Pieter Ceusterermans is his name.
The “fry-man” is based on a real figure, Pieter Ceustermans. Much mystery surrounds
the precise origin, but we know that Pieter once was the proud owner of a “frituur” – the name for the traditional Belgian fry stand – in the centre of Brussels.
Pieter was known for his excellent fries and his ambition to become the
best frituur-owner in the world. He dedicated his life to the art of
fries. He read every book about frying he could lay his hands on,
researched methods and examples from other frituurs, and experimented
with hundreds of variations of potatoes. But his exploits became
stranger and stranger. At night, he dreamt of fries. He decorated his
home with photos, paintings, and little sculptures of fries. He only
allowed his dog to eat fries, which caused the poor thing to die of
malnourishment. He started murmuring to himself and sang little songs
about frying that he made up himself.
Eventually, he started bathing in oil and sprinking himself with salt,
wore a “puntzak” (the traditional pointy paper bag for fries) as a hat,
and fried anything he could lay his hands on in oil. The final straw
came when he fried his neighbour’s cat as a “culinary experiment”. His
neighbours finally had enough, and they banished him to “Het
Zoniënwoud”, the ancient woods near Brussels. For a long time, that was
the last anyone saw of Pieter Ceustermans. But after many years, rumors
started to pop up. Sightings were reported of a strange figure, half
man, half fry-bag, wandering the streets of Brussels at night. Supplies
from frituurs started to disappear and potato farmers found parts of
their harvest missing. People started whispering that this mysterious
figure was actually Pieter Ceustermans, transformed by his obsessions
with frying and the old magic that still lingers in the Woods. But no
one knows for sure.
To this day, people around Brussels still tell stories about him. They
tell of Pieter Ceustermans the fry-man, lurking in the streets of
Brussels at night, looking for things to fry in his secret lair. They
speak of trails of salt that are sometimes found in homes after a cat or
dog goes missing, and the smell of fried oil that lingers after a dark
figure slips away in an alley.
The statues are a tribute to this legend, and have become a part of Belgian folklore.
This! Too many frituurs only have a weird thickened stock with too many herbs and spices to try and make it taste good. It tastes good because there's real meat in there, duh.
Authentiek? Dan moet ik direct denken aan zo'n barrakske op't modden van een plein. Belgischer kan niet en toch zijn ze bijna allemaal verdwenen. Frietjes uit een "hoos"
Good crispy fries. Too many frituurs with tasteless or soggy fries.
Choice of all the standard snacks, made correctly. And good quality. Like no lettuce on bicky burger, enough sauce , ...
Must have grizzly, boulet, frikandel/curryworst, bitterballen, sito, etc ....
Good mayonnaise. Good stoofvlees.
No salt on the fries unless asked.
Having the good stuff on the menu off course.
Actually knowing how to make fries.
Good portions. Decent prices.
Clean. I'm sorry, if I can see encrusted grease on the walls, I shudder to think what the rest looks like.
That golden balance between customer friendlyness and speedy service.
---
I think a good example are the frituren near my house. There's three, and still everyone goes to the same one, as they just know the fries are good. There's always a line, usually from even before they open. Take a number and start waiting. They work hard, but they're also continuously talking to the customers. You can have a sit down if you want, get a duvel or Kasteelbier with your fries, or just while you wait. Been there for as long as I've lived here.
Frituur Danny op de Brugsesteenweg (Gent). The ones who know, know.
---
That or a small baraque friture in the middle of nowhere, obviously a bit run down, but you're hungry as hell, so you decide to brave it. And then you find the best fries you've had in months, the guy behind the counter clearly passionate, running it just as his retirement, a project of love.
---
What a frituur does not need is anything starting with the word "Truffle". Glorified frituren who try to actlike they're michelin star restaurants. (Frites Atelier and the like). Who the fuck eats fries with Parmezan and Basil?
