Potato chips

Potato chips is the name given to potatoes prepared in one of two ways.

• Potatoes split into very thin slices and deep-fried until crisp. Hence their alternative name of potato crisps.

Potatoes were first prepared in this way by George Crum, a chef in Saratoga Springs, New York, who was fed up with a customer who continued to sent his fried potatoes back, because they were too thick. Crum decided to slice the potatoes so thin that they couldn't be eaten with a fork. Against Crum's expectation the guest was ecstatic about the chips.

• Potatoes cut into sticks and deep-fried. These are also known as French fried potatoes.