Potato chips

Potato chips or crisps are a snack food made from potatoes cut into very thin slices, deep fried or baked until crisp, and then served. Commercial varieties are packaged for sale, usually in bags. The simplest chips are simply cooked and salted, but a wide variety of seasonings (mostly made using MSG and herbs or spices) are used to produce various 'seasoned' chips. Potato chips are an important part of the snack food market in English-speaking countries.

Origins

It is believed that the original potato chip recipe was created by Native American chef George Crum, at the Moon Lake Lodge in Saratoga Springs, New York on August 24, 1853. He was fed up with a customer — by some accounts Cornelius Vanderbilt — who continued to send his fried potatoes back, because they were too thick and soggy. Crum decided to slice the potatoes so thin that they couldn't be eaten with a fork. Against Crum's expectation the guest was ecstatic about the chips. They became a regular item on the lodge's menu under the name "Saratoga Chips". They soon became popular throughout New England.

Related Topics:
Native American - George Crum - Moon Lake Lodge - Saratoga Springs, New York - August 24 - 1853 - Cornelius Vanderbilt - New England

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A mass marketed potato chip could not become popular until the 1920s when the mechanical potato peeler was invented. This product was developed by Herman Lay, a travelling salesman in the southern United States.

Related Topics:
1920s - Potato peeler - Herman Lay - United States

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Before the airtight sealed bag came along, potato chips were stored in barrels or tins. The chips at the bottom were often stale and damp. Then Laura Scudder invented the bag by ironing together two pieces of wax paper, thereby creating an airtight seal and keeping the chips fresh until opened.

Related Topics:
Airtight - Laura Scudder

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