There are few things on which the three linguistic and cultural souls of Belgium can say they get along, but one of them is undoubtedly the passion for french fries. In front of a bag of hot chips, bought in a "fritkot" - the typical shop, usually a kiosk or even a caravan -, Belgian citizens rediscover their national identity, whether they speak French, German or Flemish.
Around Belgium there are 5000 shops where you can buy "Belgium style" fries, a number that makes fritkot ten times more popular in Belgium than McDonald's restaurants in the United States. Someone then began to think that Belgian fries could rightfully enter the list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity drawn up by Unesco.
On the other hand – reason the Belgians – if Unesco has admitted the French gastronomic meal, the Mediterranean diet and Pantelleria zibibbo to the list, why not fritkot fries as well? The initiative was promoted by Unafri, the national association of fritkot owners, which launched the slogan: "In a bag of fried potatoes, there is Belgium in miniature". Many tourists also seem to think so, patiently waiting their turn in long lines in front of the most renowned fritkots in Brussels, Frit Flagey and Maison Antoine.
“Before coming here,” says a Canadian tourist, “all I knew about Belgians is that they are crazy about their fries. So I immediately ran to try them on”. However, Unafri's efforts are not enough to propose the potato chips candidacy: the UNESCO regulation, in fact, provides that the request be supported by the Minister of Culture of the country in question. The problem is that Belgium has three different ministries of culture – and related ministers – one for each linguistic and cultural community.
The culture minister of Flemish-speaking Flanders has already given his nod, this year recognizing the national fries as an integral part of the country's culture; the word now passes to the other two communities, which will examine the matter at the beginning of the coming year.
