Friteries have had their chips in potato blight

BELGIUM’S famed chip stalls, or friteries, are facing a shortage of potatoes after weeks of blazing temperatures left them scorched and shrivelled in the fields.

The heatwave and drought have left about a third of the early potato crop unfit to make frites, Belgium’s beloved national dish.

Despite showers this week, the crucial September and October harvests could be even smaller without more sustained rainfall soon.

Extreme temperatures and dry weather reduce the yield and size of potatoes, and make their skins rougher. If they are too tough, they cannot be processed by chip manufacturers’ peeling machines.

Prices of the bintje potato, the variety preferred by makers of frites, or frieten, as they are called in Flemish-speaking northern Belgium, have shot up. Chip stall owners fear customers may desert them if the cheap snack becomes too expensive.

Bernard Lefèvre, head of Unafrinavefri, the stallholders’ association, told Politico: “It’s the first time Belgians are praying for more rain… Frites are essential. It is vital. It is part of our culture. It’s more than a product – it’s a symbol of Belgium.”