463: Tortilla Chips
Matthew:
I'm Matthew.
Molly:
I'm Molly.
Matthew:
And this is Spilled Milk, the show where we cook something delicious, eat it all, and you can't have any.
Molly:
Today we are talking about tortilla chips. This was suggested by listener, Kelsey, and I can't believe we haven't done this before.
Matthew:
I know. I know we've talked a lot about Cool Ranch and Nacho Cheese. I know we've talked about Juanita's brand tortilla chips before. It's possible we've done this episode before and it just got lost in our drawer of old episodes and we're doing it again, but that's fine, right?
Molly:
It's interesting to me that you mention nacho... Wow. It's interesting to me that you mentioned Cool Ranch Doritos, Doritos in general, because even though those are tortilla chips, I don't think of them that way. I think of tortilla chips as a plain thing.
Matthew:
Well, you know what's funny that I haven't thought about in a while, Doritos used to have a plain chip as part of their line. It was called the Toasted Corn flavor, and they were good tortilla chips. We used to get them sometimes if they were the ones on sale, but I haven't seen them in years.
Molly:
I wonder if they still make them. Huh.
Matthew:
Yeah. I don't know. I'm going to Google this right now. [crosstalk 00:01:15]
Molly:
Yes. Okay. So thank you listener, Kelsey, for suggesting this because even if we've done it before, as with eating tortilla chips, you really can't talk enough about tortilla chips.
Matthew:
That's true.
Molly:
Does that make any sense? Was that grammatically correct?
Matthew:
It made perfect sense, and I have some important news about Doritos Toasted Corn flavored tortilla chips because the first thing that comes up when you Google it is are Toasted Corn Doritos discontinued. And the answer is they were discontinued in 2019 in the US, but are still available in the UK as Lightly Salted Doritos.
Molly:
Okay. All right. That makes sense.
Matthew:
Should you make a special effort to get plain Doritos? I don't think so, but fine.
Molly:
But if you happen to be in the UK, you could pick some up, see what you think.
Matthew:
Okay. That is our hearty recommendation.
Molly:
Yes. Okay. Well, Matthew, hold on. So these Toasted Corn, or Pure Corn, or whatever the heck they were called Doritos...
Matthew:
Yeah, they're called Pur Core. They were cross-branded with a Pur water filter.
Molly:
They appear on your memory lane, do they not? Can we segue here into memory lane? I mean, if you used to buy these, aren't they on memory lane?
Matthew:
Anything I used to buy, it in some way festoons my memory lane.
Molly:
Festoons.
Matthew:
Is that what that means? I'm not sure.
Molly:
Well, doesn't it mean sort of decorates or sort of... Yeah.
Matthew:
Imagine I'm walking around memory lane and the sides of the lane are festooned with all of the products that I used to buy, all of the foods that I grew up with, some nightmares I've had recently, that sort of thing.
Molly:
Oh, boy.
Matthew:
I don't know. When you-
Molly:
I love the idea of nightmares festooning anything.
Matthew:
Yeah. When you close your eyes and imagine what memory lane looks like, what are you envisioning? Because I'm realizing that I think mine is heavily influenced by The Wizard of Oz.
Molly:
Oh, mine is heavily influenced by Harry Potter. Mine is very Diagon Alley.
Matthew:
All right. I think mine is more yellow brick road.
Molly:
Oh, I love that. I had never thought of that, but I like this idea that... You know the field of poppies where they fall asleep in The Wizard of Oz?
Matthew:
I do know that, yes.
Molly:
So is there a field of poppies on your memory lane, or are the things on your memory lane scattered all over the field of poppies? Where's the field of poppies.
Matthew:
I think that it took them a while to get there, right? That was halfway through the movie-ish, I think. So you know what I'm actually imagining is the album cover of the album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road where Elton John is about to set off down the yellow brick road. That's me.
Molly:
Oh, is he kicking the can?
Matthew:
He's kicking the can, yes. That's on my memory lane, that I used to play Kick the Can. But I still don't remember what that game was, just that some kid would run out and kick a can.
Molly:
Okay. Well, my memory lane, you access it through a wall in the Leaky Cauldron pub.
Matthew:
Okay. And then you come out into a field of poppies and you fall asleep. And when you wake up...
Molly:
Nope. You're confused now, Matthew. My memory lane, it's this brick street, not yellow brick though, but it looks very sort of old English, has lots of little storefronts, but instead of the storefronts selling things, they all just contain my memories, like a curio cabinet.
Matthew:
Oh, I like that.
Molly:
Yeah. Yeah. Welcome to my memory lane.
