about as uplifting as gravity

Melissa Breyer

Homemade Fritos

Jan 28, 2009

I noticed that January 29th is National Corn Chip day, and it got me thinking about the history of corn chips. In poking around, I found a fascinating story called The Birth of the Frito on NPR. Yes, the history of Fritos–fascinating! To make a long story short, a 1930s corn-loving confectionery owner in Texas, Charles Elmer Doolin, was looking for a savory snack to serve when he came across a man making a beach food staple from Mexico called fritos, “little fried things.” He perfected the recipe for the extruded and fried corn chips that were made out of masa and began selling them in little bags. Doolin was an innovator and soon started mass-producing the chips and eventually went national.

The fascinating part is that Doolin, essentially the founder of convenience snack food, was a close follower of Dr. Herbert Shelton–a prominent American health educator, pacifist, vegetarian, and advocate of raw-foodism and fasting cures. The father of Fritos ate no meat, no fat, and no salt–he was a hard-core health food fanatic! Doolin envisioned Fritos as a side dish–a handful with a bowl of soup or salad. They are certainly not the worst offenders in the snack food category–they are vegan, in fact, and are comprised of whole corn, corn oil and salt. But I just can’t imagine what Doolin would think to see a Big Grab bag of Fritos washed down with a 64-ounce Super Big Gulp of soda!

So, in honor of C.E. Doolin and National Corn Chip Day–and maybe for those of you looking to make some homemade Frito Pie for Super Bowl Sunday–here is a recipe for a homemade version of Fritos.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup organic, non-GMO yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 450F degrees.

2. Combine cornmeal and salt in a mixing bowl. Pour in 1 cup of boiling water and stir, add olive oil. Add remaining 3/4 cup boiling water, while stirring constantly.

3. Drop mixture by heaping teaspoonfuls onto a well-greased baking sheet and press each one with the bottom of a glass. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes approximately 3 dozen chips.