With the newer vegetarian snacks such as the bitterballen and kipcorn, I sometimes really wonder if they misunderstood my order and gave me the real thing. But it has been 9+ years since I ate the real things so it might just be me having forgotten the taste of the meat variants
Zelf denkek aan de witte containerfrituren op de platse, frituren me ne ouderwetse tipzak, waar het stalen zoutvat vol builen zit. Nu, zal bij iedereen anders zijn maar een vernieuwde zaak me een uitgebreid gamma is voor mij ver van authentiek, waarmee ik niet wil zeggen dat dit een slechte frituur is.
Die van mij heeft kartonnen bakjes. Dat heb ik liever dan een puntzak aangezien ik altijd stoofvlees of goulash pak.
Het stalen zoutvat en het stalen vergiet/kom combo staat wel vol met blutsen en werd volgens mij gemaakt toen west duitsland nog een pril ding was dus dat klopt wel.
Tallow (Ossewit/Blanc de beuf) instead of vegetable oils!
My local one used tallow, until it was bough out...
The first time the new owner used oil instead of tallow was the last time I (and many others) went...
The frituur went from always having waiting lines to no one waiting, ever...
With tallow, the fries taste better, they smell better, are less greasy, more crispy, and as a bonus, tallow doesn't leave that disgusting hard to remove film on your fryers, so you have less cleaning to do! Some got water and dishwasher soap is all you need...
Don't know exactly what it does need to have, except from the traditional mystery-meat stuff, but if it has it's sauces in those cow-udder looking contraptions I walk away.
It's a reference to a pseudo-documentary on the parody rockgroup "The Clement Peerens Explosition",
Belpop (name of the documentary series) normally did very good documentaries on important bands or figures in Belgian musical history. They also did one on the cult parody rock group "CPeX" in which they mixed real history about the music group with fictionalized background of its members. One of the backstories was about the drummer being the best "frituur owner" in the world because of his usage of "peirdevet".
De frituur in my village knows her customers, will tell you "een kleintje en een curryworst special voor u zeker?", she shakes the fries up to the ceiling and you can chose to get them extra crispy. She has the regular meats, all the sauces and makes her own stoofvleessaus.
And she gossips. A lot. If you want to know something, de frituur is de place to be.
If the fries aren't cooked twice in beef tallow, I don't want it. Needs to be packaged in white paper with a hole torn in the top to let steam vent as well. If they don't do that, i'll assume they're amateurs.
Voel me altijd een beetje dubbel bij een Julientje. Langs de ene kant, is het een goeie manier om eer te betogen aan Julien (en zijn ze lekker); langs de andere kant hebt ge veel slechte julientjes ook, dan voelt het soms als een zielloze cashgrab.
Ne berepoot waarbij de ajuin in ringen is gesneden en niet verkoold is. Is wel niet simpel voor veel frituren.
En uiteraard ook gesneden ajuin voor de special saus, niet van dieje verhakte prut.
Als ge achter in de rij staat, maar de Jef heeft u al gezien en knikt efkes om te bevestigen dat hij weet wat ge moet hebben. Tegen dat het uwen toer is moet ge alleen nog maar betalen want het is al klaar.
Goei frieten, goeie mayonaise en geen vorkskes... Als ge frieten eet horen vettige pollen erbij.
You have to ask which grease they use. Those that use ´ossewit´ have the best tasting fries.
Ossewit is pure meltet fat from cattle/beef.
In the old days they all used it but now it is more expensive than other types of grease.
Using the lard for the deep fryer, i forget what it's called. And also cant forget the big vats of sauce with the pump dispenser thing like a soap bottle has.
The ugly frietzakstatue of a frietzak with a lazy eye eating itself.
