History

The mitraillette ('submachine gun' in French) emerged from Brussels' frituur counters in the late 20th century as a one-handed student meal: half a baguette split open, packed with hot frites and a slab of fried meat, drowned in andalouse or samurai sauce. Fritland on Rue Henri Maus is its canonical home, with the queue spilling onto the pavement after midnight on weekends. The dish has spread to Liege and Charleroi but Brussels owns the original.

Common allergens: Gluten

Make it at home

Yield Serves 1Hands-on 20 minTotal 35 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 1 half baguette (sliced open)
  • 300g floury potatoes, cut into 1cm frites
  • 1 fried chicken schnitzel or 1 grilled merguez sausage or 1 minute steak
  • Vegetable oil or beef fat for deep-frying
  • 2 tbsp andalouse sauce (mayo, tomato paste, mustard, chilli)
  • Salt
  • Optional: shredded lettuce, sliced raw onion

Method

  1. Soak potato batons in cold water for 30 minutes, then dry thoroughly.
  2. Heat oil to 140C and blanch potatoes for 5 minutes; drain.
  3. Heat oil to 180C and fry potatoes for 3 to 4 minutes until golden and crisp. Salt while hot.
  4. Pan-fry your chosen meat: chicken schnitzel, merguez or minute steak.
  5. Split the baguette down the side; line the inside with sauce.
  6. Pack the baguette with hot frites, then place the meat on top.
  7. Top with more sauce, optional lettuce and onion, fold the baguette closed.

Tip from the editors. Eat it standing up over the paper wrapper. The mitraillette is engineered to fall apart the moment you sit down.

This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.

Where to eat mitraillette

Mitraillette in Brussels

Fritland ★ 4.2

Until Sun-Thu 02:00, Fri-Sat 05:00

Fritland in Brussels is the canonical late-night frites window behind the Bourse. The mitraillette (frites and meat in a baguette) is the after-midnight Brussels dish.

Try: Mitraillette and frites

Rue Henri Maus 49, 1000 Brussels

Maison Antoine ★ 4.5

Until Sun-Thu 01:00, Fri-Sat 02:00

Maison Antoine in Brussels' Place Jourdan runs late into the night, with the surrounding bars open later still. Double-fried Bintje frites, sauces from the standard sauce wall.

Try: Frites in a paper cone

Place Jourdan 1, 1040 Etterbeek

More cities are in research. Want mitraillette covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.

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