In 1853 American Indian George Crum was working as a chef at a resort, Moon Lake Lodge, in Saratoga Springs, New York. The menu included french fries which had been popularized by Thomas Jefferson who discovered them as ambassador to France and served them to guest at his home in Virginia, Monticello. On a summer day a picky customer sent back his french fries stating that they were too thick. Crum made a thinner batch which the customer again rejected. Crum was fed up with the customer and decided to make a point. He cut the potatoes as thin as possible and fried them until they were so crisp they would break if poked with a fork. His plan backfired when the customer loved the new dish and other customers began to request it.
The newly minted "Saratoga Chips" were a smash hit. They were packaged and sold locally, eventually Crum would open his own restaurant featuring the chips. In the 1920s Herman Lay would popularize the chips in the south while Bill and Sallie Utz would do the same in the mid-atlantic region.
Today the potato chip industry exceeds 6 billion dollars annually and employs over 65,000 people -- all because of one picky customer and a fed up chef.
-Professor Walter
I was not aware that potato chips were born this way. Thank you for sharing its brief history.
Posted by: long island catering halls | 01/24/2012 at 04:42 AM