Potato Chips: Its Existence

Ok, you are preparing to give a party--let's say a tailgating party. Included are the barbecue meats, refreshments, and, of course, alcohol. But something's missing--the dip and the bags of very thin and crunchy chips, potato chips. As these chips are eaten, one cannot help to wonder how are these potato snacks are cooked and stay fresh for a certain duration.

Until the idea of sealed bags were born, potato chips were anything but a household name in terms of being a snack food. Before the colorful, shiny bags that we know that the potato chips are in, these thin little chips were kept in barrels in glass display cases. Guess who came up with the brilliant idea of keeping the potato chips fresh, dry and tasty? A woman by the name of Laura Schudder, an entrepreneur from California. The only thing she did was put together two pieces of wax paper and ironed them. Very smart and innovative! The potato chips are in business. Bagged potato chips are allowed for self-service; no weighing in on these thin potatoes!

These tasty potato chips were cooked in small kettles. They were cooked that way until the invasion of mass production. The invention of the continuous fryer had created massive economies and as a result, the smaller businesses of kettle cookers were quickly snuffed out. In the present time, potato chips are no longer peeled by hand like in previous times; instead, they are cut by a built-in machine blade. Times have changed drastically for the potato chips.

From time to time, I eat a bag of potato chips (usually plain). The interesting part is inside of the bag, it has this very greasy look and feeling. I guess that when these chips are sealed, the grease is absorbed in the bag. When anyone sticks his/her hand in the bag, there is a handful of oils that is the end result of those lovely chips. Believe it or not, potato chips were unseasoned until the 1950s. Salt had came into the potato chips' lives. It was in a packet inside the sealed potato chip bag. Such a bad idea. My question is why do they put so much salt on these potato snacks. It takes away the authentic potato taste and it becomes one big salty paradise. It seems like the potato chip industry is just overdoing it with the additional flavoring. The thing is that in the States, potato chips have a variety of flavors. These flavors can range from sour cream and onion, barbecue, salt and vinegar, and even original, either salted or plain. Don't get me wrong, I like the different type of flavoring, but I still want to taste some potato and not so much of the salt and the "simulated" flavor.

Speaking on the salty issue, in recent years, there have been concerns about the nutritional value of potato chips and with good reason. During the birth of potato chips, health was not really an issue--the only concern was achieving that good taste. But now, in our health-conscious society, individuals are questioning the percentage of sodium, trans fats along with other valuable nutritional information. When we purchase a bag of potato chips, there is usually a large amount of sodium present in them. It is a good thing that the nutritional fact label is included on all of our foods, including potato chips. Potato chips are classified as junk food, of course--it contains ingredients that are very unhealthy for our bodies, such as the cooking oil.

Potato chips have came a long way from what had originally began as a mistake. It just goes to show that in many cases, a mistake can become very mainstream, popular and become one of the world's favorite snack from the sack!

Sources:

http://www.thenibble.com/REVIEWS/main/snacks/chip-history3.asp

http://www.thenibble.com/REVIEWS/main/snacks/chip-history4.asp