Bpost issues stamps dedicated to Belgian frietkot culture
Belgian postal company Bpost on Monday unveiled a new set of stamps dedicated to the country's frietkot culture. With the new collection, Bpost wants to pay tribute to the iconic Belgian chip shops.
"Belgium has a rich gastronomic culture, of which Belgian chips are one of the most famous culinary flagships in the world," said Bpost in a press release. The set, called The Delicious History of the Fri(e)tkot, pays tribute to a staple of Belgian heritage, with five new stamps showing both traditional and modern chip shops.
Once folded, the stamp leaflet transforms into a miniature chip van
The stamps show a red frietkot from the 1950s and 1960s on the Grote Markt in Bruges, a chip restaurant that catered to the upper classes in the 1940s and 50s in Liège, an old frietkot from the 1920s in Middelkerke, a frietkot from the 1980s and 90s in a forest in the rain, and a mobile frietkot from 1913 in Brussels that ran on coal and was ferried around by horse in the evenings.
Designer Geert Wille came up with a unique cut-out to present the sheetlet. Once folded, it transforms into a miniature chip van, revealing the five chip shops.
The limited-edition five-stamp sheetlet, priced at 13.60 euros, has been on sale since 28 August in the Philaboutiques in Brussels and Mechelen and online. For this special edition, stamp collectors are invited to the Museum of French Fries in Bruges on 2 September for an event to celebrate the new collection.
The first chip shops appeared in Belgium in 1838. They were mainly present at fairs such as the Foire de Liège. In those days, potatoes were peeled, cut and cooked to order on the spot. After the Second World War, more stationary chip shops appeared on the streets of Belgium. The success of the frietkot was sealed by its inclusion in the National Heritage List in 2017.
© BELGA PHOTO HATIM KAGHAT
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