Potatoes, Oil, and Salt

A brief defense of the potato chip, in honor of Potatofest 2006.


Potatoes, oil and salt.

That's it. That is all the ingredients in my bag of potato chips.

Perhaps some folks find this kind of disappointing when they think about it. I mean, where is the polyunsaturated whoseit? Whaddabout the diglyceridewhatchamacallits? How can anything have that few ingredients? (Even my Sam's Purified Water has Magnesium Sulfate, Potassium Bicarbonate, and Potassium Chloride [no BHT added for freshness, though].)

And then there is "the problem"--all the oil and salt transform the noble potato into something far less healthy (but oh, so good).

So where is my defense, you may ask? It's simply this: in a world where it seems that nearly everything is processed, where food isn't food without additives and preservatives, the potato chip arrives upretentiously, not trying to be something it isn't.

Potatoes, oil, and salt. As it should be.

And with that, I will turn over the blog to Nick and Nora Charles. You are in capable hands.