Moon's Lake House

Last updated
Moon's Lake House from an 1896 stereopticon slide Moon'sLakeHouse1896.jpg
Moon's Lake House from an 1896 stereopticon slide

Moon's Lake House was a restaurant on Saratoga Lake in Saratoga Springs, New York.

According to local legend, the creation of the potato chip was associated with this restaurant. The legend holds that Cornelius Vanderbilt was visiting the restaurant in 1853, he was unsatisfied with the texture of the fried potatoes he had ordered and sent them back to the kitchen multiple times in protest. The chef, George Crum, allegedly became so annoyed with Cornelius, so he sliced the potatoes much thinner than he usually would, deep fried, and salted them. This inadvertently led to potato chips, and the customer was finally satisfied. Because of this, many Americans called potato chips Saratoga Chips. [1] [2]

The restaurant was built by Cary Moon in 1853 on a bluff overlooking the lake, and soon after it "displace[d] all other destinations as the late-afternoon goal of Saratoga Springs' daily carriage parade." [3] :p.95 Initially Catherine "Aunt Kate" Weeks and her brother George Crum shared the cooking duties. Crum later left to start his own restaurant in Malta at the south end of the lake.

The Lake House burned in 1893, but was rebuilt. There are conflicting reports, but apparently Moon continued to operate it until his death in 1895.

In 1907, the Lake House was sold to Edward J. Heffernan. In 1908, it burned a second time and was again rebuilt. In 1926, the restaurant burned a third time. In the 1930s, the property was sold to local personality Louis A. "Doc" Farone, the owner of Riley's and Newman's lake houses and an associate of underworld figure Meyer Lansky. Farone built a smaller restaurant on the property and rented it to a series of managers.

In 1981, the restaurant reopened as "Moon's", changed hands, and finally burned a fourth and final time in 1983. [4] A private house was later constructed on the site.

In 2006, Tilman Achtnich filmed a special on the potato chip Die Kartoffelchips des Mister Crum (The Potato Chips of Mister Crum) for the German television network SWR. Scenes included the site of Moon's, now only foundations, and Crum's restaurant in Malta, New York. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">French fries</span> Deep-fried strips of potato

French fries, chips, finger chips, french-fried potatoes, or simply fries, are batonnet or allumette-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin from Belgium or France. They are prepared by cutting potatoes into even strips, drying them, and frying them, usually in a deep fryer. Pre-cut, blanched, and frozen russet potatoes are widely used, and sometimes baked in a regular or convection oven; air fryers are small convection ovens marketed for frying potatoes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potato chip</span> Deep-fried or baked thin slice of potato

A potato chip or crisp is a thin slice of potato that has been deep fried, baked, or air fried until crunchy. They are commonly served as a snack, side dish, or appetizer. The basic chips are cooked and salted; additional varieties are manufactured using various flavorings and ingredients including herbs, spices, cheeses, other natural flavors, artificial flavors, and additives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cooking banana</span> Banana cultivars commonly used in cooking

Cooking bananas are banana cultivars in the genus Musa whose fruits are generally used in cooking. They may be eaten ripe or unripe and are generally starchy. Many cooking bananas are referred to as plantains or green bananas. In botanical usage, the term "plantain" is used only for true plantains, while other starchy cultivars used for cooking are called "cooking bananas". True plantains are cultivars belonging to the AAB group, while cooking bananas are any cultivars belonging to AAB, AAA, ABB, or BBB groups. The currently accepted scientific name for all such cultivars in these groups is Musa × paradisiaca. Fe'i bananas from the Pacific Islands are often eaten roasted or boiled, and are thus informally referred to as "mountain plantains," but they do not belong to any of the species from which all modern banana cultivars are descended.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fish and chips</span> Hot dish of fried fish and fried potato

Fish and chips is a hot dish consisting of fried fish in batter, served with chips. The dish originated in England, where these two components had been introduced from separate immigrant cultures; it is not known who combined them. Often considered Britain's national dish, fish and chips is a common takeaway food in numerous other countries, particularly English-speaking and Commonwealth nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">English cuisine</span> Culinary traditions of England

English cuisine encompasses the cooking styles, traditions and recipes associated with England. It has distinctive attributes of its own, but also shares much with wider British cuisine, partly through the importation of ingredients and ideas from the Americas, China, and India during the time of the British Empire and as a result of post-war immigration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malta, New York</span> Town in New York, United States

Malta is a town in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The town is in the central part of the county and is south of Saratoga Springs. The population was 17,130 as of the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fried egg</span> Cooked dish made from one or more eggs

A fried egg is a cooked dish made from one or more eggs which are removed from their shells and placed into a frying pan and fried. They are traditionally eaten for breakfast in many countries but may also be served at other times of the day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banana chip</span> Chip made of banana

Banana chips are deep-fried or dried, generally crispy slices of bananas. They are usually made from firmer, starchier banana varieties like the Saba and Nendran cultivars. They can be sweet or savory, and can be covered with sugar, honey, salt, or various spices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schnitzel</span> Breaded, fried flat piece of meat

A schnitzel is a thin slice of meat. The meat is usually thinned by pounding with a meat tenderizer. Most commonly, the meat is breaded before frying. Breaded schnitzel is popular in many countries and is made using veal, pork, chicken, mutton, beef, or turkey. Schnitzel is very similar to the dish escalope in France and Spain, panado in Portugal, tonkatsu in Japan, cotoletta in Italy, kotlet schabowy in Poland, milanesa in Latin America, chuleta valluna in Colombia, and chicken-fried steak and pork tenderloin of the United States.

