1st TAKE/2nd LOOK: #8

This just set me off. Orwellian-Speak has no place in society. It cannot stand.

Bagged Tacos. NOT

I am a recipe-scavenger-hunter. Most cooks are some kind of hunter-gatherer. I acquire vintage cookbooks in near-mint condition. But if you ask me, “that jus means it ain’t never been used ‘afore.” Said the 80-something-year-old mother of a celebrity I was private cheffing for. I’d much rather discover a well-worn busted-cover, dog-eared and smudge-stained hand-me-down in the lost and found. Probably eat better.

She was a Southern Black woman of means. She was also a Jehovah’s Witness. She was also a Jewish caterer for 30-some years. How’s that for cultural appropriation? She became my unlikely mentor for a few months when I cooked in her son’s mansion in Mulholland Estates.

I literally was, along with a select few other staff, a fly on the wall. Inappropriate for a kitchen metaphor, I know. But Ratatouille made me ill, and it was a blockbuster! (Ironically, that dish was a component of a cooking school exam).

Some of the best moments were when the son chided the mom for knocking on doors in the neighborhood, telling her she couldn’t ask if the recipients had heard the Word of the Lord today. Sarcastically pointing out that this was Beverly Hills, after all - they didn’t exactly pray to Jesus. Damn Fools was her standard retort.

We had a few discussions about the Chosen 144,000 of God’s kids ascending. She had her takes and stood her ground. She was a 4’10” fireball. She was awesome.

She was one of the best cooks I ever had the honor to cook for. She sternly disallowed note-taking. We made a couple dozen sweet-potato pies for a holiday one year. She allowed me to do much of the work and claim credit for it. (She said her son was a damn fool to waste his money on a “chef - bless your heart!” mixed messaging?)

Upon returning Monday morning, I asked how the pies turned out. “Terrible” was her understated reply. Panicked, I started to freak out. She gave the explanation, “They was terrible, but the damn fools didn’t know no better and ate’em all.”

She caught me stealing her pie recipe. Now that I look at it, not so much a recipe as a method with ingredients. “up to 2 1/2” is her writing. ‘Damn fool’ she muttered under her breath as she corrected the notes I was not allowed to take.

ChefBook - Analog Kid, remember? Digital Adult. Dystopian Elder? Photo Credit: Ric Leczel

Frito *freaking* Walking Pie

So, much to my shock and horror, one of my daily recipe reminders showed up with that enticing headline. BAGGED TACOS. Wait for it. The shock and horror.

Hmm! What could it be? Bagged as a cooking method? Not sure that Sous Vide works for crispy tacos. Ok, maybe like an appetizer? Like Beggar’s Purses? Only tacos? Seriously, this window into my brain freaks me out.

I swear I don’t consciously sit around and mull these over. They’re like flash-thoughts. Attention span of a gnat. great

It even has a Wikipedia entry. This is journalistic malpractice. The culinary equivalent of FAKE NEWS. Let’s set the record straight.

History

The exact origin of the Frito pie is not completely clear.

The oldest known recipe using Fritos brand corn chips with chili was published in Texas in 1949. The recipe may have been invented by Daisy Doolin, the mother of Frito Company founder Charles Elmer Doolin and the first person to use Fritos as an ingredient in cooking, or by Mary Livingston, Doolin's executive secretary. The Frito-Lay company attributes the recipe to Nell Morris, who joined Frito-Lay in the 1950s and helped develop an official cookbook which included the Frito pie.

Charles Doolin and his Frito Company were early investors in Disneyland, which opened Casa de Fritos restaurant in Disneyland in 1955. "Frito Chili Pie" appears on the 1950s menu.

Another story claims that true Frito pie originated only in the 1960s with Teresa Hernández, who worked at the Woolworth's lunch counter in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her Frito pie used homemade red chili con carne with cheddar cheese and onions, and was served in the bag, which was thicker in the 1960s than it is now.

It’s beauty is it’s simplicity. The best things in life are those that give much and require little in return. Frito Pie is such a thing.

Here’s a piece from 2017 clawing back some journalistic integrity. Sadly, the patriarchy was in full-swing when searching for the creator of the cheesy, crispy , chili carry-on.

Instead of the founder’s mom or his executive secretary getting the glory, it is given to some dude strolling in as “director of consumer services’ from a chili company Frito’s bought. Almost enough to boycott the damn bagged taco!

Preparation

Frito pie is a simple dish: at its most basic, it is Fritos corn chips with beef chili as a topping. It was historically served right inside the chip bag, which is split down the middle; toppings typically include shredded cheese and chopped raw onion, and may also include additional items like sour cream and jalapeños.

Variations

Frito boats and walking tacos

Frito pies are sometimes referred to by the name walking taco or Frito boat, and can be made in a small, single-serving bag of corn chips, with chili, taco meat, chickpeas, pork rinds, pepitas, and many other varied ingredients, poured over the top. The combination can be finished with grated cheese, onions, jalapeños, lettuce, and sour cream, known as a Frito boat or walking taco in the Midwestern United States. In the Ohio Valley region, this preparation is commonly called taco-in-a-bag. ("Walking taco" or "traveling taco", however, is the more widespread term at least in the Midwest). In many parts of Southern California, they are known as "pepper bellies." Frito pies are popular at sports venues, fundraisers, bingos, open houses, state fairs, and with street vendors. The term Tostilocos comes from Tijuana, and is found in California. Another term is Doriloco, after Doritos.

Tostilocos

In Mexico, a version of the dish is known as tostilocos ("crazy chips"). It is topped with cueritos, cucumber, jícama, lime juice, Valentina hot sauce, chamoy, Tajín chili powder, salt, and "Japanese peanuts".

Bagged Tacos? Puh-lease.

This is culture at work. This is food fusion. Or what some would call cultural appropriation. Which is nonsense. We grow as humans and connect as tribes when we share food. Tostilocos anyone?

Watching a cooking show this weekend about the Easter Feasts of Europe, I heard a really cool phrase

I didn’t want to leave their culture, I just wanted to leave their winter.

Makes sense to me. Bonus picture from my spiral-chefbook. Some times the universe smiles on you. It did when the ChefBook flipped open to this page this morning.

If only I could have those days of Little Chef back . . .

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Real peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of justice.

Harrison Ford is a baddass. Just think of all the badassery his characters engage in. A light saber sure helps. Or some ancient mystic spells and magic. Or being a secret agent. Or a time-traveling runner of blades. Or a wild dog owner. See. Just plain ole badassery.

But the speech above is one of his most powerful moments of badassery. Not just his own moment. It’s a feel-good moment that ranks right up there with another cool movie president speech.

Here is another badass movie President giving a badass speech. Americans like badasses! Americans like feeling like badasses.

Maybe that is the problem right now. They are right. It is the message. And the message is this. America is not a badass anymore.

Let’s go to a list:

Top 10 Fictional Movie Presidents

Thanks for spending some time here. I am gaining new subscribers daily. More than two dozen in the last month. If you like our time together, spread the word. If you really like our time together, let’s get a room! JK. For much less than a room, you can spot a $5 straight to my rainy-day fund on a monthly basis. After Substack gets their juice, my hit is $4.03.

If one has never been paid for writing words, I cannot describe that feeling adequately. Think about all of the likes and thumbs-up you’ve gotten across all of your social media. People loved what you posted. So much so that they took all the trouble to click before scrolling.

Made you feel good for that instant, didn’t it? Everyone loves validation. It’s what we all scream about everyday. The time you spend here is more than a click and scroll. It’s validating. I hope half as much for you as it is for me.

Make sure to notice when the universe smiles on you today Signing off from Casa de Fritos

Ric