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Chip,
Chip Hooray!
Surprisingly, the invention of the potato chip was the result of a frustrated chef’s plot that flopped. The historical event occurred back in 1853 at the Moon Lake Lodge in Saratoga Springs, New York. One day, chef George Crum found himself at his wits end trying to please a picky patron. Twice, the customer had returned his French-fried potatoes to the kitchen, claiming they weren’t crispy, salty, or skinny enough. Furious, George sliced paper-thin pieces and fried them up. He then smothered them in salt, convinced that the customer would despise these spuds, too. To George’s surprise his patron loved them! Before long other clients were clamoring for George’s specialty, “Saratoga Chips”. In fact the menu item became so popular that George went on to open his own restaurant which specialized in—you guessed it—potato chips! Snack Success With the invention of the mechanical potato peeler in 1920, the preparation process became much easier and potato chip factories started popping up. Still, potato chips remained mainly an East Coast staple. But an enterprising potato peddler by the name of Herman Lay changed all that when he began traveling the southern United States in his delivery truck, selling bags of chips to road stands, grocery stores, filling stations, and schools. Herman Lay eventually bought the company that supplied him the potato chips and, in 1961, merged his H.W. Lay & Company with Frito Company, to become Frito-Lay Inc.—now one of the largest snack food producers in the United States! |
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What
food is famous as America’s favorite snack? Whether stacked,
crunched, or dipped, top honors go to the potato chip. In fact,
potatoes are second in human consumption only to rice. Now that’s
some serious spuds!
