National Tortilla Chip Day, February 24th

National Tortilla Chip Day

Chips and salsa have become such a staple of late-night movies parties, and pre-dinner appetite-teasers, it's hard to imagine a time without Tortilla Chips. Aesthetically, blue and red chips are my favorite. I still carry on the belief from my childhood that they taste sweeter, like berries. But, thin, white tortilla chips usually taste the best.

According to Wikipedia, tortilla chips were not invented until the the 1940s, in Los Angeles. Which makes them not a Mexican food.

"The tortilla chip was invented by Rebecca Webb Carranza as a way to make use of misshapen tortillas rejected from the automated tortilla manufacturing machine that she and her husband used at their Mexican delicatessen and tortilla factory in southwest Los Angeles. Carranza found that the discarded tortillas, cut into triangles and fried, were a popular snack and she sold them for a dime a bag at the El Zarape Tortilla Factory. In 1994 Carranza received the Golden Tortilla award for her contribution to the Mexican food industry..."

I thought this was really interesting since the Frito was invented in Texas in 1932, after Elmer Doolin, the Frito-Lay guy, ate a corn chip. Also I think it is interesting that potato chips came into being almost a 100 years earlier than either corn chip. Potato chips were created, according to folklore, in 1853, by a chef, George Crum, who was frustrated with trying to please an extra grumpy customer.

When my office does lunch parties, we often order from places that have tortilla chips, so that we can build camaraderie by double dipping and fighting over the last chunk of tomato. We have decided that Chili's (founded in 1975- official slogan "Live a Little") has the best tortilla chips and salsa combination. And sometimes, if you have a nice takeout person, you can get extra salsa for free.

If you need another recommendation, Edgy also recommends Chili's Tortilla Chips. He did not know he was recommending them today, so he might be a bit surprised if you all hop on over to his blog to comment about said endorsement. But, I think you all should anyway. He has a nice blog, and he is a nice boy. And who doesn't feel blessed by an unexpected a visitor? (Ummm, Master Fob? Should we be worried about you and your visitor?) Maybe we should all trot over there a bit too, and see if we can get the real story. And back to my stream of consciousness... Edgy has been known to eat Chili's Tortilla Chips. He has also encouraged the eating of Chili's Tortilla Chips to his friends, and I believe that he even enjoyed the eating of these triangular tasties.

(Really, the only reason that I have decided to pay this homage to Chili's, is I want everyone singing the baby-back ribs song, all day today, because it is impossible to get it out of your head once it is there according to Advertising Age a magazine that named the jingle #1 out of 10 songs most likely to get stuck in your head.)

Happy Friday Hummings!