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薯片诞生记趣谈

Do you ever wonder how some things come about[2]? For instance, who figured out that there was something worth eating inside a banana peel[3]? Or how desperate do you have to be to discover that an artichoke has edible parts?[4] Well, we may not know how either of those foods was discovered, but we do know how potato chips were invented.

As a world food, potatoes are second in human consumption[5] only to rice. And as thin, salted, crisp[6] chips, they are America’s favorite snack food. Potato chips originated in New England as one man’s variation on the French-fried potatoes, and their production was the result not of a sudden stroke of culinary invention but of a fit of pique.[7]

It was the summer of 1853 and Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, a wealthy railroad magnate, was vacationing at an elegant and fashionable hotel named Moon Lake Lodge in Saratoga Springs, New York.[8] On Moon Lake Lodge’s restaurant menu were French-fried potatoes, prepared in the standard, thick-cut French style that was popularized in France in the 1700s and enjoyed by Thomas Jefferson[9] as ambassador to that country. Ever since Jefferson brought the recipe to America and served French fries to guests at Monticello, the dish was popular and serious dinner fare.[10]

At dinner one night, Vanderbilt complained that his French-fried potatoes were cut too thick and sent them back to the kitchen. Insulted by his snobby[11] guest, chef George Crum decided he would give Mr. Vanderbilt exactly what he asked for! He decided to rile the guest by producing French fries too thin and crisp to skewer with a fork.[12] The chef angrily gathered up some potatoes and sliced them paper-thin. He threw the slices into hot oil to fry, drained and salted them and then personally served the new dish to Mr. Vanderbilt.