There are few things people agree on in linguistically¹ divided Belgium, but an effort to get Belgian potato fries recognized as global cultural heritage and put it on a par² with Peking opera and the Argentinian tango may get unequivocal support.

在比利时，不同语言区的人几乎没在同一件事上达成过共识，但在为比利时炸薯条申请世界文化遗产这件事上，大家却表现出惊人的一致。若通过世界文化遗产申请，未来比利时薯条将与中国京剧、阿根廷探戈等艺术齐名。

Belgian fries are traditionally sold, in a paper cone³, in a "fritkot", generally a shack⁴ or trailer. There are some 5,000 of these in Belgium, making them 10 times more common, per capita, than McDonald's restaurants in the United States.

比利时炸薯条一般在街头小店或手推车上售卖，通常装在一个圆锥形的纸袋里。在比利时的大街小巷总共有五千余家炸薯条店面，换算起来人均数是美国麦当劳10倍多。

To become recognized by the United Nations' cultural arm UNESCO, they need to be endorsed⁵ by a minister of culture, and Belgium has three of them.

比利时炸薯条要得到联合国教科文组织的认可，需要首先得到比利时文化部长的支持，而比利时有三个文化部长。

The government of the Dutch speaking region of Flanders recognized Belgian fries as an integral part of national culture this year, and the French- and German-speaking communities are expected to debate the issue next year.

佛兰德斯荷语区政府已于今年承认炸薯条为比国文化不可或缺的一部分。预计法语区与德语区将在明年就此事展开讨论。

UNAFRI, the national association of fritkot owners, which started the drive, says the unpolished establishments are uniquely Belgian, combining the country's embrace of chaos⁶ with a dislike of corporate⁷ uniformity.

据悉，此项倡议由比利时油炸食品业者联盟(UNAFRI)发起。他们认为这种“粗放型”的炸薯条是比利时人独特的象征，是该国包容散漫、摈弃集团化统一操作理念结合的产物。

"A cone of potato chips is Belgiumin miniature. What's astounding⁸ is that this way of thinking is the same, notwithstanding the different communities and regions," said spokesman Bernard Lefevre.

该联盟的发言人伯纳德·勒菲佛(Bernard Lefevre)说道：一小份薯条是比利时的缩影。我所惊讶的是三个地区的公众能在申遗这个问题上达成一致，而不是各自发声。”

Many tourists join the locals in the long queues at popular Brussels fritkots such as Frit Flagey and Maison Antoine.

纷至沓来的游客也不免前往布鲁塞尔的薯条店去凑一把热闹。

"Before I came here, one of the only things I knew about Belgium was that they liked their fries, so I think they are pretty much there already," said Rachael Webb, a visitor from Ottawa, Canada, holding a cone of fries.

一位来自加拿大渥太华的游客告诉记者：“来到这里之前，我唯一知道的就是比利时人很热爱他们的炸薯条，仅凭这一点，我已经觉得他们做得相当好了。”在接受采访时，这位游客手中还拿着刚买到的炸薯条。

UNESCO has a list of 314 items of intangible cultural heritage worthy⁹ of preservation¹⁰, ranging from Turkish coffee to the polyphonic singing of the Aka pygmies of the Central African Republic.

目前，被联合国教科文组织（UNESCO）列入值得保护的非物质文化遗产的有314项，包括土耳其咖啡和来自中非共和国阿卡族（Aka）矮人的复调唱法等等。

Potatoes reached Belgiumin the 16th century, but it was not until the 19th century that they were widely sold chipped and fried as a meal in themselves. UNAFRI says 95 percent of Belgians visit a fritkot at least once a year.

据了解，马铃薯于16世纪传入比利时，但炸薯条开始广为贩卖，并成为桌上佳肴就到了19世纪。比利时油炸食品业者联盟介绍，95%的比利时人每年至少要光顾薯条店一次。