thumb|280px|Un plat de patates fregidesLes '''patates fregides''', o patates rosses, (tambe creïlles fregides en valencià) és un plat fet amb patates que primer es tallen en rodanxes o en bastonets i després es fregeixen en oli. Després s'hi pot afegir sal, quètxup, salsa gravy o altres condiments.

==Història==
Les patates fregides es van inventar probablement a França o Bèlgica durant el segle XVIII, però hi ha altres teories que en proposen un origen diferent.

===Bèlgica===
Els belgues argumenten que les patates fregides es van inventar al seu país, però no n'han aportat proves definitives. Les inventessin o no, les patates fregides aviat van esdevenir l'aperitiu nacional i una part essencial dels seus dos plats nacionals, fent que els belgues en siguin els més grans consumidors.

L'historiador belga vall del Meuse entre Dinant i Lieja, a Bèlgica. Suposadament, els habitants pobres d'aquesta regió tenien el costum d'acompanyar els seus àpats amb petits peixos fregits, però quan el riu glaçava i no podien pescar, tallaven patates en bastonets i les fregien en oli per acompanyar els àpats.

===Espanya===
Alguns argumenten que el plat es va inventar a americanes, i creuen que les primeres patates fregides es devien cuinar probablement per acompanyar el peix a Galícia, d'on més tard es va escampar a la resta del país i més endavant a Bèlgica, que en aquells temps es trobava sota domini espanyol.

El professor cuina mediterrània.

===França===
Molts estatunidencs atribueixen el plat a França - malgrat que els francesos el veuen com un plat belga - i ofereixen com a prova una nota escrita pel president dels Estats Units Thomas Jefferson: "''Patates crues tallades en petites rodanxes, i després fregides''". La recepta ve quasi segurament del seu xef francès, Julien Honoré. Emperò, en aquells anys, i fins la batalla de Waterloo el 1815, França també incloïa el que el 1830 va esdevenir Bèlgica.

És cert que Antoine-Augustin Parmentier va promoure el consum de patates a França, però no es referia únicament a les patates fregides. A França, les patates fregides reben el nom de ''pommes frites'' o simplement ''frites''.

===Regne Unit===
Alguns diuen que les primeres patates fregides es van vendre a Dundee, Escòcia. Segons aquesta teoria, haurien estat inventades per un immigrant belga, Edward de Gernier, a la dècada del 1870.

{{Infobox Prepared Food
| name             = French Fries/Chips
| image            = 300px
| caption          = In a bowl.
| alternate_name   = '''Chips''' <br> '''Fries''' <br> '''French-fried potatoes''' <br> '''Pommes frites'''
| country          = Multiple claims
| region           = 
| creator          =
| course           = Side Dish
| served           = Hot
| main_ingredient  = Potatoes
| variations       =
| calories         = 
| other            = 
}}

'''French fries''' (deep-fried.  A distinction is sometimes made between fries and chips, whereby North Americans refer to any pieces of fried potatoes as ''fries'', while in the UK, long thin strips of potatoes are sometimes called ''fries'' to contrast them with the thickly cut strips, which are always referred to as ''chips''.<ref>{{Citation
| last = Halliburton
| first = Rachel  
| last2 = Muir
| first2 = Jenni
 | title = London's best chips
| newspaper = Time Out London
| pages = 2
| year = 2008
| accessdate = 14-05-2008 
| url = http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/features/3254/2.html
}}</ref> French fries are known as ''pommes frites'' in large parts of Europe (i.e. Germany, France, Sweden etc).