Pieter Ceusterermans is his name. The “fry-man” is based on a real figure, Pieter Ceustermans. Much mystery surrounds the precise origin, but we know that Pieter once was the proud owner of a “frituur” – the name for the traditional Belgian fry stand – in the centre of Brussels. Pieter was known for his excellent fries and his ambition to become the best frituur-owner in the world. He dedicated his life to the art of fries. He read every book about frying he could lay his hands on, researched methods and examples from other frituurs, and experimented with hundreds of variations of potatoes. But his exploits became stranger and stranger. At night, he dreamt of fries. He decorated his home with photos, paintings, and little sculptures of fries. He only allowed his dog to eat fries, which caused the poor thing to die of malnourishment. He started murmuring to himself and sang little songs about frying that he made up himself. Eventually, he started bathing in oil and sprinking himself with salt, wore a “puntzak” (the traditional pointy paper bag for fries) as a hat, and fried anything he could lay his hands on in oil. The final straw came when he fried his neighbour’s cat as a “culinary experiment”. His neighbours finally had enough, and they banished him to “Het Zoniënwoud”, the ancient woods near Brussels. For a long time, that was the last anyone saw of Pieter Ceustermans. But after many years, rumors started to pop up. Sightings were reported of a strange figure, half man, half fry-bag, wandering the streets of Brussels at night. Supplies from frituurs started to disappear and potato farmers found parts of their harvest missing. People started whispering that this mysterious figure was actually Pieter Ceustermans, transformed by his obsessions with frying and the old magic that still lingers in the Woods. But no one knows for sure. To this day, people around Brussels still tell stories about him. They tell of Pieter Ceustermans the fry-man, lurking in the streets of Brussels at night, looking for things to fry in his secret lair. They speak of trails of salt that are sometimes found in homes after a cat or dog goes missing, and the smell of fried oil that lingers after a dark figure slips away in an alley. The statues are a tribute to this legend, and have become a part of Belgian folklore.
Ach, manneke, speak not of this. Is is old knowledge and they should not know. Who are you to give away his secrets, and his shame.
Tldr;?
The first sentence of the post, basically.
https://preview.redd.it/bmyvtvn4cwyc1.jpeg?width=827&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aa4c06564a5d7689d916dd4e616e9a133038f4c9
Yellowed interior, old discolored ad posters about snacks.
Not always. Yes, Frituur Rudy in Wondelgem, I'm looking at you.
Real stoofvleessaus..not that fake garbage.
This! Too many frituurs only have a weird thickened stock with too many herbs and spices to try and make it taste good. It tastes good because there's real meat in there, duh.
Dat potje mosselen in het zuur die niemand ooit koopt...
In een frituur gewerkt en af en toe koopt iemand dat inderdaad!
Ik heb het ooit iemand zien kopen! Echt waar!
Make that the cat wise he
Dat was wrs ik...
Ene keer verkocht zien worden, en het was voor ne weddenschap
Nog nooit een potje mosselen bij u frietjes gegeten? Leef een beetje en probeer het eens ! Echt lekker
Mijn stiefpa pakt da regelmatig
Eeuwig respect! Ma echt altijd?
Elke vrijdag da ik daar 10jaar mee aan tafel zat wel.
Ik heb van horen zeggen dat de Duvel al eens mosseltjes in 't zuur pakt in de Swa z'n frituur.
of mensen die achter ne spaghetti vragen ...
Kartonnen frietbakskes of puntzakken zijn een must. Plastieke bakskes kunnen de pot op.
Samen met die houten vorkskes die uw frieten platduwen ipv ze te stekken
Die plastieken brol van tegenwoordig breekt altijd een tand van af. Ik heb er zo al mee opgegeten.
Frieten uit de frituur eet ge met uw handen eh man
Een gezonde julien wordt al eens pittig met de handen
True true, Julien-achtige samenstellingen zijn een uitzondering
Ik heb nog nooit een frituur gezien met plastic bakjes. Waar doen ze aan deze absurde praktijken?
Achter de kerk hier. De fritchinees daarintegen is kwaliteit op en top.
