National Corn Chip Day is Monday Jan 29!

By Nellie Curtiss ….

It comes Monday January 29: National CORN CHIP Day started because of a small crunchy snack. The original ORIGINAL “beach snack” was created from frying masa (as you know, Masa is dough from ground corn) into a funky chip. 

In 1932 (during the Great Depression) C.E. Doolin, a tinkerer, invented the Frito, “little fried things,” when he bought a recipe from a vendor frying corn dough at a gas station.  After perfecting the ingredients, the famous corn chip Frito was born.

The Texas State Historical Association shared: “Doolin had a reputation for fairness and generosity toward his employees. He considered— and called— them collectively the “Frito Family,” and he sold them discounted company shares, gave them sizeable pensions, and often personally presented them with rewards for excellence or years of service. He mingled with his employees and invited them to socialize with each other regularly at holiday parties and other celebrations.” (https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/doolin-charles-elmer-c-e)

On October 18, 2007, National Public Radio did an episode on The Birth of the Frito (http://www.npr.org/2007/10/18/15377830/the-birth-of-the-frito).  This episode of The Hidden Kitchens series detailed the rise of the main ingredient in Frito Pies, Frito Casseroles, Chicken Frito Pie and Frito Jets (chocolate dipped Frito corn chips).

Doolin, besides an inventor was a known vegetarian, installed kitchens wherever he worked; in the factory where his specialized corn was morphed into the marketed chip “Frito.”  His kitchens were the laboratories where he designed and tried out the munchies with the help of his wife and children.

When you’ve had a Frito, you’ve had one of a kind snack.  I remember Frito’s in my Howdy-Doody lunch pail to compliment my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and apple.  While talking to friends across the table in the cafeteria, I would line up Fritos inside the sandwich to add that extra crunch.  I did this with meat sandwiches too because by the time lunch came around, the lettuce was no longer fresh. I liked the crunch and taste of the addendum to my sandwich. 

My classmates would trade out their lunches – they’d trade a pb&j for a salami one; an orange for potato chips or Fritos; sometimes they would even trade for Oreo cookies.  In between all the hullabaloo, we all had to remember to repack the lids for the Tupperware snack cup of fruit cocktail, or half pears.  For sure the Fritos were all gone.

As a young mom, I remember making the Frito Pie for church potluck and watching how fast the dish disappeared with each heaping spoonful on a plate.  I made the hamburger-Frito-salsa dish once a week when my son wanted to watch Star Trek: Next Generation or Family Ties. 

In the hot Galveston summers, I remember how my Aunt Nono dumped a package of Fritos in a salad of tomatoes, cheddar cheese, onions, Catalina Dressing, kidney beans, and shredded lettuce.  Sometimes if she didn’t have kidney beans she’d open a can of Campbell’s Pork and Beans. We’d open the doors and let the outside in, then plunk down on the Shotgun style house hardwood floor for an inside-outside picnic. Sometimes my cousins daughters dropped in and filled out the blanket on the 100 year old floor.

So National Corn Chip Day is 9 days away and what better reason to reach into a bag for Fritos.  After all they are made from corn, and its inventor was a vegetarian to boot.  In the 1950’s Fritos were served at a specialty restaurant in Disneyland and in 1959 Doolin—his Fritos in tow—ran for president on the Vegetarian ticket.

Enjoy a few Fritos today.  I’ll see you at City Market when I pick up mine.

— Nelda Curtiss is a retired college educator and long-time local columnist. Reach her at columnsbynellie.com or email her at columnsbynellie@gmail.com