George Crum and the Saratoga Chip

This book surprised me. It told the story of George Crum the chef who created potato chips. I didn’t know the story so this book was a learning experience for me. This book not only taught of a specific event in history it also discussed a difficult time in history during the Jim Crow era. The main character experiences many racist encounters despite being a renowned chef.
I also thought the illustrations were very beautiful. They fit well with the feel of the book. This book is a mixture of biography with some creative license.

Most people aren’t aware that it was a mixed-race inventor who came up with the potato chip, the most popular snack food item in America. The son of an African-American father and a Native American mother, George Crum was working as the chef of an elegant resort in Saratoga Springs, New York in the summer of 1853 when he incidentally invented the chip.

One of the dinner guests complained that Crum’s French fries were too thick and sent back the order. Crum, irritated, sent back a dish of fries so thin, they couldn’t even be speared with a fork. To everyone’s surprise, the guest loved them. Other diners began requesting what would soon be called Saratoga Chips.

George went on to build his own restaurant and featured potato chips in show more a basket placed on every table. In those days, people of color were not allowed to take out patents on their inventions, and Crum never profited from his invention. [Today, potato chips are eaten at the rate of 1.2 billion pounds annually.]

Bright acrylics by Frank Morrison show the patrons of Crum’s restaurants, and Crum in the kitchen cooking and inventing new recipes. show less

A fun read-aloud to 2nd graders, and a good lead-in to a conversation about biographies in general: some of the biographies in the collection are about people whose names we all know, while others are about people we might not have heard about who made an interesting contribution. George Crum's Saratoga Chip (potato chip) may not have won any battles, but his 19th century life is certainly interesting to kids and underscores the race relations of the day and his conviction that folks should be treated equally.

Part Native American and part African American, George Crum lived at a time when it was difficult for people of color to be taken seriously in school or the workplace. Easily frustrated by the wealthy, fussy customers in an expensive restaurant where he and his sister work, George responds to a complaint that his french fries are too thick by slicing them very thinly. Soon everyone wants his "Saratoga chips."

George Crum lands himself a job as a cook at the Moon's Lake House serving prominent people, such as Cornelius Vanderbilt, but faces adversity from challenging customers and for being part Native American and part African American. In 1853, a woman orders French Fries but keeps sending them back saying they are not thin enough and George slices the potatos down. Potato chips are born:-) George also creates his own restaurant where everyone is welcome. TEACHER TIP: Read Author's Note with children. EXTENSION ACTIVITY: Have children write a folktale about how their favorite food was invented.

I liked this book-- very interesting.