Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Hey, I'm Ben Bowlin.
And today's question is, where did potato chips come from?
So fried potatoes, they've existed for a while.
They were first introduced to the United States
by Thomas Jefferson in the late 18th century.
Jefferson had come across these while he
was in Paris, which is weird because potatoes
are in the new world-- anyway, that's not the point.
The point is that during the early 19th century,
these fried potatoes gained in popularity.
They became a common menu item at restaurants
across the country.
In 1853, a diner at a place called Moon's Lake House
in Saratoga Springs, New York ordered
some of these fried potatoes with his meal.
Now, there's a rumor that this diner
may have been Cornelius Vanderbilt.
But that hasn't been proven.
Anyway this diner, whoever is he,
he sends the potatoes back to the kitchen.
He's complaining that they're not crispy enough.
The chef at this restaurant, a guy named George Crum,
was apparently furious with the criticism.
So he sliced the potatoes paper thin, he drowned them in salt,
he re fried them.
And instead of ruining the meal for the diner as he intended,
Crum's creation became a hit.
The owner of Moon's Lake House realized
that these chips were delicious.
And he made them a menu item.
Eventually, Crum even opened up his own restaurant
that featured the thin fried potatoes as well.
And he called them Saratoga chips.
As word of the chips got out, other restaurants
began to serve them.
It wasn't long before potato chips
were a staple at restaurants across the United States.
William Tapaden of Cleveland, Ohio
was the guy credited with taking the potato chip out
of the restaurant and into the grocery store.
In 1895, he began selling potato chips to local grocer's and he
turned his barn into the world's first potato chip factory.
So today, potato chips are obviously still around.
They are technically America's favorite snack food.
And they come in an astonishing number of varieties.
Now there's another question here, are potato chips
a good idea or a bad idea?
Well if you think about it, what we've got in a potato chip
package is it contains fat.
That's not great for you all the time.
High glycemic carbohydrates, which
are also not great for you all the time.
And a lot of salt, which is also not great for you a lot
of time.
This makes people think that maybe it's
not the greatest invention ever created.
But one thing's for sure, they are delicious.
So that's it, that is the story of potato chips.
Thanks so much for watching.
Hope you enjoyed it.
You can click like here to like this video.
You can leave a comment at the bottom.
If you would like to talk more about potato chips,
I'm very interested in that kind of conversation.
And you can subscribe to our channel
if you want to see some new upcoming videos.