for far too long,” he said at the time. “National Fry Day, you are and will forevermore be on a Friday.”
That means this year, National French Fry Day falls on Friday, July 14. But not all French fry purveyors have bought into the change. Some, including McDonald’s and Smashburger, are offering deals on Thursday, July 13. And a few such as Checkers and Rally’s, Fatburger and Wendy’s have giveaways that last beyond Friday.
How were we lucky enough to get French fries? Here’s the history
There’s some debate on whether French fries are truly French. France may have the first recorded mention of French fries in a Parisian book in 1775 and the equivalent of a modern day French fry found in a 1795 French cookbook, suggests Belgian food historian Pierre Leqluercq, according to the History Collective.
But Belgium has been attempting to get UNESCO to give its fries status for historic significance. The Belgian claim comes from 17th century villagers who ate fried potatoes when they could not fish after the river froze over. When U.S. soldiers had the dish in World War I, they called them “French” fries, but that’s because French is the dominant language in southern Belgium, according to National Geographic.
Leclercq questions that Belgian origin story because potatoes weren’t introduced into the region until 1735, the BBC…
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