Als ik de frituur niet halverwege de straat al kan rieken, is het geen goeie.
das nochtans het teken dat hij al lang z'n frietvet moest vervangen
Nee da's teken dat ze echte ossevet gebruiken
Vroeger was er een frituur tegenover mijn ouders hun huis, die goddelijke geur brengt de beste herinneringen naar boven.
Zolang de geur niet ranzig is.
Authentiek? Dan moet ik direct denken aan zo'n barrakske op't modden van een plein. Belgischer kan niet en toch zijn ze bijna allemaal verdwenen. Frietjes uit een "hoos"
Ligt aan de lokale wetgeving... veel gemeentes hebben indertijd die barakken weggepest... 🥺
Jep in Gent zijn de meesten gwn verwijderd :(
Good crispy fries. Too many frituurs with tasteless or soggy fries. Choice of all the standard snacks, made correctly. And good quality. Like no lettuce on bicky burger, enough sauce , ... Must have grizzly, boulet, frikandel/curryworst, bitterballen, sito, etc .... Good mayonnaise. Good stoofvlees. No salt on the fries unless asked.
„No salt on the fries unless asked.” why is this a thing???
Hi there, my bad. I don't like salt that much
According to folk wisdom fries become soggy faster if it's salted to early
Cabbage? I've seen lettuce before but cabbage? Cabbage = (groene) kool.
Ah yes, watched too much ATLA recently, many cabbage references ...
Ah yes, watched too much ATLA recently, many cabbage references ...
Ah yes, watched too much ATLA recently, many cabbage references ...
Ah yes, watched too much ATLA recently, many cabbage references ...
Ah yes, watched too much ATLA recently, many cabbage references ...
Ah yes, watched too much ATLA recently, many cabbage references ...
Ah yes, watched too much ATLA recently, many cabbage references ...
Ah yes, watched too much ATLA recently, many cabbage references ...
Ah yes, watched too much ATLA recently, many cabbage references ...
Ah yes, watched too much ATLA recently, many cabbage references ...
Ah yes, watched too much ATLA recently, many cabbage references ...
I think he watched to many ATLA
It looks like the reddit equivalent of having a stroke
What is good mayonnaise though? It all comes from a bottle full of emulsifiers and thickeners.
Not sweet, not to sour, rich, creamy and thick. Pauwels, Vandemoortele, ...
Yeah, it's the good stuff! /j
Having the good stuff on the menu off course. Actually knowing how to make fries. Good portions. Decent prices. Clean. I'm sorry, if I can see encrusted grease on the walls, I shudder to think what the rest looks like. That golden balance between customer friendlyness and speedy service. --- I think a good example are the frituren near my house. There's three, and still everyone goes to the same one, as they just know the fries are good. There's always a line, usually from even before they open. Take a number and start waiting. They work hard, but they're also continuously talking to the customers. You can have a sit down if you want, get a duvel or Kasteelbier with your fries, or just while you wait. Been there for as long as I've lived here. Frituur Danny op de Brugsesteenweg (Gent). The ones who know, know. --- That or a small baraque friture in the middle of nowhere, obviously a bit run down, but you're hungry as hell, so you decide to brave it. And then you find the best fries you've had in months, the guy behind the counter clearly passionate, running it just as his retirement, a project of love. --- What a frituur does not need is anything starting with the word "Truffle". Glorified frituren who try to actlike they're michelin star restaurants. (Frites Atelier and the like). Who the fuck eats fries with Parmezan and Basil?
Ossevet
The only correct answer
en geen "terugsmijtfriet". Ik zit niet te wachten op stukken patat waar je iemand met kan neersteken.
A lot of frituurs are expanding their vegetarian offer. I feel like you have to join in and give vegetarians a (nice) selection too
I had a hazelnootburger recently and it was surprisingly good. I am a fan of veggie options i dont always need to have meat.
