Whodunit Wednesday: Fred van der Weij

When we first moved to Belgium there were a few things we had to get used to. One of those was not only the food, but how food was prepared. We both love fries, so that was not really a problem. And since fries are the best in Belgium, it was definitely not a problem. But fries are meant to be deep-fat fried. And not only fries. Lots of other foods are fried. Hamburgers are not known in Belgium without a breading and being fi=ried (unless you get them from one of the well-known American fastfood chains). 

In order to do all of this, every house has/had a deep fat fryer. And all of the recycling parks have a place to reclaim your used frying oil. After all, a good diesel engined car (of which Belgium has plenty) can even run on “frietolie” - fry oil. So one of the first things we needed to purchase was a fryer. 

However, we do not eat that much fried food. That meant that the frying oil often sat for quite some time and needed refreshing before we made fries again. So when Fred van der Weij came out with his invention, we were pretty happy. It was also around this time that we were becoming much more health conscious, worried about the kilo’s (or pounds) we might be putting on. 

Fred van der Weij was a Dutch engineer, born around the same time as we, but in the Netherlands. He invented a small oven in 2006 and later sold it to Philips in 2010. The air fryer is not quite a convection oven, although both use heated air to cook. The air fryer does this quicker and in smaller amounts. 

These days almost every house has an air fryer - although many may also still have a deep fat fryer as well. Not many people will know the name Fred van der Weij (who passed away in 2022), but most will be thankful for his ingenious invention for cooking well known meals in a more healthy way. 

Whatsit Wednesday - “puntzak frieten”

I remember years ago people in the US were refusing to eat French fries because of a decision that France had made towards the US. “Freedom fries” was all that anyone would eat. But the French fry has never been French. 

Potatoes are a staple of many a diet, also in Europe. The Irish struggled through a potato famine. The Dutch and Germans have mashed potatoes as a main part of a meal. But it was the Belgians who developed the French fry. It was a French-speaking Belgian, but it was a Belgian. 

In our area we call them “frieten” (free-tn). And although we definitely consider the Belgian “friet” to be superior to any other, we have to admit that the Dutch way of presenting them is amazing. 

At the many small little wagons that sell snacks, or the snackbars in city and town, one can get frieten in a “puntzak” - a pointed sack. It isn’t actually a sack. It is a bit of heavy paper rolled up. A small child might do the same to make a trumpet or a hat. But turn it upside down and it is perfect for holding frieten!

A puntzak full of warm frieten topped with salt and perhaps your favorite sauce - which here would be mayonnaise - and eaten with a tiny plastic fork is the perfect little meal. If you want a full meal, you get a square paper basket of frieten topped with chopped meat and onions. But you have to sit down to eat that. The puntzak is mobile.