==Etymology==
thumb|right|Oven baked
The straightforward explanation of the term is that it means potatoes fried in the French sense of the verb "to cook", which can mean either deep-grease frying, while its French origin, ''frire'', unambiguously means deep-frying&nbsp;: ''frites'' being its feminine substantive, as in ''pommes de terre frites'' ("deep-fried potatoes").<ref name=ppc_hess1>
{{cite journal
|journal = PPC (Petits Propos Culinaires), journal of food studies and food history (3×/year by Prospect Books, Devon)
|issue = 68
|year = 2005
|month = Nov
|last = Hess
|first = Karen
|title = The Origin of French Fries
|pages = p. 39
|url = http://www.kal69.dial.pipex.com/shop/pages/ppc68.htm
|accessmonthday = 23 Mar
|accessyear = 2007}}</ref><ref name=atilf1>
{{cite web
|title = Objets de la recherche&nbsp;: frite
|publisher = ATILF Analyse et traitement informatique de la langue française, TLFi Le trésor de la langue française informatisé
|language = French
|quote = Part. passé substantivé au fém. de ''frire''*, p. ell. de ''pommes de terre'' dans le syntagme ''pommes de terre frites''.
|url = http://atilf.atilf.fr/dendien/scripts/tlfiv5/search.exe?26;s=484685130;cat=1;m=frite;
|accessmonthday = 23 Mar
|accessyear = 2007}}</ref>
Thomas Jefferson, famous for serving French dishes, wrote exactly the latter French expression.<ref name=ppc_hess1/><ref name=jpc_fishwick1>
{{cite journal
|journal = The Journal of Popular Culture
|publisher = Blackwell Publishing
|location = Oxford
|origyear = Summer 1998
|volume = vol 32
|issue = part 1
|pages = p. 51-58
|last = Fishwick
|first = Marshall W
|title = The Savant as Gourmet
|issn = 0022-3840
|doi = 10.1111/j.0022-3840.1998.3201_51.x
|url = http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1998.3201_51.x fee required}}</ref><!-- what exactly does this reference confirm, not available for free: quote should be given-->
In the early 20th century, the term "French fried" was being used for foods such as onion rings or chicken, apart from potatoes.<ref name=nytm_mackenzie1>
{{cite journal
|journal = The New York Times Magazine
|date = 7 Apr1935
|pages = SM18
|last = Mackenzie
|first = Catherine
|title = Food the City Likes Best
|quote = … the chef at the Rainbow Room launches into a description of his special steak, its French-fried onion rings, its button mushrooms …
|url = http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F4081FF83B59107A93C5A9178FD85F418385F9
|accessdate = 2007-04-15}}</ref><ref name=rorer1>
{{cite book
|last = Rorer
|first = Sarah Tyson
|authorlink = Sarah Tyson Rorer
|title = Mrs. Rorer's New Cook Book
|origyear = c1902
|publisher = Arnold & Company
|location = Philadelphia
|pages = p. 211
|quote = French Fried Chicken
|url = http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/cookbooks/html/books/book_54.cfm
|chapter = Page 211
|chapterurl = http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/cookbooks/coldfusion/display.cfm?ID=rore&PageNum=259
|accessdate = 2007-04-12}}</ref>

The verb "to french", though not attested until after "French fried potatoes" had appeared , can refer to "julienning" of vegetables as is acknowledged by some dictionaries,<ref>[http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?french "french :] (...) Usage: often capitalized – 1 : to trim the meat from the end of the bone of (as a chop) – 2 : to cut (green beans) in thin lengthwise strips before cooking" (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed.)</ref> while others only refer to trimming the meat off the shanks of chops.<ref>"to French: to prepare, as a chop, by partially cutting the meat from the shank and leaving bare the bone so as to fit it for convenient handling" (Oxford English Dictionary)</ref> In the UK, "Frenched" lamb chops (particularly for serving as a 'rack of lamb') have the majority of the fat removed together with a small piece of fatty meat from between the ends of the chop bones, leaving mainly only the meat forming the "eye" of the chop attached.

==Culinary origin==
===Belgium===
Meuse valley between oil to accompany their meals."''<ref name=belgiangov1> 
{{cite web
|title = Specialities: Frites
|publisher = Belgian Federal Government
|url = http://www.belgium.be/eportal/application?origin=indexDisplay.jsp&event=bea.portal.framework.internal.refresh&pageid=contentPage&docId=25267.0
|accessmonthday = 25 Oct
|accessyear = 2006}}</ref><ref name=fritkotmax1>
{{cite web
|title = Geschiedenis van de friet
|publisher = Fritkot Max
|language = Dutch
|url = http://www.fritkotmax.be/wf00020.htm
|accessmonthday = 25 Oct
|accessyear = 2006}}</ref><ref name=jcwebdesign_cw1>
{{cite web
|title = Geschiedenis
|language = Dutch
|author = Creemers, Jochen & Willekens, Kurt
|publisher = De Frietsite (JC webdesign) © 2003-2004 
|url = http://users.pandora.be/jc-webdesign/geschiedenis.htm
|accessmonthday = 25 Oct
|accessyear = 2006}}</ref>

The Dutch concur with a Southern Netherlandish or Belgian origin when referring to ''Vlaamse frieten'' ('Flemish fries'). In 1857, the ''frietkot'') called "''Max en Fritz''" was established near Het Steen in Antwerp.<ref name=ilegems1>
{{cite book
|last = Ilegems
|first = Paul
|title = De Frietkotcultuur
|language = Dutch
|publisher = Loempia
|origyear = 1993
|pages =
|url =
|doi =
|id = ISBN 90-6771-325-2}}</ref><ref name=fritkotmax1/>

A Belgian legend claims that the term "French" was introduced when British or American soldiers arrived in Belgium during World War I, and consequently tasted Belgian fries. They supposedly called them "French", as it was the official language of the Belgian Army at that time.<ref name=fritkotmax1/> But the term "French fried potatoes" had been in use in America long before the Great War.