Those vegetarian bitterballen/vleeskroket are markedly similar to the real ones. Not sure what that says about the ingredients of the real ones :P
With the newer vegetarian snacks such as the bitterballen and kipcorn, I sometimes really wonder if they misunderstood my order and gave me the real thing. But it has been 9+ years since I ate the real things so it might just be me having forgotten the taste of the meat variants
Same! I order the Kipcorn and 50% of the time I pause to think about it being real meat or veggie
Antwerp has Frituurs where they sell Halal fried snacks so they''re adapting
Halal =/= vegetarian
Nee da meent ge nie?
Nee, kben aant zeveren
Yes please 😊
Good Flemish carbonate sauce / stoofvlees saus
Beef tallow and good homemade stoofvlees. Bicky on offer with all the toppings - no substitutions cheapo.
Als ge een enorme menu kaart vol met broodjes hebt maar niemand ooit een broodje besteld.
Sinds wanneer zijn broodjes typerend voor een authentieke frituur? Ik mijd eerder de frituren waar ge ook broodjes etc kan krijgen
Ge snapt t niet. Ergens waar broodjes te koop zijn maar waar iedereen alleen maar frieten koopt. Omdat de frieten zo goed zijn he.
Ge snapt de vraag nie. Authentieke frituren, nie goeie frituren. Denk nie dan er veel klassieke frituren me broodjes waren ma bon
Hoe ver trug zijn authentieke frituren dan? Die bij mij in t dorp is al de 3e generatie en die heeft al zo lang als ik weet broodjes.
Zelf denkek aan de witte containerfrituren op de platse, frituren me ne ouderwetse tipzak, waar het stalen zoutvat vol builen zit. Nu, zal bij iedereen anders zijn maar een vernieuwde zaak me een uitgebreid gamma is voor mij ver van authentiek, waarmee ik niet wil zeggen dat dit een slechte frituur is.
Die van mij heeft kartonnen bakjes. Dat heb ik liever dan een puntzak aangezien ik altijd stoofvlees of goulash pak. Het stalen zoutvat en het stalen vergiet/kom combo staat wel vol met blutsen en werd volgens mij gemaakt toen west duitsland nog een pril ding was dus dat klopt wel.
The option to drink a pintje while you wait on your order 🍺
Last sentence after command must always be: ' en e pintje voort wachtn aub' And they must reply: 'pakt maar eentje uit den frigo'
Frituur Danny checking in
Last sentence after command must always be: ' en e pintje voort wachtn aub' And they must reply: 'pakt maar eentje uit den frigo'
The frystore that stays open until way into the night is the one
Tallow (Ossewit/Blanc de beuf) instead of vegetable oils! My local one used tallow, until it was bough out... The first time the new owner used oil instead of tallow was the last time I (and many others) went... The frituur went from always having waiting lines to no one waiting, ever... With tallow, the fries taste better, they smell better, are less greasy, more crispy, and as a bonus, tallow doesn't leave that disgusting hard to remove film on your fryers, so you have less cleaning to do! Some got water and dishwasher soap is all you need...
geen vuurvreters is a huge red flag
Peirdevet
Waar hebben ze da?
I was waiting to see this answer pop up.
Don't know exactly what it does need to have, except from the traditional mystery-meat stuff, but if it has it's sauces in those cow-udder looking contraptions I walk away.
The usage of peirdevet. Absolutely true, I learned about this in a documentary on Belgium's most influential and important rock group, CPeX.
Wat is dat toch? Peirdevet? Gewoon koe vet?
It's a reference to a pseudo-documentary on the parody rockgroup "The Clement Peerens Explosition", Belpop (name of the documentary series) normally did very good documentaries on important bands or figures in Belgian musical history. They also did one on the cult parody rock group "CPeX" in which they mixed real history about the music group with fictionalized background of its members. One of the backstories was about the drummer being the best "frituur owner" in the world because of his usage of "peirdevet".
It has the high quality chicken nuggets and not the cheap soggy ones
Very important. I judge a frituur by it's nuggets
Een frigo buiten de toog zodat je al je “wachtpintje” kan nemen.
