Potato chip

A potato chip (American English) or crisp (British English) is a thin slice of potato that has been deep fried, baked, kettle cooked, or popped until crunchy. Potato chips are commonly served as a snack, side dish, or appetizer. The basic chips are cooked and salted; additional varieties are manufactured using various flavorings and ingredients including herbs, spices, cheeses, and artificial additives.

"Crisps", however, may also refer to many different types of savory snack products sold in the United Kingdom and Ireland, some made from potato, but some made from corn, tapioca or other cereals, just as there are other varieties of chips in the United States.

Potato chips are a predominant part of the snack food market in Western countries. The global potato chip market generated total revenues of US$16.49 billion in 2005. This accounted for 35.5% of the total savory snacks market in that year ($46.1 billion).

History

In the UK, the origin of the potato chip has been attributed to English food writer William Kitchiner's 1822 cookbook The Cook's Oracle, which was a bestseller in England and the United States, and includes a recipe for "Potatoes fried in Slices or Shavings", which instructs readers to "peel large potatoes, slice them about a quarter of an inch thick, or cut them in shavings round and round, as you would peel a lemon; dry them well in a clean cloth, and fry them in lard or dripping". The earliest reference of the potato chip in the United States is in Mary Randolph's The Virginia House-Wife (1824), which includes a recipe explicitly derived from Kitchiner's earlier cookbook. Boston Housekeeper N.K.M. Lee's cookbook, The Cook's Own Book (1832), also contains a recipe for the potato chip that references Kitchiner's cookbook.