Whether or not Belgians invented them, "frites" became the national snack and a substantial part of both national dishes — making the Belgians their largest per capita consumers  in Europe, and their "symbolic" creators.

===France===
Many Americans attribute the dish to annexed what is now Belgium, and would retain control over it until the Dutch control.<ref name=clc_ebeling1>
{{cite web
|last = Ebeling
|first = Charles
|title = French fried: From Monticello to the Moon, <small>A Social, Political and Cultural Appreciation of the French Fry</small>
|publisher = The Chicago Literary Club
|date = 2005-10-31
|url = http://www.chilit.org/Papers%20by%20author/Ebeling%20--%20French%20Fried.htm
|accessmonthday = 12 Jan
|accessyear = 2007}}</ref>
In addition, from 1813<ref name=ude1>Ude, Louis. ''The French Cook''</ref> on, recipes for what can be described as French fries, occur in popular American cookbooks. By the late 1850s, one of these mentions the term "French fried potatoes".<ref name=warren1>
{{cite book
|last = Warren
|first = Eliza
|title = The economical cookery book for housewives, cooks, and maids-of-all-work, with hints to the mistress and servant
|publisher = Piper, Stephenson, and Spence
|location = London
|oclc = 27869877
|origyear = uncertain: 1856, [http://worldcatlibraries.org/oclc/27869877 1859?]
|pages = p. 88
|quote = French fried potatoes
|url = http://books.google.com/books?ct=result&psp=1&id=AkMCAAAAQAAJ&dq=eliza+warren+cookery+%7C+cookbook+%7C+cooking&q=%22french+fried+potatoes%22&pgis=1 (at Google books)}}</ref>

Recipes for fried potatoes (not clearly specified how) in French cookbooks date back at least to Menon's ''Les soupers de la cour'' (1755). It is true that eating potatoes was promoted in France by Parmentier, but he did not mention fried potatoes in particular. And the name of the dish in languages other than English does not refer to France; in French, they are simply called'' "pommes de terres frites" ''or, more commonly, simply'' "pommes frites" ''or'' 'frites'''.

===Spain===
Some claim that the dish was invented in colonies, and assumes the first appearance to have been as an accompaniment to fish dishes in Galicia, from which it spread to the rest of the country and further to the Spanish Netherlands<!--do NOT replace link with its redirect destination: "Southern Netherlands" existed much longer-->, more than a century before Belgium was created there.

Professor Paul Ilegems, curator of the Friet-museum in Mediterranean cuisine.<ref name=demorgen_schoetens1>
{{cite news
|last = Schoetens
|first = Marc
|title = Heilige Teresa bakte de eerste frieten
|language = Dutch
|publisher = De Morgen
|date = December 13, 2005
|url = http://www.demorgen.be/gastronomie/artikels/?id_article=ODA4&ih=h=h=
|accessmonthday = Oct 25
|accessyear = 2006}} <span style="font-size:87%;">(Feb 252007 found archived as "Nieuw boek van frietprofessor Paul Ilegems over frietkotcultuur" 20051213.3133206672696574)</span></ref><ref name=ilegems1/>

==Spreading popularity==
===United Kingdom===
The first chip fried in Britain was apparently on the site of Oldham's Tommyfield Market in 1860. In Scotland, chips were first sold in Dundee, "...in the 1870s, that glory of British gastronomy – the chip – was first sold by Belgian immigrant Edward De Gernier in the city’s Greenmarket."<ref name=dundee1>
{{cite web
|title = Dundee Fact File</small>
|publisher = Dundee City Council
|url = http://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/departments/fact.htm
|accessmonthday = 20 Mar
|accessyear = 2007}}</ref>

===United States' world-wide influence===
thumb|right|250px|Prepared at a restaurant with thermostat temperature control.
Although the thicker cut English style of fried potato was already a popular dish in most Commonwealth countries, the thin style of french fries has been popularized worldwide in part by U.S.-based fast-food chains like Jack Simplot, potatoes were hand-cut and peeled in the prepares fresh potatoes on the premises is Penn Station.<ref name=qsrweb_green1> 
{{cite web
|last = Green
|first = Frank
|title = In-N-Out Burger carves niche in the fast-food market
|publisher = QSRWeb, portal for the Quick Service Restaurant industry
|date = 27 Jul2003
|url = http://qsrweb.com/article.php?id=493
|accessmonthday = 24 Mar
|accessyear = 2007}}</ref>

===Recent developments===
Pre-made french fries have been available for home-cooking since the seventies, usually having been pre-fried (or sometimes baked), frozen and placed in a sealed plastic bag.  

