What way did the delicacy loved by all from the moment of creation to the present day? Chips, like any ingenious invention of mankind, has its own history. BUT history of chips begins in 1853 in the American city of Saratoga Springs. One of the fastidious and discerning visitors local restaurant Moon's Lake Lodge made an order, where one of the items was fried potatoes. One of the restaurant's chefs, African-American George Crum, fell out to cook it. to teach a lesson to a harmful client, cut a potato as thick as a sheet of paper and fried it in oil. In this form, the potatoes were served to the client. To the surprise of the restaurant staff, instead of angry exclamations after trying such a dish, they heard praise. The client liked the invented dish.
From that day on, chips (which means “scales” in translation), and this is how the resulting dish was called, have become signature dish this institution. And in 1860, J. Crum creates his own restaurant. The main distinguishing feature of which was plates of chips, which stood on each table in small baskets.
Still later, thirty-one years later, an enterprising street vendor from Cleveland named William Teppenden began selling chips from his street van. He wrapped each portion in a paper bag with an advertisement for his establishment. In this way, paper bags became the first package of everyone's favorite delicacy.
Laura Scudder in 1926 proposed the use of wax paper as a new packaging for chips. Thanks to such a package, everyone could take the chips home, in such a package they did not break and could be stored for a long time.
This dish began to become widespread in the late 50s, when their active advertising began in the American media. And after some 20 years, "flakes" became so popular that the annual proceeds from their sale amounted to more than one billion dollars.
To date, the income from the sale of chips is already over 6 billion dollars. Their growing popularity is due to the fact that it is very convenient for people in the bustle of their lives to take a bag of crunchy treats with their favorite taste and quickly satisfy their hunger.
Like this history of chips. Today, chips are so popular that they began to be made from a variety of products - carrots, pears, bananas, beets, radishes. Almost all vegetables and fruits. For all tastes for gourmets.
The favorite delicacy of children and adults is thin and crispy chips. Without them, it is impossible to imagine a youth party, watching football or an exciting series. Today we will try to figure out who invented the chips and what is the technology for their preparation.
What are chips?
Have you ever thought about how the word "chips" is interpreted? The dictionary characterizes them as an appetizer of thin slices of potatoes fried in sunflower oil.
According to the Great Encyclopedia of Culinary Arts, chips are potatoes in the form of thin slices that are boiled or dried in hot air vapor. The second characteristic is potato waffles made from dried mashed potatoes.
Chips is also called one of the main ingredients of the crown. english dishes- fish and french fries. The composition also includes fish, which must be deep-fried. The delicacy is very fond of tourists and guests of Foggy Albion.
The emergence of crispy potatoes
Who invented chips, adored by more than one generation of people? The delicacy appeared in the 19th century in the United States of America. They were first introduced to the world by Crum George, the inventor of chips. The delicacy came about quite by accident.
Chef Crum George took revenge on his scrupulous customer, who claimed that the potatoes he ordered were thickly sliced. The cook decided to cut the product into slices the thickness of a paper sheet and fry them in oil. After serving the dish, the fastidious client, having tried one little thing, was indescribably delighted. Since then, chips have gained worldwide love and popularity.
Thanks to this story, we now know which cook invented chips in 1853.
Cooking chips from bygone days to the present
The recipe for making potato slices has changed constantly. In the 19th century, only potatoes fried in oil and sprinkled with salt were used to make chips. As progress progressed, various spices were added to the slices. For example, the famous seasonings for chips were curry and a mixture of dried fragrant herbs. Later, stabilizers and flavors began to appear in the recipe. These components are extremely harmful to human health.
The history of making chips is quite interesting. In gratitude to the one who invented chips, one of the famous restaurateurs decided to introduce potato plates into the menu of his expensive establishments. In the early 1900s, chips migrated from there to street vendors who made flashy advertisements to invite people.
The owner of one of the points of sale came up with the idea of packing finished products in paper bags. The residents of the town of Cleveland really liked this idea, and the chips began to scatter right before their eyes. Thus, a merchant named Tappendham became rich, and the delicacy became one of the favorite among people of all ages.
Potato slices do not last long in paper packaging, so in 1926 Laura Scudder invented the glossy type of packaging. It was very convenient for transporting and selling chips in stores. Soon a new problem arose - demand exceeded supply. It was for this purpose that Freeman Macbeth invented a special machine that was capable of producing large batches of chips. From that moment, the era of the wide release of crispy products to satisfy consumers began.
Where were chips invented? In the US, that's why the International Potato Chip Institute opened there.