Sweet and sour is a generic term that encompasses many styles of sauce, cuisine and cooking methods. It is commonly used in East Asia and Southeast Asia, and has been used in England since the Middle Ages. Sweet and sour sauce remains popular in Asian and Western cuisines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rissole</span> European dish of meat covered in pastry

A rissole is a small patty enclosed in pastry, or rolled in breadcrumbs, usually baked or deep fried. The filling has savory ingredients, most often minced meat, fish or cheese, and is served as an entrée, main course, or side dish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Speck</span> American cook, guide, and hunter

George Speck was an American chef. He was known for his role in popularizing potato chips in Upstate New York and was later mythologized as their creator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fish fry</span> Dish consisting of battered or breaded fried fish

A fish fry is a meal containing battered or breaded fried fish. It usually also includes french fries, coleslaw, macaroni salad, lemon slices, tartar sauce, hot sauce, malt vinegar and dessert. Some Native American versions are cooked by coating fish with semolina and egg yolk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Czech cuisine</span> Culinary traditions of the Czech Republic

Czech cuisine has both influenced and been influenced by the cuisines of surrounding countries and nations. Many of the cakes and pastries that are popular in Central Europe originated within the Czech lands. Contemporary Czech cuisine is more meat-based than in previous periods; the current abundance of farmable meat has enriched its presence in regional cuisine. Traditionally, meat has been reserved for once-weekly consumption, typically on weekends.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish cuisine</span> Culinary traditions of Scotland

Scottish cuisine encompasses the cooking styles, traditions and recipes associated with Scotland. It has distinctive attributes and recipes of its own, but also shares much with other British and wider European cuisine as a result of local, regional, and continental influences—both ancient and modern.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saratoga Lake</span> Lake in Saratoga County, New York, USA

Saratoga Lake is a lake in the eastern part of Saratoga County, New York. The lake is approximately 4.5 miles (7.2 km) long, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) wide at its widest point, and about 95 feet (29 m) deep.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triple-cooked chips</span> Type of chips or deep-fried potato

Triple-cooked chips are a type of chips developed by the English chef Heston Blumenthal. Blumenthal began work on the recipe in 1993, and eventually developed the three-stage cooking process. The chips are first simmered, then cooled and drained using a sous-vide technique or by freezing; deep fried at 130 °C (266 °F) and cooled again; and finally deep-fried again at 180 °C (356 °F). The result is what Blumenthal calls "chips with a glass-like crust and a soft, fluffy centre".

The Saratoga lake houses were a group of nightclubs operating in the vicinity of Lake Lonely on the east side of Saratoga Springs, New York from the 1920s until the early 1950s. They offered fine dining and top quality entertainment along with illegal liquor during prohibition and illegal gambling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">German fries</span> Thinly sliced raw or cooked potatoes fried in fat

German fries is a dish consisting of thinly sliced raw or cooked potatoes fried in fat like lard, butter or vegetable oils. Bacon and onion slices are common additional ingredients. Salt and pepper are always used for seasoning, while caraway, marjoram, rosemary and garlic are optional. By the 1870s, dishes under these names were listed in American and British cookbooks. In German, they are called Bratkartoffeln.

References

  1. Smith, Merril D. (2013-01-01). History of American cooking. ABC-CLIO. ISBN   978-0313387111. OCLC   827334814.
  2. D'Ambrosio, Brian. From Football to Fig Newtons: 76 American Inventors and The Inventions You Know By Heart. Lulu.com. p. 61. ISBN   9781105737725. William Kitchiner's 1817 The Cook's Oracle includes a recipe for what can only be described as a potato chip. Whether one called it a potato chip or not, it would seem that a thinly sliced potato cooked in hot oil and served sprinkled with salt existed before George Speck or his sister Katie Speck Wicks "invented" the potato chip.
  3. Waller, George (1966). Saratoga Saga of an Impious Era. New York: Bonanza Books.
  4. "Moon's Lake House Destroyed by Fire". Schenectady Gazette. February 9, 1983. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
  5. "IMDb: Die Kartoffelchips des Mr. Crum" . Retrieved October 1, 2012.

43°03′21″N73°43′46″W / 43.0559121°N 73.7294648°W / 43.0559121; -73.7294648 Coordinates: 43°03′21″N73°43′46″W / 43.0559121°N 73.7294648°W / 43.0559121; -73.7294648