Voltaire once said, "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him," and the same could be said for onion rings. While there's certainly nothing wrong with any form of fried potato, like french fries or tater tots, as a side dish, there are times when an alternative is needed. Something just as savory but with a little more bite and a little more crunch.
By taking thick, meaty halos of onion and battering them before dipping them in the fryer, whoever invented the onion ring did the culinary world a great service. (Could you imagine Burger King without finding its way into your bag of fries? One of life's little blessings, we tell you.) But who invent the onion ring, and when did they do it? As is often the case with the origins of food, the answer isn't entirely straightforward; in fact, it may be the case that more than one origin story is true.
Onion rings first appeared in the early 19th century Which do you think is older: onion rings or Abraham Lincoln? You'd assume it would be Lincoln, right? It's difficult to imagine a world where those two things coexisted, a world where, as Honest Abe prepared his Gettysburg Address, other people could plausibly chow down on the same side you'd get in . It's strange, but it's true: Abraham Lincoln was born in 1809, while the first recipe for onion rings appeared in 1802. In his cookbook, "The Art of Cookery Made Easy and Refined," John Mollard wrote a recipe for fried onions.
Sliced into half-inch circles (or "rings" —.