Manufacturing technology
Chips are made from fresh potatoes, which are chopped into slices, straws or plates. The product manufacturing process can be divided into the following steps:
- washing and packaging potatoes;
- skinning;
- cutting finished tubers;
- washing from starch;
- blanching (carried out to facilitate the subsequent manufacturing process);
- drying;
- frying in special fryers;
- adding salt and spices.
I wonder if the one who invented the chips could have imagined that after a century their production would reach such a high level, and the demand for products would be enormous?
How the most popular types are made
To prepare 1 kilogram of chips, about 5 kg of potatoes will be required. There are two varieties of this delicacy:
- Classic. To begin with, the potatoes are cut into slices, washed under running water and deep-fried. After 2 minutes have elapsed, spices, salt, and flavors are added to the product.
- Snacks. They are made from dry puree, which is formed into bars and sprinkled with herbs and spices. Then they are fried, like classic chips.
Chips Ingredients
A popular delicacy is made from different bases, so the chips are:
- potato (characterized by naturalness, characteristic round or oblong shape, weightlessness and crunchiness);
- fruit (made from pieces of dried bananas, apples or pears);
- corn and cereals.
Taking into account taste preferences, sweet and unsweetened slices are distinguished.
It must be said that fruit and cereal chips have appeared on the market relatively recently and are not yet as wildly popular as potato types.
Cooking chips at home
Surely many would like to pamper themselves delicious treat own production without flavorings and other flavoring additives. So, how to make potato chips at home? For this you will need:
- 3 potato tubers;
- 100 g unsweetened oatmeal;
- 4-5 art. l. flour;
- 1 large egg;
- 2 g yeast;
- spices, salt, pepper.
First you need to boil the potatoes in salted water and drain it. Crush the tubers to a puree state, add a small piece of butter and a pinch mushroom seasoning. Dissolve yeast in warm water and leave to swell for 5 minutes. grind to a state of flour using a blender. When the mashed potatoes have cooled, add the oatmeal, egg, swollen yeast and wheat flour. Knead the dough and leave warm for half an hour.
Next, spread parchment on the table and coat it with oil. Put a small piece of dough on paper and knead it with a rolling pin. After that, cut circles with a mug - future chips. Heat a skillet and oil over high heat. Put the resulting blanks in deep fat and fry until crispy. You need to fry them for 10 seconds, but no more! Sprinkle with paprika after cooking.
This is how they get delicious chips at home from potatoes.
George Crum (George Crum), at birth George Speck (George Speck), was born in 1828 in New York (Malta, New York). His mother was from the indigenous Huron Indians, and his father, of mixed race, worked as a jockey. The surname "Krum" is his father's racing alias, George started using it as a teenager.
Like many residents of that part of the country, after high school, George began working in the resort area, and he soon discovered his love for cooking and food. Very soon he was working as a cook at Cary Moon's Lake Lodge in Saratoga, and over time his culinary talents made him a highly respected chef.
According to history, George made his invention, potato chips, while working in a restaurant in Saratoga Springs (Saratoga Springs, New York). So, one of the guests of the restaurant complained that the french fries served to him were cut too large. In response, the ambitious George, who was not used to customers complaining about his dishes, cut them as thinly as he could, fried them, sprinkled with salt and sent them to the hall. He was almost sure that the client would see his "harmfulness" and begin to complain again, but, surprisingly, he was very pleased. Moreover, the client began to come and order this dish again and again, and soon Krum's chips became popular with other guests, and over time, George's french fries became the "chip" of the restaurant, this dish was called "Saratoga chips" or " potato crunches".
However, many are skeptical about the history of the invention of chips by Kram, arguing that the recipe for chips was printed in one cookbook back in 1832.
It is known that by 1860, George opened in a picturesque place, on the lake in Malta, New York (Malta), own restaurant called "Crum" s House ". It is said that a bowl of branded chips was served as a treat at every table, and soon it was the chips that made this place very popular.
The story of the invention of chips became widespread much later - in the 1930s, and even later they became the national American food. However, there are still disputes about whether George Crum is the real inventor of chips or not. Be that as it may, the inhabitants of Saratoga and the surrounding area consider these places to be the birthplace of chips, and George Crum is called their only inventor. This story is often associated with the name of the American tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt (Cornelius Vanderbilt), who at some point was a regular customer of Krum's restaurant, and later it was Vanderbilt who was behind a large-scale advertising campaign, becoming the main popularizer of chips in the United States.
