Despite prices increasing in recent years, Belgians love fries. Especially on Fridays, according to a study. But there are some who love them a little more than others.
And while eating fries too often can have harmful effects on your health, it can be good for your morale. Especially in a busy time like this.
Two years ago, we told you about a Belgian who has been eating fries every day for… 30 years. We’re not there yet, but the personality who agreed to speak publicly about his addiction to the Belgian specialty still admits to going to the chip shop up to 7 times a week.
This personality is the new Minister-President of the Flemish Government Matthias Diependaele. In the columns of Nieuwslad, we learn that he is a very loyal customer of the “Happy” chip shop in Zottegem. “He comes here often,” explained Fong, the manager, to our colleagues. “Before, it was at least once a week, and sometimes twice. Lately he has been a little busier and he often has to be in Brussels. And as we close at 9:30 p.m., it is often too late when he returns to Zottegem.”
But Matthias Diependaele is a man of change. He therefore also goes several times a week to get his Andalusian fries, his favorite dish, at the De Brug chip shop: “We live 500 meters from his house, we are the closest chip shop,” assures the manager to the Nieuwsblad. And to top it all off, the nationalist minister (N-VA) can’t help but have fries as a side dish whenever he goes to a restaurant, we learn.
Fry Day: Belgians’ favorite sauces to eat
In 2023, when he was Flemish Minister of Finance, Budget and Housing, Matthias Diependaele planned to have certain chip shops recognized as “monuments”: “The Flemish is crazy about fries […] It is a living tradition in Flanders and yet we regularly see in the media that chip shops disappear. I find it logical that, alongside churches or castles, we protect our most typical chip shops,” he declared.
We now understand why…
Related News :