Friday Mailbag & Food Forum

Sam Steri writes to reason:

Do not be fooled…the "Zesty Taco/Chipotle Ranch" collision of today (2008), the prior "Taco" flavor of 1990-2007, the bogus "Taco Bell" flavor of 1980-1990, are all NOT the same as the Original Taco Doritos made from 1967-1979. These "original" taco Doritos chips were the best chips ever made on the planet. Just a pure, genius, combination of pure spices and taco seasoning with no preservatives. This is unlike the awful sour cream, cheese, milk ingredients, artificial color and chemical preservatives of today's "Taco" chips that make them disgusting and even tasting the same as nacho cheese flavor… A TACO CHIP SHOULD HAVE A TACO TASTE. I agree whole heartedly with James Merritt…..I also have contacted Frito Lay roughly 50 times to express my disgust with their current product…..They will NOT listen, and they have not produced the original taco flavor in close to 30YEARS NOW!!!!

I have nothing to add to that, so instead I'll pose a question to our readers. I have a vivid but dubious childhood memory of reading the back of a bag of Doritos and encountering the PR-gone-haywire sentence, "Doritos are simply a more enjoyable way of eating corn." Does anyone else out there remember seeing this, or did I dream the whole thing?

Bonus link: The history of the tortilla chip.

Comments

[Dave W\'s superego]

Sam Steri is the Dave W. of corn chips. Archer Daniels Midland must be involved somehow...they are made of corn.

[Jim Bob]

Relevant Onion piece.

[Nephilium]

Bah. I just want the Fiery Habenero back.

Nephilium

[Dave W.]

I remember when cola used to be good.

[Mike Laursen]

I also have contacted Frito Lay roughly 50 times to express my disgust with their current product.....They will NOT listen...

Time for Congress to hold hearings!

[Episiarch]

Remember when McDonald's used to cook their fries in beef tallow? Those were the days.

[R C Dean]

I remember when cola used to be good.

You can still get cane sugar Coca-Cola if you know where to look. It sourced out of Mexico, so try the local mercado.

You can't get anywhere but on tap in Dublin Texas, but the original Dr. Pepper recipe is a revelation, as well.

[Brian24]

Funny, I don't recall ever having seen any of these versions of the "taco flavor" doritos. Were they not distributed in the Northeast?

[Brian24]

Sue me, but I prefer today's hfcs Coca-Cola. Probably just because I've gotten used to the new, sure, but the cane sugar variety tastes a bit too candy-like for me.

And I am one of those Coke lovers who will send back Pepsi in a restaurant if they bring me that when I order a "Coke."

[Geotpf]

I tried Mexican Coca Cola once-it tasted awful.

[Vanessa]

I don't remember that statement on the Doritos bag, but I do remember the original Taco Doritos. I loved them as a child. I didn't like the later versions, but I didn't put it down to a changed recipe. I just thought my tastes had changed.

I am down with Mr. Steri's message - bring the original Taco Doritos back!

[Warty]

Pop is for fatasses who hate their teeth. You all disgust me.

[CrackerBarrel]

Epi,

Those fries must have been good!

In Lancaster Co., PA (at least) there are several companies that sell potato chips deep fried in lard. They're great! Just not good for you.

CB

[Pro Libertate]

Tostitos used to have a nacho-cheese chip that I liked. Gone.

Sugar Coke is great. I remember it from my youth, and I also had a variety of it in Malaysia. Yum.

[Dave W.]

Back in the 1990s Mexican Coke used to be made with cane sugar. These days, so far as I can tell, it is made with HFCS. It is also harder to tell these days, without tasting the product, because the soda companies have started to put:

"sugar and/or HFCS"

on their ingredients list (both Mexican and US). Of course, it should not be legal to do that. I think "Passover Coke" may still be sugar, but am not sure.

[Cracker\'s Boy]

Slightly OT - does anyone remember when "Orange Crush" used come in a brown bottle and was the color of Lemonade?

