Why do French people call potatoes ground apples?

Why do French people call fries “fried apples”? It’s actually because it’s short for pommes de terre frites, or “fried potatoes”, or literally, “fried apples of the earth“. Because in a few languages, that’s what we call potatoes — earth apples.

What vegetables name in French means earth apple?

pomme de terre
The apple began as a nonspecific fruit. The Old English “æppel’ meant simply fruit. Dates were called “finger apples.” An early word for a cucumber was one meaning “earth apple.” Similarly, “pomme” is French for apple, but “pomme de terre,” apple of the earth, means “potato.”

Why is it called pomme de terre?

The Pomme de Terre was named for a prairie turnip – a potato like tuber that grows in the area. Pomme de Terre is French for potato. It literally means “apple of the earth” or “ground apple” in French.

Is pomme a potato or apple?

Pommes is the word for apples, and pommes de terre, or apples of the earth, are potatoes.

Are potatoes earth apples?

Earth apples are, very simply, potatoes. We realize that calling a food item with its very own name something entirely different is confusing.

Does Pomme mean potato?

10/07/2015. “Pommes frites” — obviously French. If you’ve taken a French class, you know that the word “pomme” means “apple” and the word “frite” means fried. You see, the French word for potato is actually “pomme de terre,” or “fruit of the earth.”

What is the difference between pomme de terre and Patate?

The difference is one of regional dialects. Pomme de terre is the standard French word for potato. Patate in standard French means “sweet potato”. However, in Belgian, Swiss, and North American French, patate means “potato”, and patate douce is used for “sweet potato”.

Why was everything called an apple?

For example, in Genesis, Adam and Eve eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. In the original texts of Genesis, the type of tree is never specified. Therefore, in the first translation of Genesis to English, it made sense to call this unidentified fruit an “apple” — meaning any kind of large fruit.

How do you say apple of the earth in French?

The French “pomme de terre” referes to a potato but translates directly as “earth apple.” Same goes for the Dutch, Hebrew, Persian and Swiss German translation for “potatoes.”

Does pomme mean potato?

Is there a French word for potato?

The French “pomme de terre” referes to a potato but translates directly as “earth apple.”. Same goes for the Dutch, Hebrew, Persian and Swiss German translation for “potatoes.”.

What is the root word of earth apple?

“Eorþæppla,” or “earth apple,” referred to a cucumber. In Middle English, during the 1400s, “appel of paradis” referred to a banana. You get the picture. The French “pomme de terre” referes to a potato but translates directly as “earth apple.”

What are earth apples?

Earth apples are, very simply, potatoes. We realize that calling a food item with its very own name something entirely different is confusing. It sort of sounds like the humorous musings of a toddler with fledgling language skills — potatoes are edible, like apples, but are grown in the earth, thus, earth apples!

Why do the Dutch call potatoes ‘aardappel’?

Likewise the Dutch held on to the idea of the earth apple, calling the potato ‘aardappel’. And something of this sensibility would show through when, in the works of Vincent van Gogh, the potato found its highest artistic expression.