Steak Frites: The English Roots of a French Classic

About this episode

Steak frites may be the most iconic dish in any Paris bistro, but almost nothing about it started in France. Caroline and Emily trace the fries to Belgium and the street carts of the Pont Neuf, the steak to England, and the dish itself to a 1950s national myth. They also explain why French beef tastes so different, how to order your cuisson, and why the sauce may be the most French part of all. Podcast Show Notes In this episode: • Why frites trace back to Francophone Belgium, not France • The fish-fry legend about how fries were invented, and why it falls apart • How French fries likely got their name from World War I soldiers • A Belgian historian's theory about pommes Pont-Neuf sold from Paris street carts • Why "steak" is an English word, and why the French call the British les rosbif • How beefsteak à l'anglaise arrived in France by way of an England-based chef's cookbook • Roland Barthes and the 1950s birth of the steak frites myth • The story of Le Relais de Venise and its one-dish menu, launched in 1959 • Why French beef is butchered, raised, and aged differently than in the US and UK • Ordering your steak in France, from bleu to saignant to à point • The sauc