Potato chips. FotoshopTofs / Pixabay.com / 2010 / CC0 1.0
The 14th of March is Potato Chip Day: the day on which you get to have one potato chip, but then have to stop… (just kidding).
There are several ways to celebrate the day:
- Try cooking with potato chips today. Crumble them on top of a baked pasta or casserole in place of bread crumbs before you pop the dish in the oven;
- Try making your own potato chips at home from scratch;
- Hold a blind potato chip tasting with your friends and / or fellow co-workers — see if they really know their favourite brand from another one.
The American town of Saratoga Springs, which believes that the potato chip was invented there, holds its own Potato Chip Day later in the year, in August. First held in 2003, and co-sponsored by the American Snack Food Association (SFA), it marked the 150th anniversary of the reputed invention of the potato chip in Saratoga Springs. Commemorative bags of potato chips were given out. Though many sources back the invention year of 1853, no actual date seems to be known and there appears to be no particular reason to associate it with August — save that Saratoga Springs also holds its horse races then.
But you don’t have to wait until then, or travel to Saratoga Springs, to celebrate, because it’s Potato Chip Day today for the rest of us. See the entry on potato chips to learn how to make them, what kinds of potatoes are best to use, and whether the green bits are safe to eat.
See also: Potato chip crumbs
#PotatoChipDay
Potato chip recipes
History
The earliest mention that CooksInfo has found of a 14th of March “Potato Chip Day” in print archives dates from 1996 in Pennsylvania:
“March 14: National Potato Chip Day.” — Important (and not so important) Dates in History. Pittson, Pennsylvania: Sunday Dispatch. Sunday, 10 March 1996. Page 11, col 1.
Potato Chip Day 1996. Pittson, Pennsylvania: Sunday Dispatch. Sunday, 10 March 1996. Page 11, col 1.
Potato chip aisle. gingerbreadca / Pixabay.com / 2017 / CC0 1.0