Canadians eat an average of 8.66 pounds of potato chips per person per year!
Potato chips are thin slices of potatoes that are fried or baked until crisp and seasoned with salt or other flavors. They are one of the most popular snacks in the world.
The origin of potato chips is disputed, but some possible sources are:
A recipe for “potatoes fried in slices or shavings” by an English doctor named William Kitchiner in his 1817 cookbook The Cook’s Oracle1.
A New York Herald report in 1849 about a cook named Eliza in Saratoga Springs, New York, who had a “potato frying reputation” and served “potato shavings” to her customers.
A legend that George Crum, a chef of Native and African American descent at Moon’s Lake House in Saratoga Springs, invented potato chips in 1853 as a prank on Cornelius Vanderbilt, a wealthy railroad tycoon who complained that his french fries were too thick. Crum later opened his own restaurant where he served potato chips on every table.
Potato chips became more popular and widespread in the 1920s, when Laura Scudder, an entrepreneur from California, started selling them in wax paper bags that kept them fresh and crisp.
In 1938, Herman Lay began mass producing and distributing Lay’s brand potato chips across the country1. In 1950s, Joe “Spud” Murphy from Ireland developed a technique to add seasoning to potato chips during the cooking process, creating the first flavored potato chips: cheese & onion, and salt & vinegar.
Today, potato chips come in many varieties of shapes, sizes and flavors.
What are your favourites?
