Our family holiday trips to France in the early ’90s we’re always accompanied by many bouts of moules et frites (or moules-frites as some call it).

Mussels are delicious, but that combination with French fries is strangely perfect. They have a mushy quality, but the crispy crunch of chips adds a new dimension to the shellfish.

But what of the history of this stuff? Well, we’re here to go all FREEDOM FRIES upon you with our research.

What are moules et frites?

It’s a dish of mussels served with a side dish of French fries. It’s served as either a started or a main course. Either way, it’s a delicious combination and about as awesome as it gets.

Now, Belgium’s national dish is moules-frites.

We were in the country back in 2009 for the Belgium Grand Prix at Spa. Alongside the motorsport, we went well out of our way to order as much of the stuff as possible.

Our English companions for the trip sat there, confused, watching on every time as they stuck to the more traditional KFC and McDonald’s meals.

But we’ve loved mussels since our childhood years, with trips to France around the early ’90s usually combined with frites. That’s when we so cannily realised you can use an empty mussel shell as a tweezer for the others. A bit like chopsticks… but not.

The History of Moules et Frites

There seems to be a great deal of competition between Belgium and France over who can claim invented the dish, but evidence does suggest it’s the former.

Food historians believe Belgium wins out on moules-frites.

Potatoes arrived into Europe from the Americas during the 17th century. It took some time for Europeans to warm to the things, much like how they baulked at eating tomatoes.

The belief was they were poisonous (tip: they aren’t).

Once eating potatoes became normal, the Belgians paired mussels with chips (fries) and there’s a 1781 Flemish manuscript that (apparently) confirms the dish was available at that time. It’s the earliest recorded tome documenting the pairing of fries with mussels.

According to this manuscript, the fries at the time were long, thin, and shaped like fish.

Now, we found many references to this legendary 1781 Flemish manuscript online during our research for this feature. The amount of articles that stuff that in as a throwaway, assured line as proof is a bit jaw-dropping.

Especially as no one seems to have a name for the manuscript or a direct statement on what it is, where it is, and whether it’s genuine or not.

Considering one article we read on moules-frites classed the 1781 manuscript as “famous”, it seems a little odd no one is flat-out naming it already.

It’s a bit mysterious as this is repeated over and over across various sites claiming the manuscript solves the moules-frites riddle. But the clearest reference we got was this 2014 feature on Belgian fries:

“Belgian journalist Jo Gérard (died in 2006) claims/ed that a 1781 family manuscript recounts that potatoes were deep-fried prior to 1680 in what was then the Spanish Netherlands (present-day Belgium), in the Meuse valley: ‘The inhabitants of Namur, Andenne, and Dinant, had the custom of fishing in the Meuse for small fish and frying, especially among the poor, but when the river was frozen and fishing became hazardous, they cut potatoes in the form of small fish and put them in a fryer like those here.’ The only problem is that Gérard has not produced the manuscript that supports this claim, which, even if true, is unrelated to the later history of the French fry, as the potato did not arrive in the region until around 1735. Also, given 18th century economic conditions: “It is absolutely unthinkable that a peasant could have consecrated large quantities of fat for cooking potatoes, because at most they were sautéed in a pan.”

And that’s unrelated to moules, but it’s the only real nod to the mythological 1781 Flemish manuscript we could find.

We’re calling it—unless someone produces this most fabled 1781 Flemish manuscript, we’re saying it’s still unclear who invented moules et frites (even though it seems clear it’s a toss up between Belgium and France).

Moules-frites is now something of a national obsession in Belgium.

It’s also enormously popular in France, although we should imagine the glory that is la baguette will always win out as a favourite.

Anyway, we apologise for not providing a clear answer on origins of this dish.

You can direct all of your complaints towards that accursed famous, legendary, splendiferous 1781 Flemish manuscript and its potential non-existence.

How to Make Moules et Frites

Okay, so this is a pretty straightforward to cook. You need a bag of mussels and the capacity to make some French fries.

Can you do that, noble amateur chef person?

We’re sure you can. To be honest, these days (as we’re on a healthy lifestyle) we don’t bother with the fries. The mussels are delicious enough on their own.

But if you want to go the whole hog, this is a cheap, cheerful, and delicious meal enough to slake the hunger pangs of any family.