As it turned out, it’s not at all culinary ingenuity that we should thank for the chips, but ordinary anger. According to legend, it all started in 1853. Then, an American tycoon and a very demanding guest, Cornelius Vanderbilt, stayed at the Moon's Lake House Hotel, which is located in the resort of Saratoga Springs (USA). French fries were one of the specialties of the hotel restaurant. But after ordering the famous fried potatoes, the customer was disappointed: the potato slices were too thick, and the guest had to return the dish to the kitchen three times. Such a trick so angered the chef of the restaurant that he could not stand it and decided to take revenge on the captious millionaire. In retaliation for his insistence, Vanderbild was given back the potato, literally cut into paper-thin pieces. New recipe nicknamed "h yips saratoga”, which soon replaced fried potatoes, and became the restaurant's signature dish.
Interestingly, the first recipe for chips was published in 1817, in William Kitchener's book The Cook's Oracle, which, at that time, was a bestseller in America and Great Britain. The 1822 reprint of the book contains recipe #104, which reads: "Peel large potatoes, cut them into circles, dry them well with a clean cloth and fry." But it was this incident at the Moon's Lake House restaurant that brought popularity to the chips.
The vengeful but lucky chef was named George Speck. The son of an African American and an Indian woman, was born in New York and later adopted the surname "Crum". After a while, Krum opened his own restaurant, main feature which were the chips that stood in a basket on each table. The new location quickly gained popularity among wealthy Americans who came to the resort. The restaurant worked for a long time - 30 years, from 1860 to 1890. The funny thing is that the chef didn't cook the potatoes "to go". Due to the ease of preparation, the newfangled dish quickly spread to other restaurants. But bagged chips did not appear until 1895, thanks to William Tappendon. Due to the crisis, people were forced to look for alternative ways to earn money. Tappendon started making chips on his own kitchen and deliver them to the nearest stores. The idea caught on so well that the barn behind the house later became one of the first potato chip factories in the country. And a little later, thanks to Laura Scudder, the concept of a "bag of chips" appears. Scudder suggested using waxed paper for the packaging, which everyone liked as well.
A new stage in the life of chips falls on the 1920s. Firstly, until this time, the chips were tediously and monotonously cut by hand. And in 1920, Freeman Macbeth finally invented a machine that did it instead of a person. Secondly, until the 1920s, chips were an exclusively American dish. For the first time in Europe, chips appeared in 1921 in Hannover, and it all started again with a small family business.
By the way, the first national brand of chips appeared in 1932. In Nashville, Tennessee, the Lay's brand appears, which is owned by Herman Lay and, as you noticed, still exists.
It's hard to believe, but for a very long period of time, the main taste of chips was - potatoes. Until 1940, chips were produced completely odorless and seasoned. For the first time, a bag of salt in addition to potato pieces was offered by Tayto. Now, flavor variations of spices are being adapted to the needs of the market: in Ukraine, for example, there are no mint-flavored chips, although these can be easily found in India.
Some interesting facts:
As it turns out, the famous Pringles chips are not chips at all, and this has been recognized by a UK court ruling. In these alleged pieces of potatoes, only 42% of the actual potatoes. Everything else is yeast dough. So your favorite chips can be safely attributed to pies or cookies.
The world record for the largest pack of chips was set by the British company Corkers in 2013. According to the regulations of the Guinness Book of Records, the chips had to be made in one batch. The whole thing took 17 hours. The new record-breaking pack weighed 1 ton (like a small car), twice the previous record set by the Japanese firm, and contained 6,666 small bags of chips. So that everyone was satisfied, after the record was set, the pack went on a journey in which everyone could try sea salt flavored chips.
During World War II, after the outbreak of hostilities between America and Japan, the chips were called a "non-essential product", and the factories that produced them should have been engaged in providing for the needs of the war, and not manufacturing the product. But the people of America did not like this idea so much that the potato patriots defended the chips, thanks to which the chips always remained with the people.
It would seem that there is nothing in common between chips and sports, except for the moments when we are in the gym trying to drive away the traces of eating snacks. But there is one case in history when chips significantly helped the Olympic champion. With no other options, for a long time Jackie Joyner-Kersee [American track and field athlete who specialized in the long jump, heptathlon and sprint, 3-time Olympic champion and 4-time world champion] she trained on sandbags, which served as a kind of alternative to soft landings for jumping. The brothers and sisters of the future champion filled empty bags with sand in a nearby park and brought the load home, building a makeshift pit for jumping. As we can see, the result is still worth the work.