Newer varieties of French fries include those which have been battered and breaded, and many U.S. fast-food and casual food chains have turned to dusting with kashi, microwaving, remain sub-standard, though oven frying may deliver reasonable fries, albeit different from the traditionally fried item.<ref name=virgopub_gerdes1>
{{cite web
|first = Sharon
|last = Gerdes<!--Contributing Editor-->
|title = Batters and Breadings Liven Tastes
|date = 1 Dec2001
|publisher = Virgo Publishing © – Food Product Design
|url = http://www.foodproductdesign.com/articles/465/465_1201de.html
|accessmonthday = 24 Mar
|accessyear = 2007|}}</ref>
<!-- unreferenced, disabled 2007-03-24, mainly replaced with above paragraph but kept here for inspection during a few days or weeks:
"Express fries" are a derivation that can be quickly made by slicing potatoes, spraying them with a cooking spray or a light layer of cooking oil, then microwaving for a few minutes.
--><!-- "express fries" definitely not a coined term (a handful of Google hits about food), found only McCain press info that describes a frozen product and does not corroborate either slicing, spraying or microwaving: <ref>
{{cite web
|title = McCain-Innovationen auf der „Alles für den Gast“ – Express Fries – Pommes mit Turbo
|language = German
|date = 27 Oct2006
|publisher = Gassner & Hluma Communications
|url = http://www.gh-pr.at/Presseinfos/detail.php?id=81}}</ref>-->

==Variants==
right|333px|thumb|Fried [[Sweet potatos served with a restaurant meal in Harvard Square]]
French fries have numerous variants, from "thick-cut" to "shoestring", "joe joes", "crinkle", "curly" and many other names. They can also be coated with breading and spices, which include garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, paprika and salt to create "seasoned fries", or cut thickly with the skin left on to create potato wedges, or without the skin to create "steak fries", essentially the American equivalent of the British "chip". Sometimes, French fries are cooked in the oven as a final step in the preparation (having been coated with oil during preparation at the factory): these are often sold frozen and are called "oven fries" or "oven chips".

In France, the thick-cut fries are called'' 'pommes Pont-Neuf'<ref>Evelyn Saint-Ange, Paul Aratow (translator), ''La Bonne Cuisine de Madame E. Saint-Ange: The Essential Companion for Authentic French Cooking'', Larousse, 1927, translation Ten Speed Press, 2005, ISBN 1-580-08605-5, p. 553.</ref> ''or simply'' 'pommes frites''', about 10&nbsp;mm; thinner variants are'' 'pommes allumettes' ''(matchstick potatoes), ±7&nbsp;mm, and'' 'pommes pailles' ''(potato straws), 3-4&nbsp;mm (roughly ⅜, ¼ and ⅛&nbsp;inch respectively). The two-bath technique is standard (Bocuse).'' 'Pommes gaufrettes' ''or  "waffle-cut potatoes" are not typical French fried potatoes, but actually crisps obtained by quarter turning the potato before each next slide over a grater and deep-frying just once.<ref>
{{cite web
|title = Les pommes gauffrettes
|language = French
|publisher = 'Chef Simon' Sabine et Bertrand SIMON
|url = http://chefsimon.com/gaufrette.htm
|accessmonthday = 9 Apr
|accessyear = 2007}}</ref>

A Belgian chef patented ''"steppegras"'' ('prairie grass'), his variety of extremely thin-cut French fried potatoes developed in 1968 while working in Germany. The name refers to a dish including its particular sauce, and to his restaurant.<ref name=steppegras>
{{cite web
|title = Steppegras
|language = Dutch
|publisher = Restaurant Steppegras
|url = http://www.steppegras.org
|accessmonthday = 17 Apr
|accessyear = 2007}}</ref>

In fluffier on the inside. Since the surface-to-volume ratio is lower, they have a lower fat content. Chips are part of the popular take-away dish fish and chips. In Australia, the UK, Ireland, and New Zealand, few towns are without a chip shop (colloquially, a ''chippie/chippy'').

