How did the habit of putting vinegar on chips (fries) originate?

sportsherald

As http://www.vinegarworkswonders.com/history.asp describes, vinegar has been in use for many centuries as a condiment (and beverage!). As http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_fried_potatoes describes, chips have only been around since potatoes were imported to Europe, with the earliest (unreliable) date for french fried potatoes suggested being "before 1680." There seems to be no documentation of when chips and vinegar were first combined, but it was likely very soon after the chip was invented, since vinegar and salt were widely used as a condiment/seasoning long before then. Whether the first use of vinegar on chips was alone or from a pickled egg jar, we will likely never know. Note, however, that the main users of vinegar on chips (Britain and Commonwealth) often use malt vinegar, which would not have been used to pickle eggs. Also, eggs are pickled in brine (salt water) with added vinegar, sugar, and other ingredients http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickled_eggs, which to me makes it an unlikely candidate for the first use of vinegar on chips. Jul 09 12, 10:53 AM

Chavs

Very interesting, thanks so much for the reply. Chippers in Ireland (and in my experience the UK) tend to use a special vinegar that tastes different to the malt vinegar you buy in shops. It tastes a bit watered down. It's delicious and you can even buy it from chipshops. That makes me wonder if the briny vinegar on eggs was indeed the original culprit! Jul 09 12, 1:15 PM

sportsherald

The special vinegar sounds like the "non-brewed condiment" I've been reading about in this research, which has an odd history, catering to Temperance types who wanted nothing to do with the alcoholic sources of genuine vinegar. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-brewed_condiment and http://www.allwords.com/word-non+brewed+condiment.html. Jul 09 12, 3:43 PM

Chavs

Thanks, I saw mention of that too and it's interesting. I have a found a site with a sort of history of the pickled egg which leads me to query the (pickled egg) wikipedia article's use of the word "brine". Although brine means salty water, both old and new recipes for pickled eggs generally (and seemingly always in the UK) include vinegar in the mix and many recipes actually call this brine. Even in the wikipedia article the recipe cited used vinegar. That makes me feel even more persuaded that the pickled egg is the answer. Here's the webpage and it talks about Victorian London, and The Pickled Egg tavern there, and it notes the demise of the popularity of the pickled egg. The talk of "pickle" rather than brine supports the recipes I've found.(Perhaps as the eggs went out of fashion, the briny vinegar began to be demanded on its own?) http://12bottlebar.com/2011/07/simple-pickled-eggs/ Quote: In fact, it's during the reign of Charles II that I find the earliest reference to the snack. In The Secrets of Art and Nature (1661), under the subject "To Keep Eggs", we are told that "some steep them three or four hours in a warm pickle". Of course, pickling - and the pickling of eggs - goes back much further than the Restoration... & What Ashby-Sterry captures so well is the vast number of ways in which pickled eggs can be prepared. After you factor in the eggs and vinegar, the sky is really the limit.... & Once you've had a pickled egg, I think you'll agree with the wisdom of Ashby-Sterry, who wrote: "If there is 'reason in the roasting of eggs,' and we are assured such is a fact, there must be rhyme in the pickling of them. I think Mr. Pope said 'the vulgar boil, the learned roast an egg' - I would add to this that poets, gourmets, and Sybarites pickle it." (c 1873) Jul 09 12, 6:04 PM