And yes, the air in a bag of chips is absolutely not to "add weight." Firstly, with such packaging, the chips break less. Secondly, there is more than air in the pack: a little nitrogen is also added there, so that the potatoes stay fresh until you open the chips.
Inventor Story by: Cornelius Vanderbilt and George Croom
The country: USA
Time of invention: 1853
The English word chips means "slice, piece." According to legend, the inventors of chips are the capricious American millionaire Cornelius Vanderbilt and the chef with the character of the Moon Lake House hotel in Saratoga Springs, George Krum.
In 1853, Vanderbilt stayed at this hotel. During dinner, the capricious rich man sent potatoes to the kitchen three times, cut, in his opinion, too large. In response, an annoyed Krum chopped the tubers into thin slices and fried them in oil. But oddly enough, the chef's provocation failed.
Vanderbilt was delighted and ate crispy potato slices throughout his stay at the hotel. The chips became the restaurant's signature dish and were dubbed "Saratoga chips". 
There is a version that the chips were not invented by George, but by his sister, who was with him on the same day in the restaurant kitchen.
In 1860, Cram opened his own restaurant, where he sold chips, but not to take away. However, due to the ease of manufacture, chips soon appeared in other places. The restaurant operated for 30 years, until 1890.
Very soon, the chips became popular among the American beau monde and entered the menu of fashionable restaurants in the United States.
In 1890 chips made their move from restaurants to the street. Chips were popularized by a small merchant from Cleveland, William Tappenden. He owned a diner where he fried potato slices. The crisis caused by the overproduction of chips forced Tappenden to look for new customers. Soon, this product was sold on the streets of Cleveland from an old van decorated with advertising for chips. For the first time, they were served to customers in a bag, also decorated with an advertisement for Tappenden's establishment.
And in 1926, a certain Laura Scudder suggested packing them in wax paper. As a result, it became possible to store chips longer, transport them over long distances and sell without the participation of the seller, because buyers could take bags from the store shelves themselves.
After the invention of the potato peeler by Herman Lay, the mass production of chips begins.
Until 1921, chips were known only in the United States.
Already in 1929, the first machine for industrial production chips. It was invented by self-taught mechanic Freeman Macbeth, who sold the car to one of the firms. The eccentric inventor refused to pay for his invention, demanding only that he be allowed to tinker with it whenever he wanted to.
Before 1940 chips were made without seasonings. Tayto, a small Irish company, is developing a technology for adding spices and flavors to the production, chips are sold with a bag of salt. Chips are getting popular. After some time, the owner sells the Tayto and becomes Ireland's richest man.
Today there are two main recipes for making chips. The traditional way is to make chips from pieces raw potatoes, as Chef Krum first did. The quality of the feedstock is very important here: not all tubers can make good crispy potatoes. They should be dense, with a low sugar content, without damage inside and with 
flat surface. From 5-6 kilograms of high-quality potatoes, 1 kilogram of chips is obtained.
For decades, breeders have been growing special varieties of potatoes that are most convenient for preparing this product. The frying oil, by the standards of most manufacturers, should not give the chips a foreign smell. Therefore, in most cases, olive, soy or palm is used. After that, the finished chips are dried at room temperature, salted, sprinkled with spices and packaged.
The second method involves the production of chips from ground potatoes - flakes, granules or starch. The initial quality of raw materials intended for extrusion (rubbing and drying) is also important, but it is at the stage of production of bulk billets. The manufacturer of such “reconstituted” chips does not care about tuber defects and uneven frying.
Chips made from mashed potatoes, which are then rolled and molded, have a lower calorie content than natural ones.
Interestingly, the inventors of chips, the Americans, still eat more chips today than anywhere else in the world - almost 3 kg per year! According to statistics from the US Department of Agriculture, 
Making chips takes 11% of all potatoes grown in the US. In 1937, the Yankees even created a special research organization, the National Potato Chip Institute, which engaged in scientific research in this area. And in 1961 it had already become the International Potato Chip Institute.
In the 1980s, scientific studies emerged proving that excessive consumption of chips can lead to unpleasant consequences. Fatty chips are very high in calories, which is reflected in the corresponding 
figure. Indeed, as a result of research, it has been noted that Americans are one of the fattest nations in the world. American manufacturers have even launched low-fat chips, which have become in great demand.
In the USSR, the first chips appeared in 1963 and were called "Moscow crispy potatoes in slices." Corresponding production was established in Moscow at the Mospishchekombinat No. 1 enterprise. In Russia, the first chips appeared in the mid-90s.
