The longest chip in the world is...(of course) a French fried potato

There's something strange going on in the north of France.

Just a couple of months after the folk of Sainghin-en-Weppes created a new record for the world's longest chip, French fry, frite or whatever you choose to call it, those from Violaines have gone one better.

Actually they've gone several centimetres better if the truth be told by serving up a chip measuring a whopping 34 centimetres - 9.5 cms longer than the previous record holder.

All right, so perhaps it's not the sort of thing that'll set the country talking or help in its application to have French grub recognised by Unesco as part of the world's cultural heritage.

But it is enough to make it into the Guinness book of records (if as expected it is validated) and a feat (or should that be a "frite") for the locals to be proud of.

Perhaps there's something in the air or more likely the soils as the two towns are just 11 kilometres apart and as everyone (surely) knows a giant chip requires one heck of a spud.

The idea for an attempt came when a friend of Sébastien Billet, the man behind the big chip, dug up a huge 1.2 kilogramme potato - enough for a record or two in its own right.

But the 40-year-old had bigger plans for the brute of a vegetable and inspired by what had taken place in September in Sainghin-en-Weppes, he the 40-year-old thought he would make try his own luck.

He chose the venue - the brasserie Chez Chantal in Violaines - for his monster fry-up, and under the watchful eye of an official adjudicator, the potato was fried.

"We a bit potty," admitted a delighted and proud Billet.

"I've already had calls and orders for two-and-a-half tonnes of chips, and I don't even sell them," he added.

A tale then which might perhaps make the Belgians, often the butt of French jokes about "strange" accents and love of chips, smile a little.

And perhaps it counts as pay back time for the somewhat snooty fashion in the which the French often view the cuisine of their smaller neighbour and that less than politically correct joke that asks, "Where is the biggest chip shop in Europe?"

Answer: "On the border between France and the Netherlands."*

No word on how much ketchup, mayonnaise or vinegar was needed as an accompaniment.





*Hint - a quick glance at a map will show you that those two countries don't share a frontier - because Belgium is in the way.