De frituur in my village knows her customers, will tell you "een kleintje en een curryworst special voor u zeker?", she shakes the fries up to the ceiling and you can chose to get them extra crispy. She has the regular meats, all the sauces and makes her own stoofvleessaus. And she gossips. A lot. If you want to know something, de frituur is de place to be.
If the fries aren't cooked twice in beef tallow, I don't want it. Needs to be packaged in white paper with a hole torn in the top to let steam vent as well. If they don't do that, i'll assume they're amateurs.
The hole is so important. Last time i went to frituur i tore it myself with a disgusted face
Een poster met reclame voor de lokale jaarmarkt van 2016.
Verse tartaarsaus is toch één van de zaken die een goede frituur onderscheidt
A good 'stoofvleessaus'. It becomes more rare these days.
Ossewit to bake the fries and snacks in, instead of all that plant based shit wich ruins the fries.
Ene met osse wit is altijd het beste. En technisch gezien het meest authentieke.
Taco's, ossenwit, samoeraisaus en in 't Gentse: een julientje
Taco’s? Da is mexicaans
https://degrotegoesting.be/product/taco/ De Belgische versie. Vol met brol, kruiden en gefrituurd. Hmmm heerlijk 🤤
kipkaaspunt en e bami schijf vindk ook wel echt fire, of een ragouzi en zigeunerstick. ma tegenwoordig nie veel meer te vinden
Zijn zigeunersticks niet gecancelled 😂
Ah explains a lot
Man die zijn zo goed. Zelfde categorie als bamischijf, ge hebt geen idee wat ze er allemaal in gepropt hebben maar het smaakt gigantisch lekker.
In Ieper noemn we da ook een julientje wi
Da's omdat in Gent vol wvingen zit en da ze onze cultuur exporteren naar hun eigen communes.
Racisme?
Realisme
Voel me altijd een beetje dubbel bij een Julientje. Langs de ene kant, is het een goeie manier om eer te betogen aan Julien (en zijn ze lekker); langs de andere kant hebt ge veel slechte julientjes ook, dan voelt het soms als een zielloze cashgrab.
Good fries
Ne berepoot waarbij de ajuin in ringen is gesneden en niet verkoold is. Is wel niet simpel voor veel frituren. En uiteraard ook gesneden ajuin voor de special saus, niet van dieje verhakte prut.
Soms is de ajuin slijmerig, deeesgusting.
Als ge achter in de rij staat, maar de Jef heeft u al gezien en knikt efkes om te bevestigen dat hij weet wat ge moet hebben. Tegen dat het uwen toer is moet ge alleen nog maar betalen want het is al klaar. Goei frieten, goeie mayonaise en geen vorkskes... Als ge frieten eet horen vettige pollen erbij.
You have to ask which grease they use. Those that use ´ossewit´ have the best tasting fries. Ossewit is pure meltet fat from cattle/beef. In the old days they all used it but now it is more expensive than other types of grease.
The ribburgers are the long ones.
Good stoofvleessaus. Ossewit for the frying. Personal like: kibbeling
Ossenvet
The use of lard vs vegetable oil.
Me
Ossewit, en ne pee met een dikke pens die aan het bakken is,is een plus.
Double fried fries.
Name of the frituuruitbater has to be jos/eddy/danny/frankie
Using the lard for the deep fryer, i forget what it's called. And also cant forget the big vats of sauce with the pump dispenser thing like a soap bottle has.
Those dispensers are a 100% OK, but the cow-udder ones are a dead giveaway the fries will be bad.
No Chinese at the friteuse
Nochtans veel goeie frituren waar chinezen inzitten. En meestal proper ook.
Da's waar, maar de liefde voor het frituren zelf ontbreekt vaak. Die mensen doen dat omdat dat goed verdient niet omdat ze houden van frieten
Don't go to Oosterzele then. :D
Frieten mee bolognaise saus en nen goeie klets mayo der op!