[1] Wylie Dufresne’s potato chip salad (photo © Lanna Apisukh for The New York Times).

[2] We used salt and vinegar potato chips from Kettle Brand (photo © Kettle Brand).

Wylie Dufresne’s potato chip salad at Stretch Pizza in New York City may not seem so revolutionary.

It’s a green salad topped with custom-made salt-and-vinegar chips. The chips act as both croutons and vinaigrette.

“…nothing is as good or mind-bending” says The New York Times. The article continues:

“This dish already has a cult following. Among the faithful, there was minor panic last month when Grub Street reported that Rick Bishop, the Sullivan County farmer who makes the chips, had retired.”

If it sounds good to you, here’s how you can make one at home. Here’s our own version, somewhat different from the original.

> The history of salt and vinegar potato chips is below.

> The history of potato chips.

> The history of potatoes.

> National Potato Chip Day is March 14th.

> National Vinegar Day is November 1st.
 
 
RECIPE: POTATO CHIP SALAD (NIBBLE VERSION)

Ingrients

 
Preparation

1. MAKE the vinaigrette with optional lime zest.

2. TOSS the lettuce, scallions, and optional dill with a modest amount of vinaigrette—to dampen, not to soak. Fold in the tomatoes.

3. PLACE in a serving bowl and top with potato chips. Serve.
 

Per The New York Times, salt and vinegar potato chips were created in 1968 at Griffith Foods, a subsidiary of an American Company located in Bristol, England. Griffith Foods specializes in food product development.

The chips were invented by Jim Connell, a Canadian chemical engineer who worked for the Canadian subsidiary of the lab and was working on a venture at the U.K. facility.

Shortly after his arrival, the company was approached by Imperial Tobacco, which wanted to expand its product line to include potato chips.

The combination of vinegar and potato chips was a no-brainer. Malt vinegar is the condiment of choice for Britain’s fish and chips (chips are fries, known as crisps in the U.K.).

Connell found a way to make a dry seasoning version of the vinegar, with which to flavor the chips.

The tobacco company ultimately passed on the product. But a much smaller and older British company (possibly Smiths Potato Crisps) launched salt and vinegar potato chips to immediate success.