The other CB

[Christopher Monnier]

The best Doritos flavor ever is Salsa Verde, and they come in a green bag. It's not available everywhere. I've found it in Decatur, Illinois and Santa Clara, California, but not anywhere near Minneapolis, Minnesota.

[Mo]

Just like the original Cool Ranch Doritos are far superior to the modern "Cooler Ranch" incarnation.

[highnumber]

All you "corn chip" eaters sicken me. Gimme real tortilla chips, Del Rey, or El Milagro, or anything made by a real tortilleria and a good tomatillo salsa.

[First Little Pig]

I pine for the original taco doritos every time I pass the dorito section in the store.

I no longer drink cola but when I did, I would never drink pepsi. Coke only for me.

Grandma Utz potato chips were made in lard, I wonder if they still are. They are the bomb.

At some point in the 1980s there was another taco flavored chip very similar to the old dorito version but I cant recall the name of the company now...

[edna]

ewww.

take some corn tortillas and deep fry them yourself. drain and cool. put them in the oven with some diced roasted/peeled pasilla, a nice home-made chipotle-tomato sauce, and cheddar/queso fresco.

that bag stuff is just awful. give me real nachos every time.

[D.A. Ridgely]

As a precursor to Mr. Walker's linked history of the tortilla chip, here's the history not only of the tortilla but (also apropos of Mr. Bailey's thread today) of corn, itself!

[Episiarch]

Gimme real tortilla chips, Del Rey, or El Milagro, or anything made by a real tortilleria and a good tomatillo salsa.

I make my own, bitch. The salsa. Not the tortillas.

Fucking delicious. Here's the recipe, very simple:

6 or 8 tomatillos, cut in big chunks
1 small onion, big chunks
1-3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 or 2 small cans (4oz) fire roasted peeled green chiles
cilantro
1 lime squeezed in
salt (a lot)
jalapenos to taste

Put it in the food processor, blast it to desired chunkiness, salt to taste, and chow down.

Substitute tomatos for regular salsa.

[Russ 2000]

You can't even get un-flavored Doritos anymore. And plain Tostitos DO NOT taste the same as plain Doritos. THIS is the reason I no longer purchase Frito-Lay products other than Fritos.

[Pro Libertate]

highnumber,

On the same trip to Cabo that garnered me my bottle of Porfidio, I also sampled many a "real" tortilla chip. Deep-fried goodness--awesome.

[Pro Libertate]

Doritos recently ran a temporary "mystery flavor" bag, which I believe was "cheeseburger" flavored. I actually liked it, though only perhaps as a novelty.

[Russ 2000]

Slightly OT - does anyone remember when "Orange Crush" used come in a brown bottle and was the color of Lemonade?

How about the original Mountain Dew with orange juice in it. Orangina is excellent but it's not the same thing as original Mountain Dew.

[Scooby]

You can't get anywhere but on tap in Dublin Texas, but the original Dr. Pepper recipe is a revelation, as well.

You can get it in a bottle, sometimes in stores (at least in Austin). Google "Dublin Dr. Pepper" and you might find a mail order supplier- $10 per case of 12 oz. cans plus shipping is the first one I find.

[MP]

I just want the Fiery Habenero back.

Yes! Best chip ever.

[Warren]

I remember when cola used to be good.

Oh bullshit. Cola hasn't been good since 1903.

[brotherben]

Ummm,
Doritos come in more flavors? I thought they were all nacho cheese?

[The Wine Commonsewer]

give me real nachos every time.

And puleeze sign my petition to OUTLAW that fargin' cheese sauce.....

The other thing I remember from my vagrant yoot is rejoicing that the original Doritos actually tasted muy bueno with beer. For me, this was grand, because no ordinary chip ever worked with beer for me.

Pass the guacamole, cabron!

[Skoal]

You can't even get un-flavored Doritos anymore.

