#TBT: A Look Back At Frites Week

It would be a complete travesty — or even criminal — to have a Burger Week and not mention our beloved Frites Week, which graced computer and smartphone screens last March. Frankly, it'd be comparable to the detestable act of serving a companionless burger. Nobody wants to have to pay for friends.

Frites Week brought some controversy to the Food Republic office. Two of our editors butted heads on the steak fry. We surveyed our office and Zero Point Zero colleagues to rank 18 styles of fries with the unsuspecting waffle fry coming up on top. There's even a recipe for the uniquely shaped spud.

We also got an exclusive look into how Five Guys, which recently booted In-N-Out out of the top spot for best fast food burger chain on the Harris Poll, makes its fries. Shake Shack let us in on the secret to their crispy crinkle fries. We even went global and found the best spots for patatas bravas in Barcelona and visited the Frietmuseum in Belgium to learn of the surprising beginnings of the fried potato snack.

Often times, fries are a contributing factor to a bigger dish like poutine, cheese fries or Philadelphia's gravy fries. But however you prefer them, there's no denying that French fries are an essential part of our food-obsessed culture — and must, simply must, be served alongside any and all burgers.