Following the overwhelming success of the first event in October 2023, the second Championnat du Monde de la Frite (World French Fries Championships) is set to take place in Arras, Northern France, on Saturday 28 September 2024. This year’s event includes two new categories in the competition involving restaurant professionals and amateur chefs: ‘global fries’, creating a worldwide celebration of chips, and ‘fries of promise’, reserved for students from hotel management schools.
It’s just over six weeks to go until the next mouthwatering one-day French Fries World Championships, open to the public with free admission and held on Arras’ central square, the Grand’Place. Pre-selected candidates from the Hauts-de-France region and from further afield will face off in six categories: authentic fries (those traditionally prepared and eaten in the north of France and Belgium); family fries (as prepared and eaten in household conditions); creative fries (using an original recipe relating to shape or cooking method); global fries (as eaten in the country of the world they represent, accompanied by other foods if needed); fries of promise (made by hospitality students accompanied by their teacher); and fry sauce of the year (one hot and one cold sauce, made using unprocessed ingredients).
Each candidate must prepare 1.5kg of fries or 1.5 litres of sauce in one hour and 10 minutes (including preparation time) and present the jury with six small portions in serving trays supplied by the organiser. They will have 90 seconds to describe the various stages leading up to the finished product and tempt the jury to try their creations. A jury made up of professionals and chip lovers, chaired by chef Florent Ladeyn, will decide the winners. For this second festival, chef Alexandre Gauthier will be the Championship patron, while author and food critic François-Régis Gaudry will be returning following his sponsorship of last year’s event. The winner of each category will be awarded a specially-designed trophy and a prize of €400.
Two podiums will be set up on the Grand’Place to welcome the competitors, offering visitors a front-row seat to admire the techniques and trade secrets of both amateur and professionals. They will be able to sample the creations from partner French fry stands, meet local producers and enjoy some excellent local craft beers in a fun and lively atmosphere, at the heart of French Fry Village. To work it all off, there will even be a potato sack race. Live music and entertainment will further enhance this jam-packed day at the heart of the Artois capital.
ARRAS AND FRIES: THE ORIGIN STORY
Reached in just two hours by train from London, the town of Arras in Pas-de-Calais has shared a history with our favourite fried potato since the 16th century. The French fries we know today might never have existed were it not for the tenacity of a Renaissance botanist, Charles de l’Écluse, born in Arras in 1526. Long before the famous Parmentier, de l’Écluse made great efforts to grow the then little-known plant from Peru in his experimental gardens, hoping to make them popular with the great European lords. The Pays d’Artois seems to be ‘at the root’ of the advent of fries as we know them today. There are now some 1,400 French fry stalls throughout France – 55% of which can be found in the Hauts-de-France region.
ARRAS’ TOP 10 FRITERIES (CHIP SHOPS)
Le Roi de la Frite – Avenue Winston Churchill
Les Friteries du Beffroi – 42 Boulevard Carnot
La Friterie du Carnot – 24 Boulevard Carnot
La Friterie du Rietz – 67 Rue de Cambrai
Aux Saveurs du Nord – 125 Rue de Cambrai
Ch’tio Friteu – 142 Rue de Cambrai
La Friterie Arrageoise – 3 Rue de la Taillerie
Friterie Queen Tacos – 39 Place des Héros
Friterie Meunier – 1 Rue des Balances
Au Ch’ti Creux – Avenue Kennedy