West of the rockies, they're stocked in every major supermarket. In yer face, east coast losers 🙂

[The Wine Commonsewer]

nacho cheese?

It is too my cheese. [rimshot]

[Episiarch Must Die]

>>I make my own, bitch. The salsa. Not the tortillas.

Pussies like you make me vomit. I pulverize my own cooled lava from my own volcano to make the soil where I GROW my own tomatillos, onions, etc. A "food processor" to chunkify your stuff? If you're not forging your own cutlery from the raw materials you dig from your own mines you suck. You can't even be bothered to fire roast your own chilies. You should be killed immediately for being so lame.

[BakedPenguin]

Still pissed they took the coke out of coke, Warren?

[The Wine Commonsewer]

I make my own, bitch

Used to date a chick who (when she was married) got up at 5:00 AM every day to make fresh tortillas for her husband from scratch.

Do you think she ever even once made a tortilla from scratch for TWC? That's right, not one. Not one single tortilla. Slut.

[grylliade]

I miss Lay's roasted garlic and herb potato chips. I see that there are some other companies that make such a thing, but the Lay's were by a looooooooong shot the best potato chips I've ever had.

[highnumber]

Well, if "Episiarch Must Die" wants to be that authentic, he would not need knives, he would use a molcajete, but, yeah, canned chiles? WTF?

Freshly made chips are great. Extra tip: slightly stale tortillas work best. I hate cleaning up the spattered oil, so I'm cool with good bagged chips.

Freshly made salsa is tops too. Freshly made guacamole is even better. (Of course real guacamole can only be freshly made so that's redundant!)

[Episiarch]

but, yeah, canned chiles? WTF?

I only have so many hours in the day, nitpickers. Roasting and peeling chiles is a pain in the ass.

Guacamole:

2 avacadoes
2-3 garlic cloves
1 tomato
1-2 cans fire roasted green chiles (fuck you!)
cilantro
salt
white pepper

Put it all in the food processor, puree, salt to taste, yummy.

[MK2]

They will NOT listen, and they have not produced the original taco flavor in close to 30YEARS NOW!!!!

As long as they're making money on what they're selling why should they give a fuck what you think?

[Sam]

Hey MK2, Listen up Mr.Corporate Genius, take the finance from your rear end to your mouth. Frito Lay is making money off of idiots like you by charging you "more" money for a "cheapened" product (namely the now extinct "original" Taco Doritos). There is a whole army of people out there who agree with me, and enough of them could impact the market enough to correct this situation, you foul-mouthed, cumin-scented psycho.

[Randolph Carter]

Spicy sweet chili flavor is the bomb diggity.

Unfortunately, while sampling doritos of various persuasions, I tend to cut the hell out of my mouth. Does anyone have any tricks for avoiding the post-chip salt burn?

[Dave W.]

As long as they're making money on what they're selling why should they give a fuck what you think?

If there is real competition, then because a competitor would start using the old recipe.

However, if there are few competitors, or few serious competitors with any decent shelf space allocations, then they won't care.

Of course, it is the latter. You will like the chips they tell you to like.

[highnumber]

Freshly roasted chiles are probably the highlight of making your own.
You don't have to peel serranos. Throw them in a dry skillet (or on a comal) on the stove top over medium high heat, turning them until they start to blacken and blister. Pull off the stem and throw them right into the food processor or molcajete.
Tomatillos are nice when roasted too.

[Brian24]

Doritos are yummy. Making your own tastes better, sure, and takes more time too. Life is trade-offs.

[Fred]

You can find anything on eBay, including Taco Doritos. I don't think they're made anywhere any more, but up until a couple of years ago, you could still find the original, non-Taco Bell flavor in certain parts of the country.

[rana]

Jejeje. This is funny. I have never seen/read men swaping recipes. I guess real men can swap recipes as long as the recipe contains large amounts of hot peppers or alcohol.
Crack me up.