Matthew:
I can really visualize this. It's sort of like an antique wardrobe and you open it, and if you step into the wardrobe, then you meet a lion who's kind of Jesus.
Molly:
Yeah. That's how it is.
Matthew:
That's what you're saying, right?
Molly:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Matthew:
Okay. How about specifically your tortilla chip memory lane?
Molly:
Okay. So when I was a kid, we always bought Tostitos. I should say my mother always bought Tostitos. I think of her as being the one who sort of... She didn't always do the grocery shopping, but she would determine what brands we bought of things.
Matthew:
Oh, interesting.
Molly:
Do you know what I mean?
Matthew:
Yeah.
Molly:
I feel like there's always a person in the family who has the opinions about the brands.
Matthew:
She was a brand ambassador.
Molly:
She was, for Tostitos.
Matthew:
She was probably getting Tostitos Kickbacks your whole childhood.
Molly:
And I also think of Tostitos as having, when I was a kid, having a white bag. It was white and translucent with a lot of colors.
Matthew:
Yes. I absolutely remember it the same way, and we were also a Tostitos house. I think Tostitos was the first mass market smash hit tortilla chip.
Molly:
Well, and it was round, which is kind of unusual now that I think about it. Yeah, I mean, tortilla chips, at least if you make them yourself, you're going to take a tortilla and cut it into wedges, like a pie. So how did this wind up being round? I wonder where Tostitos came up with the idea of doing these round chips.
Matthew:
I don't know. I did do some research on the history of tortilla chips, but we're not going to get into how the Tostito became round. It sounds an Aesop's fable. So I think the answer probably involves some talking animals and someone learning a heavy-handed lesson.
Molly:
The other thing that is on my tortilla chip memory lane is... I don't know where I first would have encountered freshly-fried, still warm tortilla chips, and surely it was in my childhood. But to this day I still have sort of mixed feelings about freshly-fried tortilla chips because-
Matthew:
Mixed feelings.
Molly:
I have mixed feelings because very often there's some rancid-tasting stuff in there.
Matthew:
It's not a thing that is easy to do well, I think. And I think there are restaurants that will do it because it's an exciting thing to put on the table, but that doesn't mean that they're necessarily the best.
Molly:
Yeah. That's how I feel about most freshly-fried tortilla chips I come into contact with.
Matthew:
They're often a little too thick compared to commercial chips, I think.
Molly:
Yes, exactly. I agree.
Matthew:
So the warm chips that I remember... We were also a Tostitos family growing up, but when wife of the show, Lori, and I first moved to Seattle in '96, we would often and still sometimes do, although not recently, eat at La Cocina and Cantina, a Mexican-American restaurant on Broadway, and they always bring you warm chips and house-made salsas when you sit down. And I think I may have said this on the show before, but I think every restaurant, regardless of the nationality of the restaurant, should bring you some good-quality, warm tortilla chips when you sit down-
Molly:
Wait a minute. We were just talking about this though.
Matthew:
Okay, but here's the thing. So I suspect, and I don't mean this... First of all, I don't have any evidence one way or the other for this, and I don't mean this as a slight on the restaurant whatsoever. But I suspect that they are not frying the chips in-house, that they are taking good-quality commercial chips and putting them in an oven, and the results are excellent.
Molly:
Whoa. I never thought of this.
Matthew:
Because if you think about it, we did a nacho episode. I don't think I've tried heating tortilla chips in my oven at home without cheese on them. But when you make nachos, the chips come out great, right?
Molly:
Yes. Whoa.
Matthew:
So I think that's what's going on, and I think that is often a better move than actually frying the chips from scratch, unless you really know what you're doing.
Molly:
Oh my God, Matthew. It's almost like sometimes you have these great ideas and insights into the world.
Matthew:
Yes. I just came up with the idea of... I mean, they've been doing this at this restaurant at least since 1996. I think they just celebrated their 40th anniversary maybe, 30-
Molly:
Wait a minute-
Matthew:
I think maybe 40th.
Molly:
I can't get over this idea. It is a way better idea to take a good packaged chip and warm it up even slightly than to freshly fry.
Matthew:
It does depend on the chip. Some chips, I think, warm better than others, because we're going to talk about Juanita's chips, which are an excellent bag tortilla chip, but I think do not nacho as well as a slightly thicker, less oily chip.
Molly:
I was going to say that... Well, I was going to guess that Juanita's would warm up nicely because they're sort of-
Matthew:
But also making nachos is different from just warming chips. So I'm sure they do warm up well. You just don't want to take them too far.
Molly:
Okay. Okay. Wow, Matthew, this has been a mind-blowing episode already. I'm Molly Wizenberg.
