Belgium. Today I've flown thousands of miles to find out about the culture and the truth about
this incredible country. From Dutch to French and even German, this is an incredibly diverse
and welcoming place. From Belgian fries, beer, chocolate, and mussels, while learning more about
its history, its people, and most importantly answering that burning question, is this the
most boring country on earth? What we find will definitely be something completely unexpected
So with that said, we are starting off with the most quintessential Belgian food and possibly the one I've consumed the most in my life, Belgian fries
French fries. Actually, it's Belgian fries. If you don't know, fries were invented here in Belgium in the 17th century
And today here in Brussels, I'm taking you to try some of the best fries in town. Follow me. First stop right here
And our first stop for Fritz Belgian fries is Fritland, and this is how they have it
So homemade Belgian fries, little so small, with sauce or without sauce, we're going with sauce
We're going to eat a lot. Oh, wow, they've got all the fries being fried back there. Well, and aliens telling me that Andalus is their favorite sauce that they have
I think it looks like 12 different sauces, mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, barbecue, cheese
Andalus, pita, Brazil, curry ketchup. They have some spicy, samurai, American, pili pili, Dallas
The spicy looks good. Let's do the mix. Takat. Is that how you say it? Takat
I'm trying to learn French. I'm trying to learn... A decat. A decat
We make the sauce. Andalus. And samurai. Here we go. I thought he was going to pour the sauce on top, but you're
saying when you ask to take away or get away. That's when you pour it get away or take away we can put it aside
So when you eat here is mostly on side and this one on the loose
Like scale one to ten. I know it's a mix. It's like garlic spice in there
We have some paprika in there. I don't know So which one is that
In the news. It's this one. It's spicy. There you go. Wow
Just like that. To go. Let's go eat. Look at that. It looks so creamy
Let's sit down somewhere here. I love this. They're doing a lot of construction around us, so bear with us
I'm going to try some of this samurai sauce. So again, this is how you get it to go
If you're going to sit down, they're going to give you the sauce in little containers. Again, this is a very creamy sauce
Not too spicy that one. Samurai, I mean, it has a ting
I like the garlic in the Andalus. Whoa, the fries are good
Dutch potatoes, hand cut right here. Oh, wow. So, Friedland dates back to 1978
And he said the trick is mix the sauce. I highly recommend this place
Whoa, I love it. That's a lot of fries for five bucks
Yeah, but look, the pigeons are helping me. They're taking my fries. And the best part about this place
some of the staff is from Albania. Hey, Albania, let's keep going
I'm gonna keep eating though. Extra saucy. I have to get more sauce
The sauce is what makes it. I mean the fries are good. The sauce, molto buono
That's Italian, I forgot how to say it in French. Delicious, look at that sauce
Oh the crispiness, oil. You want the proof of me getting fat now That fair enough This is awesome The one thing I tell you about going on a fries tour
get ready to eat a lot. I'm full after the first one. Two more or three more
I think it's two more, but I'm good. Like, one beer and that's it, man
Just lift. Next fries is here at Friterri. La Friterri. Whoa, what was that
Pigeon, my gosh. Hello, hello. Bonjour. Yeah, I spoke to somebody on Instagram
Yes. Perfect. Hey. Merci. Thank you so much. All right, my man
So what are we doing here? We're making the fries, the Belgian fries. Belgian fries
They look different. So we were in Freetland. This is different. You guys do a little thicker
We're doing it by the traditional recipe. First of all, we're using the fresh potatoes that are locally being produced just 20 kilometers
out of the Brussels. so we cut them as you may see by this machine to the form of the fries then we deep fry them two
times in a beef oil we use two kinds of beef fat first time it's the purified one so it's more like
a butter and the second thing is not clarified beef fat so we mix them together and it gives
the best flavor that we can get this is our potatoes not peeled from outside just cut it off
not the best parts of it it's the potatoes well and we cut them like this so we get the form of the fry
