Frito pie

Frito pie

Origin
Place of origin	United States
Details
Main ingredient(s)	Chili con carne, cheese, corn chips (Fritos)

Frito pie variant served in a single serve Fritos bag

Frito pie is a dish popular in the Southern, Midwestern, and Southwestern United States, whose basic ingredients are chili, cheese, and corn chips (specifically Fritos). Additions can include salsa, refried beans, sour cream, onion, rice or jalapeños. There are many variations. Frito pie can be prepared in a casserole dish, but itinerant versions prepare it in a single serve fritos type corn chip bag with various ingredients as toppings. Variations on the dish made in a corn chip bag include pepper bellies, walking tacos, Frito boats, Texas Straw Hat and tacos in a bag. In Mexico, a similar type of dish is tostilocos.

History

The exact origins of the frito pie (or tacos frios) is not completely clear. It is believed that frito pie (or tacos frios) has been around for about 50 years. It is believed that is was created somewhere in Mexico and was popular at fiestas before it took off in other countries like the United States.

Another story claims that true Frito pie originated only in the 1960s with Teresa Hernández, who worked at the F. W. Woolworth's lunch counter in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

In the 1950s, Nell Morris joined Frito-Lay where she helped develop an official cookbook which included the Frito pie.

Preparation

Frito Pie is a cold dish involving sour cream, cream cheese, taco seasoning, and your preferred toppings. Because so many chips are used in the dish, they tend to be moistened but not soggy from the chili. An easier option is to place the Fritos in single-serving bowls and covering them with chili, then cheese and other toppings.

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, garbanzos, 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", 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 street vendors. The term Tostiloco comes from Tijuana, and is found in California. Another term is Doriloco, after Doritos.

Texas Straw Hat

Frito chili pies are sometimes referred to as Texas Straw Hat in Texas.

Tostilocos

In Mexico, a version of the dish is known as tostilocos. It includes some different ingredients.

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  The "walking taco" variation

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  Tostiloco ingredients and preparation

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  Frito pie from the Five & Dime (formerly Woolworth's) in Santa Fe, New Mexico

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  Frito pie with jalapeño, red onion, aged cheddar & parmigiano reggiano

See also

• Haystacks
• Taco salad
• Tostilocos
• Petro's Chili & Chips, a Knoxville, TN based fast food chain serving a frito pie variant first served at the 1982 World's Fair.

External links

• Texas Cooking Article
• Cook the Book: Frito Pie
• Shilcutt, Katharine. "The Frito Pie Is Not from Texas: Commence Pearl-Clutching...Now." Houston Press. Thursday October 13, 2011.

• Frito Pie Recipe from TexasCooking.com Retrieved December 10, 2008.
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• Texas Straw Hat and really big rabbits September, 2009 Southern Plate