[I was just too polite to say s]

Warty @ 11:21am, aka Cassandra, is right, of course.

[Neu Mejican]

Doritos are to tortilla chips as Taco Bell is to Mexican food.

That means, they taste fine, but they are named in honor of food that the don't resemble at all.

But when you put icky chemical flavorings on them, they are only good for art projects and should never be consumed.

Tostadas as they should exist are hard to find in most of the country.

Which is strange given how easy they are to make.

[Warty]

Did I just get called Cassandra? Shirley you can't be serious.

[Episiarch]

I guess real men can swap recipes as long as the recipe contains large amounts of hot peppers or alcohol.

Or if they are master chefs such as myself.

Bonus recipe for highnumber:

Green chicken chili:

1 large onion, chopped
several garlic cloves, chopped
12-15 tomatillos, pureed in food processor
1 large bunch cilantro, chopped
10 (or more, more is better) mild green chiles, roasted, peeled, and chopped
1 or more jalapenos, chopped
2.5 to 3 lbs chicken breast (or pork) cut into small cubes
2 of the large cans (28 oz?) of any white bean (cannelini, butter, etc), including liquid
32oz chicken broth
handful of small red hot chili pods
salt
white pepper

Sautee the onion, garlic, and jalapeno in some olive oil. Then add everything else. Cook off water for at least 2 hours or more (until the it is about 2/3 or even 1/2 of the original volume). Salt and pepper to taste. Don't eat the chili pods. Fucking delicious. Intense flavor from the reduction. You can add cheese or sour cream but it takes away from the flavor. Colors are green, white, and the red chili pods floating.

[Bob Smith]

Bah. I just want the Fiery Habenero back.

Hear hear! They weren't all that spicy, either. Not to this chilihead.

[brotherben]

Didn't Sinclair Lewis write about green chicken in "The Jungle?"

[rana]

"Or if they are master chefs such as myself."

Ahhh, a man after my own heart.
My husband wont so much as cook an egg. (sigh)
Thanks for the recipe.

[highnumber]

Episiarch,
Cool. I'll save it to try sometime.
If I have time later, I make a killer traditional derived-from-Texas-style beans & meat chili that people absolutely go nuts for that I can post the recipe for. Problem is that it's one of those recipes that I vary and make to taste every time I make it depending on what fresh ingredients look good, who I'll be serving, and what my mood is, but I can give the general guidelines I adhere to. I have a few ingredients that aren't typical to most chilies, not that they are highly unusual.
(The secret ingredient is love.)

[Episiarch]

The secret ingredient is love.

Is "love" your code word for your jizz?

Post recipes, dude! I am always looking for more.

My secret ingredient is LSD, just like Bender.

[Taktix?]

For all of you who are posting salsa recipes, important note:

DE-SEED THE TOMATOES

The seeds make it bitter. It takes some time, but try it once, and you'll never go back to the old way...

[Warty]

My secret ingredient is rooster sauce. Goddamn, I swear they put opium in that shit.

[Episiarch]

DE-SEED THE TOMATOES

Not necessary with tomatillos. Just one more reason they are superior to tomatoes.

[The Wine Commonsewer]

I tried Mexican Coca Cola once-it tasted awful FABULOSO

taste test

[Bingo]

And puleeze sign my petition to OUTLAW that fargin' cheese sauce.....

Signed signed signed, that stuff is an undigestible abomination. It barely qualifies as food.

[The Wine Commonsewer]

de-seed the tomatoes after you slice but before you dice by holding them under running water. If they are ripe enough it just takes a little jiggle while rubbing both sides of the tomato between your thumb and forefinger......

[The Wine Commonsewer]

der Bingle, it is NOT food. Thanks for signing.

[Neu Mejican]

Bob Smith,

You are, of course, waiting for the Ghost Chile flavoring.

http://www.nmsu.edu/~ucomm/Releases/2007/february/hottest_chile.htm

I have some.
They taste fabulous.

