During the month of February, we celebrated Black History month. There are several Black scientists that contributed to the food industry and food science. One of those people was George Crum, who invented potato chips by accident!
George Crum, who was born as George Speck in 1824, grew up in Saratoga Springs, NY. He became a chef at the Saratoga Springs Moon Lake Lodge resort. A customer ordered French fries, but thought they were too thick and salty. So Chef Crum started over. He sliced potatoes very thin and fried them until hard and crunchy. As the saying goes, “the customer is always right” and the potato chip was born. Some say Chef Crum’s sister Kate, who worked as a prep cook, also played a role in this crunchy invention.
Chef Crum went on to open his own restaurant, called Crum’s House, and his crunchy potato chips were a staple on every table.
Source: IFT Brain Food: The Official IFT Blog