we use like 100 kilos per day or 150 150 kilos per day yeah that's a lot of fries
after that when it's ready as you may see this is the temperature here it's 130
We have basically dropped them there, trying to make it as we could as possible
So as even as you can? Yeah. Then they go to the oil, and they go with a timer of 9.25 or about that
Not that necessary. So they will stay there, and it's the first time
Then we put them on the top of the machine, so it wouldn't take so many time when we will
prepare it for the customers, because it's 10 minutes, and here it's five minutes more
or so. So we can make it a bit more quickly. So for us, what do you recommend
We're going to get a big one. Yeah. And yeah, we're having a lot
Don't get off too far. Well, I can suggest you the Andalus sauce, which is the classical Belgian as far as mayonnaise
Basically, it's the tomato basis with some mayonnaise, spicy mustard, and onions inside
of that. So it's slightly spicy. I don't know if you tried it already. So I just tried it, but I didn't know what was in it
Actually, the truffle mayonnaise is very popular in total in Belgian and French kitchen
The Brazil sauce is really nice as well with salty things. Pineapple basis with some whiskey inside of that
As well as in cocktail. In cocktail we're using the ketchup, mayonnaise and some whiskey as well
Man I'm making my own fries. As far as the officer will not come here. Nah
So, got some gloves. Of course, keep it sanitary. Throw some fries in the cage
Yeah, don't be afraid of it. Don't be afraid? and then just put it in the oil
Is that good or? Yeah, it's fine. But for the big, I would put a tiny bit more
Then you take the spoon. These are already ready. Just put it as for yourself
Just like fill it to the rim. Man, they look good. They're like gold, goldish brown
I actually like the size on this compared to the last place. Like these are thicker, longer
and of course they're different potatoes, right? A lot of Belgian places
they're getting their supply from Argentina that the potatoes been already frozen and so
Not good. Normally they don't cut it themselves, which we're doing. So here is the salt first So salt is that good enough I think so You need it for yourself So yeah Then you just put some mayonnaise on one side of it Yeah
Just push it harder. Don't be afraid of it. You can just pump it a few times really hard. Yeah
It's fine. Okay. Is that fine? Some more. Of course, it's the mayonnaise
No, dude. Like that. It's too much. Then some ketchup here. Some ketchup
on the other side. Another side of that. And here are some fried onions. So you just take the spoon and dump it on the top
That's amazing. Look at that. That's it. You're done. Wow. What a beauty
Get that mayo. Petro. This is the fries that you actually eat
I love the fries. They're super soft but then crispy. They have a different taste than the other ones I had
That's the point of it. We're using all the time different potatoes
because the supply is always different. So we're using only the best quality ones
So we're changing them from times to times. The Andalus, probably as you tried before
the Brazil is really cool as well. So Andalus, yeah. And this is again tomato
This one is the Brazil. It's with the pineapples and whiskey inside of it. Yeah. Whoa
You feel that pineapple. No, that's true. I created some Andalus that you've tried before. Andalus
And that's, you said tomato, mayonnaise. It's the tomato base with mayonnaise, spicy mustard and onions inside of that
Yeah, so they all have a good cake. I like this one the most of these four, the Brazil
But for me, this is like top four. This one over here
Yeah, it's the garlic sauce based on the real garlic inside of it and the eggless mayonnaise
That's nice. It's like a more liquidy because these are very pasty compared to this one
It's more creamy than this one. That's the point of the haggle-less mayonnaise
That's the best one. My family comes from Umbria, Italy. We're land of truffles
I know, I was working in a Italian restaurant. That's the best one. Yeah
Yeah. So I need to grab that and go like this. I love your place. And what street are we on
because you have many different locations. Here we have all the fries, yeah. So here is the point called Ojiwon
but I think it doesn't really matter the name. So it's closer to the mannequin piece
Also, there is a place closer to the Grand Place. Yeah, it was smaller. Yeah, there is probably, you have seen it
it's a bike with the fries like that. Yeah, exactly the same. The other point of us, I can show you