And for anyone making "green chicken chile" with jalepenos...you know not of what you speak.

The jalepenos is only to be used in case of a shortage of flavorable pepper varieties.

[Episiarch]

Use whatever hot peppers you like, nitpicker. Recipes are interpreted, not followed, unless you are an amateur.

[Neu Mejican]

Episiarch,

You are, of course, on point about the tomatillos.

Tomatoes and tomatillos are not interchangeable.

[Neu Mejican]

Episiarch,

I never use recipes.
I am more of a jazz cook.
It's all about the improvisation.

But good improvisation requires good ingredients.

[Neu Mejican]

As for deseeding.

I recommend it for Italian cooking, but it is not needed for tomato-based salsa's. Unless you are using poor quality tomatoes to begin with, and why would you do that?

[Sirius]

No, Warty, no.

[mediageek]

Of course, it is the latter. You will like the chips they tell you to like.

I don't eat Doritos at all. I guess I'm some kind of rebel.

While I'm at it, do I get a pair of shades that will reveal to me that most of the people running the world are, in fact, aliens?

[Episiarch]

While I'm at it, do I get a pair of shades that will reveal to me that most of the people running the world are, in fact, aliens?

Only if you say "I came here to kick ass and chew bubblegum--and I'm all out of bubblegum."

[BakedPenguin]

...[the Fiery Habenero nachos] weren't all that spicy, either.

They were for a mass market product. You can always add Dave's Insanity Sauce later...

[Bingo]

While I'm at it, do I get a pair of shades that will reveal to me that most of the people running the world are, in fact, aliens?

I think they sell them here.

[R C Dean]

You can get it in a bottle, sometimes in stores (at least in Austin).

We have an HEB here (San Angelo). I'll have to ask.

The secret to really good salsa, you noobs, is a little sugar to cut the acidity of the tomatos.

[Episiarch]

The secret to really good salsa, you noobs, is a little sugar to cut the acidity of the tomatos.

Sugar?!? Sugar?!? Must...resist...urge...to...insult...RC...

[highnumber]

All right, not a recipe, but a quick rundown of the guidelines for my chili:

Dredge 1 to 1 1/2 lbs beef stew meat through flour seasoned with salt, cumin, and ground chipotle. Brown on all sides in hot oil. Remove from pot and set to the side. Brown similarly seasoned 1 to 1 1/2 lbs ground turkey (that's right - ground TURKEY - I find that it has a better texture for chili than ground beef) with half a chopped large onion, optionally a clove or two chopped garlic. Add back the stew meat along with one or two cans of stewed chopped tomatoes, three cans of beans with liquid (chili beans, kidney beans, black beans, whatever you like) one chopped red and one chopped green bell pepper, about half a can of beer (or however much you need to have enough liquid). Season with cumin, Mexican oregano, epazote, granulated garlic (if you didn't add garlic to the turkey), ground ancho, ground chipotle, Penzey's adobo blend, cinnamon, one or two squares of unsweetened dark chocolate. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for about an hour and a half, stirring occasionally. A lot of the beans and peppers will have cooked down. Taste it, adjust seasoning, add one more each chopped red and green bell peppers, another half a chopped onion and two more cans of beans (here it's best to use one black and one kidney) return to boiling, reduce heat and simmer covered for another 45 minutes or so. Taste and adjust seasoning. I like to serve it with crema or sour cream, shredded sharp cheddar, and saltines. I used to add haba?eros, but I have toned it down in recent years due to popular demand and now keep haba?ero sauce on the side to punch it up.

I may have missed a thing here or there, and I can't give you any exact amounts, but that's about how it goes. The cinnamon and chocolate, while not unheard of in chili, help to distinguish it from most others. Don't go overboard with the cinnamon or you'll end up with what I think is something like a modified Cincinnati chili, which is fine if you like that, but it's not what I make.