In an interview, Burger King president Donald Smith said that his chain's fries are sprayed with a sugar solution shortly before being packaged and shipped to individual outlets. The sugar carmelizes in the cooking fat, producing the golden color customers expect. Without it, the fries would be nearly the same color outside as inside: pasty yellow. Smith believes that McDonald's also sugar-coats its fries. McDonalds was assumed to fry their fries for a total time of about 15 to 20 minutes, and with fries fried at least twice. The fries appear to contain beef lard, or shortening.<ref name=poundstone1>
{{cite book
|last = Poundstone
|first = William
|title = Big Secrets
|publisher = William Morrow and Co.
|origyear = 1983
|pages = 23
|url =
|doi =
|id = ISBN 0-688-04830-7}}</ref>

==Food pairings==
thumb|right|250px|[[Fish and chips.]]
Besides being a popular snack in themselves, French fried potatoes as a side dish to specific food or an integral part of a named dish often typify a country:

*In Belgium, steamed Dutch) or ''moules-frites'' (French), a popular summer dish when the mussels arrive, typically from Zeeland. Also ''biefstuk-friet'' or ''bifteck-frites'' (which may be served with beef or horse steak), with plainly seasoned fries or served with a Belgian sauce, and usually a simple salad. A quick and inexpensive traditional is a deep fried egg on top of a plate of chips.
*In France, grilled steak: ''steak-frites''.
*In Spain, fried eggs: ''huevos con patatas''.
*In the United Kingdom, chips are a popular staple. ''Chip shops'' (or ''"chippies"'') commonly serve several dishes with chips such as cod (''fish and chips'') and battered sausage (''sausage supper''). British cafes, on the other hand, serve more traditional fare, such as fried eggs (''double egg and chips'').
*In the United States, hamburgers: ''Burger and fries''.
*In Germany, sausage with curry-flavored ketchup: ''Currywurst''.
*In Norway, Finland and Sweden, kebab, hamburgers and sausages.
*In breaded chicken or falafel, along with cucumber and tomato, and condiments such as hummus, tahini, or tzatziki.
*In Chile, chips are served with fried eggs, fried onions and a steak in a national dish called Bistec a lo pobre.

==Accompaniments==
thumb|With [[Chili con carne|chili and cheese]]
French fries are almost always salted just after cooking. They are then served with a variety of condiments, notably hot or chili sauce, mustard, mayonnaise, bearnaise sauce, tartar sauce, tzatziki, feta cheese, garlic sauce, fry sauce, ranch dressing, barbecue sauce, gravy, brown sauce, vinegar (especially malt vinegar), lemon, piccalilli, pickled cucumber, gherkins, very small pickled onions, or honey.<ref name=fsa1>
{{cite web
|title = Side Dishes: International French Fries
|publisher = Food Services of America
|url = http://www.fsafood.com/fsacom/News+and+Information/Solutions/Menuing/International+French+Fries.htm 
|accessmonthday = 28 Nov
|accessyear = 2006}}</ref><ref name=belgourmet1>
{{cite web
|title= Les sauces servies traditionnellement avec les frites en Belgique: Les pickles belges (Belgian Pickles)
|language = French
|publisher = belgourmet
|url = http://www.belgourmet.be/fr/frites/belgian_pickles.php
|accessmonthday = 12 Jan
|accessyear = 2007}}</ref>

===Australia===
Chips are sometimes eaten with tomato sauce (which is in fact different from traditional ketchup), but most often with salt and most shops offer a choice of plain or chicken salt (seasoned salt). When served at a Fish and Chip shop, where a thicker cut of chip is traditionally served, vinegar is also offered as a traditional accompaniment. Many shops may also offer gravy. Potato wedges are also popular which consist of a quartered, often with the skin left on, seasoned fried potato. Potato wedges are commonly eaten with sweet chilli sauce and sour cream.