it's just here like two minutes away. And it's really good for an account of that
Amazing. So since 1998, making some of the best fries in Belgium
possibly the best. I still haven't tried enough. I've tried only two places so far
It's a multicultural city. Everywhere you go, somebody's speaking a different language
And again, three official languages in this country. I'm so full. I'm going to have to
eat this to go. Oh my gosh. Potato coma. Thank you so much, man. Thank you
Thank you. Whoa. That was good. We're coming with an appetite. Seriously. And here we go. Our last fries
spot is Fritz Atelier. This place is amazing. They have three locations, three locations so far, right? Antwerp, here
We also have one in The Hague. Oh, also one in The Hague, in Holland. We also have an extra one in the outlet shopping center of Rosendal
where people can shop and enjoy fries afterwards. This is Erica. She's going to be showing me around today
And what do you recommend? Definitely recommend the Flemish Beef Stew. It's a big classic. People love it here
It captures the essence of good fries, in our opinion. Everything we had earlier is really good, but this is like traditional
Flemish beef stew we had it earlier today but the gravy that it comes with is so rich It so good and does it have like beer in it I think it dark brown beer let do a Stella I haven done a Stella
yet let's do a big one and later on the strip we will be going to Leuven and that's where Stella
Ortois was born wow that's a good beer so I personally don't drink Stella in America but here
Here I will. You're in Belgium, right? I'm in Belgium. Yeah, I think there's so many Belgian beers to try
There's too many. Here you go. Oh, I'm excited. Enjoy. Better than water
Alright, so let's go in the back and see the fries being made. And so they get Dutch potatoes, right
Dutch potatoes, indeed. They're made in the clay soil of Zeeland. Clay soil? Yeah. Wow
And the eggnog are kind, so it's really big kind. And well, they get them from the Netherlands, but yeah
So the Parmesan basil is actually, used to be our summer special
We brought it back because it was so popular. It's actually just fries with Parmesan cheese on top
There's tomato powder, there's a lot of basil mayonnaise, which is sounds like a little bit of pesto flavor
and then we finish off with some lime zest. This is one of the fun facts, the salt
It's actually a mixture of salt and sea samphire. so it gives it a sea kind of flavor
Oh, I like that. They consume more fries in Belgium than they do in France
Oh yeah, definitely. These are really pretty fries. So their oil is vegetable oil
The other places I went to, it was mixed with beef fat. So this one's a little more vegan
so you can have a vegan fries. So ready, she also gave me two cups for different sauces
She recommends the Burmese. Burmese? And then which other one do you recommend? The classic. Classic
Let's go try it. That looks amazing. Perfect. Merci. Flemish stew gravy
What a beauty. I'm excited. This is like insanely good. The fries look nice and golden, crispy
Little bit of salt. Oh, and this is mustard right on top, right? Mustard seeds
Oh my gosh. We kept the best for last. This is the ultimate way to eat fries
Carbo gravy soaking through all the fries. Now it's falling apart. Mmm, the mustard seeds
Phenomenal. It pairs very well with the burness. Right? Yeah. Sorry, I'm like in a food coma today
I've been eating nonstop. The gravy is good. The gravy is amazing
The gravy just like, it soaks in. Everything starts to fall together. Wow
I'm happy. Just the gravy alone. Is that right? Yeah. Super good
There's nothing like fries in Belgium. Everywhere else doesn't go close. I have to keep the Andalus anyway
I'm just going to pop it right here. Some people are kind of in a debate about it
but for me, it's the best Andalus ever. Best Andalus ever. Yeah, it really is. She said they have to try the Andalus sauce
Best one in Belgium. Mmm. Hard to compare. I ate that earlier today, right
Or was it yesterday? No, seriously, this is the best thing ever. Holy
No, it's Belgian-free. All right, cheers, guys. Definitely come here. This place is amazing
I love the setting, super high ceilings, very classical. And the food is incredible
They have fries, but they also have other stuff. They have burgers, they have fish burger, cheddar burger, chicken chunks
for the Flemish stew fries. Wow, that's it guys, hope you enjoyed the fries. Peace