[Scooby]

RC,
HEB has Dublin DP in their Central Market stores, but I doubt you have one of those in San Angelo.

[Neu Mejican]

Highnumber,

epazote

Good catch.
Any dish with pinto beans should have some.

I would leave out the green bell peppers.

Sugar?!? Sugar?!? Must...resist...urge...to...insult...RC...

I'll do it for ya...

RC=gringo

[Scooby]

How about subbing HFCS for sugar in those 'maters?

[waits patiently for Dave W.'s head to explode]

[Neu Mejican]

Mandatory caveat.

Recipe's for "Chili" need to be kept distinct from recipe's for the far superior dish "Chile."

Chile requires access to actual chiles (and no, those Aneheim's you see at your local grocer DO NOT COUNT.

[NM]

That's Anaheim, oops.

[Isaac Bartram]

NM, do you mean New Mexico chiles? I've tried to grow them but had no luck.

[Stinky Stooge and Uncle Scroog]

We loved the taco bell doritos when they were around. TOO young to have ever tried the original taco doritos, so we find it hard to believe that they were better than the taco bell doritos. But maybe they were! We don't even eat doritos anymore, too many flavors, too complicated, we just stick to simpler foods.

[Neu Mejican]

Isaac,

Yes.

They require a dry, hot climate, and lots of sun, and the right soil.

I have a very brown thumb, so I can't give you any good advice. Go to that Ghost Chile link above and browse around the site. New Mexico State University is the best source of all agricultural information on the NM Green Chile.

I do have a friend who has managed to grow them successfully in Switzerland.

[Isaac Bartram]

They require a dry, hot climate, and lots of sun, and the right soil.

Florida's got the heat and the sun but the sixty-five inch per annum rainfall kills the dry part right off.

And the soil is pretty sandy and alkaline. I'm never sure what amandmants to add.

[Neu Mejican]

Informative:

http://cahe.nmsu.edu/pubs/research/horticulture/rr719.pdf

For those trying to decide what chile they want to grow.

[Neu Mejican]

Isaac,

Florida.

Your only chance would be hot house.

[Neu Mejican]

Isaac,

Here's the link you need
http://www.chilepepperinstitute.org/

[Episiarch]

The cinnamon and chocolate, while not unheard of in chili, help to distinguish it from most others.

I always add some cinnamon to my red chilis/enchilada sauces. Sometimes chocolate. And plenty of pan-roasted dried anchos or equivalent. Plenty of Mexicans around here, so I just go to La Supermarketa.

[PapayaSF]

I used to live in Cincinnati, home of Proctor & Gamble and apparently a big test market. I once had an excellent new flavor of Tostitos (forgot the name, something spicy), but apparently it was a test flavor that didn't make the cut. Sigh.

I also hated it when some food crusader convinced them to take the coconut oil out of Pepperidge Farm Bordeaux Cookies. They haven't been the same since.

Speaking of PR-gone-haywire statements on packages, I saved a label from a bottle of Heinz White Vinegar that had a violator (ad-speak for words inside a tilted starburst, etc.) that said "Not made from petroleum!" I can only assume that some research turned up a myth about how vinegar was made, and they felt they had to combat that belief.

My other favorite violator: P&G's Brigade Toilet Bowl Cleaner used to have one that proclaimed it "Revolutionary", positioned so that it read as "Revolutionary Brigade Toilet Bowl Cleaner." I always chuckled, imagining that it pissed off leftists to see a favorite term used by a giant corporation to promote such a lowly product.

[Pro Libertate]

Isaac,

Peppers grow here like gangbusters, but you've got to take some extra steps to grow them with sufficient heat. No idea what those steps are, but I have friends that have overcome. We've got some jalape?os and haba?eros in the backyard.

[Isaac Bartram]

Pro Lib

I've grown jalape?os y haba?eros y serranos too. Plus sweet peppers.

