National Potato Chip Day
March 14th is National Potato Chip Day. It’s estimated that each year American’s eat around 1.2 billion pounds of potato chips! Who would of knew that a little potato could make such a tasty snack?
History
Fried potatoes were quite popular in many restaurants during the 1800’s. In 1853 a picky customer came into a hotel’s restaurant that George Crum was working at. He didn’t like the fried potatoes that he was served because he said they were too soggy and thick. Crum decided to slice the potatoes really thin and put them into a deep fryer so that they would not only be thin, but crispy as well. They became a hit with customers and the idea of the potato chip was born. Today, most potato chips are made in factories and not many restaurants actually make them from scratch anymore.
How Other Countries Enjoy Their Potato Chips
-The Germans enjoy their potato chips with paprika on them
-The Japanese enjoy potato chip flavors like Soy Sauce and Seaweed
-In India they like their chips hot and spicy with red chili on them
– The British call their chips “crisps” and enjoy them with a little bit of salt
Other Fun Facts About Potatoes
-American’s eat around 140 pounds of potatoes each year, many of this potato consumption is through potato chips. However, the Europeans love potatoes even more than Americans and consume about twice as many potatoes each year.
-It takes a factory about 2 hours to make 7,000 pounds of potato chips.
-Around 3,500 pounds of potato chips are made out of 10,000 pounds of potatoes.
-It only takes about 18 minutes for a potato to be turned into potato chips.
-Some chips will have a green spot on them that many people think is a part of the left over peel. It’s actually just an area where the potato was exposed to light called chlorophyll and is perfectly safe to be consumed.
Where To Go To Learn About How Potato Chips Are Made
If you want to learn more about potatoes and potato chips there are several places that you may enjoy. Washington D.C. is the home to the world’s only Potato Museum. There are more than 2,000 different potato artifacts. Some of these include tools that were used to harvest potatoes as well a potato flask from 1893. North Dakota is another great place to visit because it produces more than 2.7 billion pounds of potatoes each year. Other large potato producing states include Minnesota, Washington and Idaho. If you are interested in visiting one of these places we can help you plan your trip and find a tour that will help you learn more about potatoes and potato chips.
