What necessity drove Belgian villagers near the Meuse Valley to substitute potatoes for small fried fish?

Answer

Winter frost sealing the waterways, halting fishing

The detailed origin narrative for the fry attributes its creation in the Meuse Valley region to extreme environmental conditions impacting local subsistence. Villagers traditionally relied on catching and frying small fish from the local river as a staple food source. When the harsh winter weather caused the waterways to freeze over, fishing became impossible. Resourceful villagers then adapted by taking potatoes, slicing them into shapes resembling the small fish they could no longer catch, and frying these potato shapes in the fat they had available. This culinary substitution, driven by environmental necessity when a primary food source was cut off, forms the core of the Belgian claim regarding the invention of the fried potato stick.

What necessity drove Belgian villagers near the Meuse Valley to substitute potatoes for small fried fish?

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