I've just never had any luck with the southeastern ones like Anaheims, New Mexico or Poblanos.

Remember haba?eros and Scotch Bonnets thrive in Cuba and Jamaica which are every bit as humid as Florida.

[Isaac Bartram]

And as for "...grow[ing] here like gangbusters..." almost everything grows here like gangbusters.

[Isaac Bartram]

Even in the Keys, where there's like an eighth of an inch of topsoil (well not even) on top of solid coral rock.

[Neu Mejican]

Isaac,

I just had a thought.

NM is also around 1 mile high and up.

Altitude may be a factor (goes with the dry air, of course). Since Switzerland is also high-altitude, that may be why mi amigo was successful.

[R C Dean]

Sugar?!? Sugar?!? Must...resist...urge...to...insult...RC...

Hell, Episiarch, no one else resists the urge.

I said a little sugar. Really, not enough to taste, but just enough to cut the acidity, give it a better mouth-feel, pull out a little more tomato flavor.

Seriously, my father (who is behind this heretical notion) and I were on a fishing trip in NM, and were eating at a great little hole-in-the wall cocina. The cook (a middle-aged woman, straight from central casting) made the rounds, and my old man (who will say anything to anybody) told her that he thought her salsa needed a little sugar. She looked at him like Episiarch just looked at me.

She came back ten minutes later with a new bowl of salsa, and said she would be adding a pinch of sugar from now on.

[Bob Smith]

I could go for a Jolokia-powdered Dorito. Lovely though that would be it would sadly never be approved for a test batch. It would make a mass-market buyer's head explode. CaJohn's makes a couple of good sauces with Jolokia powder.

[Neu Mejican]

She came back ten minutes later with a new bowl of salsa, and said she would be adding a pinch of sugar from now on.

You sure she didn't say,

"I'll be adding your pinche sugar from now on"

?

😉

[Neu Mejican]

If you are making a NM style Green Chile Salsa, and you think you need to add sugar...you don't have enough Chile in your salsa.

The answer is to add Red Chile to the salsa as Red Chile has a higher sugar content than Green.

[edna]

I have never seen/read men swaping recipes.

there are about a million forums where this phenomenon may be observed. my favorite:

http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewforum.php?f=5

it is there that i was initiated into the cult of smoked red savina. this, my friends, is the greatest hot pepper on earth. great on nachos and mac'n'cheese.

[Russ 2000]

West of the rockies, they're stocked in every major supermarket. In yer face, east coast losers 🙂

Jeez, it's now the Coors Beer of snack food.

[Neu Mejican]

edna,

Have you tried the Ghost Chile?

Very nice flavor in addition to its unmatched hutzpah.

Habenero and Savina are also quite yummy.

[edna]

Have you tried the Ghost Chile?

bhut jolokia? yes, hot. i love the rs because of its exuberant fruitiness and its tendency to do a creeper burn, mostly in the mid to back palate.

[Isaac Bartram]

NM is also around 1 mile high and up.

Altitude may be a factor (goes with the dry air, of course). Since Switzerland is also high-altitude, that may be why mi amigo was successful.

Well here in the Alps of Altamonte Springs we are at about eighty-five feet above sea level. Way shy of the mile high measure of New Mexico, I guess.

But, dammit, I'm not giving up.

I'm curious though. What part of Switzerland are your friends in? My recollection is that the German north is cold and rainy while the Italian south can be sunny and pleasant (though hardly hot by any North American measure).

[Neu Mejican]

Isaac,

Just north of the Italian border.
Warm enough in summer it seems.

[VM]

"Don't go overboard with the cinnamon or you'll end up with what I think is something like a modified Cincinnati chili"

uh - high - isn't that really a modified cleveland steamer?

[highnumber]

Moose,
That arrives the following day.

[highnumber]

And talk about steaming!

Oy!

[Art-P.O.G.]

Pussies like you make me vomit

Reminds me of this skit