===Belgium===
thumb|right|250px|A typical ''frietkot'' in [[Brussels streets.]]
Even the smallest Belgian town has a ''frietkot'' (literally 'fries shack').<ref>Whether Herstappe's eighty-odd inhabitants have a 'frietkot'? Belgium's ''smallest'' municipality Saint-Josse-ten-Noode has at least one.
{{cite web
|title=frite(rie)s
|publisher=EuroBRU portail de la capitale de l'Europe 
|url=http://www.eurobru.com/visit321.htm
|accessdate=2007-07-27}}<br/>*The figure of speech is obviously not exaggerated:<br/>*  
{{cite journal
|title=Ouske c'est chez nous
|author=Bouillon, Pierre; Bodeux, Jean-Luc; D'Artois, Didier; De Boeck, Philippe; Deffet, Eric; Dellisse, Daniel; Detaille, Stéphane; Du Brulle, Christian; Fiorilli, Thierry; Huon, Julie; Lamquin, Véronique; Lefèvre, Gabrielle; Leroy, Marcel; Maron, Guy; Meuwissen, Eric; Moreau, Catherine; Pierre, Philippe; Saint-Ghislain, Valéry; Surmont, Eddy; Vanham, Vincent
|language=French
|date=2005-06-30
|journal=Le Soir, édition Namur/Luxembourg
|pages=p. 1 
|url=http://archives.lesoir.be/t-20050630-000FH5.html?cat=commune
|accessdate=2007-07-27}} (See heading 'Fritkot')<br/>*
{{cite journal
|title=Belgitude &gt; La frite dorée ; Gloire nationale: l'eclosion du cornet cool
|author=Sambre, Pierre
|language=French
|date=2002-12-19
|journal=Le Tribune de Bruxelles, free with newspapers La Libre Belgique, La Dernière Heure, etc
|pages=p. 40 
|url=http://www.tbx.be/fr/07.07/5/app.rvb
|accessdate=2007-07-27}}</ref> This Dutch language term also became adopted by the French speaking part of the country in addition to the French ''pickle-sauce similar to piccalilli.<ref name=dupuis_franquin1>
{{cite web
|title = Gaston Lagaffe aka Guust Flater: Gare aux gaffes d'un gars gonflé
|language = French
|quote = en crocquant quelques frites... Hmum.. Délicieuses...avec des pickles. (''while eating some fries... Hmm.. Delightful... with piccalilly [Belgian pickles])''
|page = last
|author = Franquin
|publisher = Editions Dupuis
|year = 1973
|format = jpg
|url = http://www.frites.be/assets/img/content/bd/gaston_frites_largeonwhite.jpg
|accessmonthday = 12 Jan
|accessyear = 2007}} (publication date showing a sauce, outside Belgium rarely used with fries, to have been typical before far more kinds became available)</ref><ref name=belgourmet1/> Though Belgians do not sprinkle vinegar on fries, they may eat them with cold mussels out of the  shells preserved in vinegar, entirely uncomparable to the national dish with freshly boiled hot mussels served in the shells.

===United Kingdom===
In the United Kingdom, chips are usually accompanied by salt and malt vinegar.  Other types of vinegar (such as onion vinegar) are rarely used.  The fondness for vinegar on chips has led to some outlets using spray misters, such as used for misting plants or spraying cleaning products, for the even distribution of vinegar to chips. In most of the UK, chicken nuggets and chips are popular with children.  In England and Wales, gravy and curry sauce are available from some chip shops.

In Northern England, Scotland and South Wales, chips and gravy is a popular dish.  In parts of England and Scotland, 'cheesy chips' or 'chips 'n cheese', chips with grated cheddar thickly sprinkled on can be found. In the United Kingdom, the term ''french fries'' refers exclusively to the long thin version served in fast food establishments. The most common accompaniment for chips in England is tomato ketchup. Meals served with chips are often accompanied by mushy peas or baked beans.  In the Midlands and some Northern regions of England a takeaway of chips with either mushy peas or baked beans is called a "pea mix" or "bean mix" respectively.

In Edinburgh and Fife, a local speciality is to serve chips with salt and sauce (a mixture of brown sauce and vinegar). Often the vinegar is actually non-brewed condiment, a solution of acetic acid coloured with caramel. Fish and chips in parts of Scotland is more commonly called a 'fish supper'.

In the Isle of Man, chips are traditionally served with cheese and gravy.

===Republic of Ireland===
In Ireland, chips are commonly served with salt and vinegar.  A serving is often referred to as a ''single of chips''.  Many outlets are Italian and there is a strong tradition of Italian ''chippies''.  Many outlets also serve chips with a sauce accompaniment, the most popular being curry sauce.  For meals served with chips, coleslaw is often served.  Fish and chips or kebab and chips are popular take-away meals.

In Irish, "chips" are called "sceallóga" (singular: "sceallóg").

===Bulgaria===
In Bulgaria, a serving of fries can be ordered with a covering of sirene, a grated white brine cheese.