The Crisp 24 August

Today, the 24th of August, is the anniversary of that great day in 1853 when the potato crisp was invented. For those amongst you who have a burning need for clear terminology, let me spend a moment clarifying. Crisps (in English) are are a snack food made from potatoes cut into very thin slices, deep fried or baked until crisp, and then served. Chips are the larger, chewier fried potato sticks. In the United States, chips are called 'French Fries' and crisps are called chips. In New Zealand, Australia and South Africa chips and crisps are referred to as chips.

The original crisp was created by a Native American chef called George Crum, at the Moon Lake Lodge restaurant in Saratoga Springs, New York. Mr Crum had a customer, Cornelius Vanderbilt, who was a millionaire and a director of the Long Island Rail Road. (Mr Vanderbilt was generally perceived as a vulgar, mean-spirited individual who made life miserable for everyone around him, including his family. In his will, for example, he disowned his sons except for William who was by many accounts as ruthless a cove as his father. At the time of his death, Cornelius Vanderbilt's fortune was estimated at more than $100,000,000. Vanderbilt's most famous statement was on the subject of charitable giving, which he didn't believe in - "The public be damned" he said with a chummy sort of snarl.)

Anyway, Vanderbilt was, apparently a professional whinger when it came to chips - he continually sent his chips back complaining that they were too thick or too soggy. Eventually, the exasperated George Crum, rather than lodge a hatchet in Vanderbilt's bonce, decided to slice the potatoes so thin that they couldn't be eaten with a fork. Astonishingly, Vanderbilt was ecstatic about the chips (well, let's face it, you don't have much else to worry about if you're a multi-millionaire). The crisps became a regular item on the menu under the name "Saratoga Chips". They soon became popular throughout New England.

Mass marketing crisps became popular in the 1920s when the mechanical potato peeler was invented by Herman Lay, a traveling salesman from the southern United States, who was the founder of the 'Lay' bit of 'Frito Lay' who now own the brands Fritos, Doritos, Cheetos, Ruffles, Lay's, Funyuns, Rold Gold Pretzels, Lay's Stax, Baken-Ets (pork rinds), Tostitos, Munchos, Sun Chips, Munchies, Walkers, and others. Frito Lay is now owned by PepsiCo. Interestingly, before the airtight sealed bag came along, crisps were stored in barrels or tins. Sadly, this meant that the crisps at the bottom were often stale and damp (Yuch!!!). Luckily for today's generation of bulging, rotund teenagers, Laura Scudder invented the crisp bag by ironing together two pieces of wax paper, thereby creating an airtight seal, which keeps the crisps fresh until opened. Hooray!