Potato chips, now the world’s favorite snack, were created 171 years ago.
The most popular version of the chip’s birth attributes the dish to George Crum, a cook at the Moon’s Lake House in Saratoga Springs, New York. He had a most unhappy customer who kept sending back his French-fried potatoes, saying they were too thick, too soggy, or not salty enough. Frustrated, Crum sliced several potatoes paper thin, fried them until crisp, and seasoned them with extra salt. To his surprise the customer loved what he had sent. (Some stories say Cornelius Vanderbilt was the customer.)
Potatoes fried in this manner soon became known as Saratoga Chips, a name that remained in use until about one century ago.
Crum was born in 1824 in Saratoga Lake as George Speck. He adopted his father’s nickname as his last name. He was the son of an African American father who was a jockey and a Native American mother of the Huron tribe. Well known as an excellent chef, Crum opened his own restaurant in 1860, and ...