The Bottom Line: Delicious facts about chips and dips!
The Full Story:
- Rumor has it potato chips date all the way back to 1853, where a hotel chef in Saratoga Springs, New York, George Crum, set his mind to figuring out how to please a difficult patron who constantly sent back his fried potatoes for being too soggy. Crum decided to slice the potatoes as thin as possible and deep fry them until they were extra crispy. His new potatoes instantly became a smash hit and were added as a regular feature on the hotel menu as “Saratoga Chips.”
- In Britain potato chips are called “crisps” (and they say “chips” when they mean fries!). In the United States, “crisps” refers to a snack made from pressed and formed potatoes (such as Pringles), while chips are made a thin slice of potato that has been deep fried, baked, kettle-cooked, or popped until crunchy.
- In Germany the most popular chip flavor is Paprika
- Indian chips are often exotic spices used in curries, like Masala, Coriander and Red Chili
- In Indonesia they make chips from Cassava
- In Greece, Oregano is the most popular flavor
- Japanese chip-eaters enjoy Seaweed, Wasabi, and Soy Sauce & Butter chips
- Dips for chips first become popular in the 1950s serving as finger food.
- Choices of chips can be tortilla chips, potato chips, or pretzels.
- It takes 10,000 pounds of potatoes to make 3,500 pounds of potato chips.
- Dips can be salsa, guacamole, cheese, hummus, olive dip – anything can be made into a dip.
- Hummus, as part of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines for centuries, did not appear in the United States until after World War II.
- The first chip-and-dip set was made by glass and this two-bowl set was advertised as useful not only for potato chips, but also for salads, floral centerpieces and seafood snacks.