All Selling Aside With Alex Mandossian

You might guess that the best-selling food in America is the hamburger. But if you guess that the second-place food on the list is pizza, hot dogs, steak, or wings, you’d be wrong. In fact, it’s potato chips. Worldwide, they’re second only to rice. Despite the immense popularity of this food, many of us have no idea how it originated. It all started in New England in 1853. George Crum, a chef at a resort, grew frustrated as a guest repeatedly sent back his French fries, insisting they should be thinner and less soft. In his exasperation, Crum sliced a potato as thin as possible, fried it until it was completely crunchy, and sent it out to teach the picky customer a lesson. Instead of learning his lesson, though, the customer was ecstatic. He loved the crunchy, lightly browned, paper-thin potatoes. Soon, other diners started requesting the dish, and it eventually showed up on the menu as a house special. The chips were eventually packaged and sold throughout the region. In 1932, Herman Lay decided to start se