Matthew:
And I'm Matthew Amster-Burton. Let's talk about the history of tortilla chips. That was our pause for station identification. You're listening to WSMK Spilled Milk Radio, broadcasting live, 24/7 from Trenton, New Jersey.
Molly:
Oh, nice. Nice. Yeah.
Matthew:
Okay. Let's talk a little bit about the history of tortilla chips. So it's hard to say what constitutes a tortilla chip as we think of them today versus a traditional totopo, which is a baked or fried tortilla in any shape that originated in Oaxaca thousands of years ago and are closely related to tostadas. So if it's a whole, full-size, round, corn tortilla that's been crisped up in some way, that's a tostada. If it's broken up or sliced up, then it's totopos. And it almost certainly originated as a way to use stale tortillas, but it was a traditional food of the Oaxaca area and then spread to Mexico as a whole and to Mexican-American communities. It didn't become an industrial product or a widespread commercial product until the late 20th century, really.
Molly:
Wow. Okay.
Matthew:
So let's talk about Rebecca Carranza. So Rebecca Carranza died in 2006 at the age of 98, and the info that I'm going to share is from her obituary in the San Diego Union Tribune. So in the 1940s, Rebecca's family had a tortilla factory in Los Angeles called El Sarape, And they started making tortillas by machine sometime after they were founded. But the machines, the technology was not mature yet and there were lots of misshapen discards that they couldn't sell as round tortillas in a pack where the idea is they're going to look like a perfect stack, right? And so Rebecca took some of the discards home and cut the misshapen circles into triangles and fried them, and guess what? People really liked that.
Molly:
Shocking.
Matthew:
So they marketed them as tort chips, and by 1960 or so, they were the company's best-selling product. In 1994, Carranza received the Golden Tortilla Award for her contribution to the Mexican food industry, according to Wikipedia.
Molly:
Wow. I love this story.
Matthew:
So this was still kind of a regional, southwestern, Southern California thing until the 70s, when they started to become popular nationwide as Tex Mex cuisine became well-known throughout the country. And Tostitos, which were the first smash hit, mass market tortilla chip, were introduced in 1980, which is later than I would've guessed.
Molly:
Wow. Oh my gosh. That's amazing that they were introduced in our lifetime.
Matthew:
In our lifetime, right?
Molly:
And they seem so... I mean, what was the world before mass market tortilla chips?
Matthew:
Yeah. Not that they didn't exist, but-
Molly:
Were people even living?
Matthew:
Yeah, I don't know. We talked about the history of Frito on a corn chip episode, and I think Frito are much older than Tostitos.
Molly:
Wow. I'm shocked that Tostitos were introduced only in 1980. I kind of wonder how my mother heard about them or how your family heard about them.
Matthew:
I feel like when you learned that hot dogs were invented in 1992.
Molly:
Totally.
Matthew:
Like outside an early Pearl Jam concert.
Molly:
Exactly. Yes. Back when Pearl Jam was still Mookie Blaylock.
Matthew:
Back when they were still Mookie Blaylock which was not 1992, but not long before that.
Molly:
Oh my God. Now you're going to get all music history on me.
Matthew:
No, you'd think so, but no. I have a recommendation, if you're not already watching this, a show that your whole family might enjoy. It's on Netflix. It's called Julie and the Phantoms. It is a show created by Kenny Ortega, who did High School Musical and Hocus Pocus and a lot of other things. And it is about a girl in LA who her mom has died about a year ago and she's looking for direction and she's into music, but that was her and her mom's thing, and so she feels sad every time she sits down at the piano. And then she accidentally summons three ghosts of an indie band from 1995 who died eating tainted hot dogs at before a show. And these ghosts help her reconnect with music and find some peace and play some rocking tunes.
Molly:
Wow.
Matthew:
So Julie and the Phantoms. I've only watched two episodes, but I definitely recommend it. The cheese factor is off the charts. So definitely check that out.
Molly:
Wow. Okay. Okay. I love-
Matthew:
There's like nine, 30 minute episodes, so go for it.
Molly:
I love how excited you got telling a story about tainted hot dogs.
Matthew:
I was laughing so hard. So the show starts in '95 at a gig for this band, Sunset Curve, and I realize a couple minutes in, of wait a minute, I know there are going to be ghosts in the next scene. How are these guys going to die? And then they go and they get these hot dogs where the condiments are served out of the trunk of a guy's car. You're like, okay, I see where this is going.
Molly:
Oh my God. Perfect.
Matthew:
All right, so that is what I got for the history of tortilla chips. Where and when do you usually eat them? Do you eat them in restaurants? Do you eat them at home? Or both?
Molly:
Ah, well, back when I used to go to restaurants, yes, I would eat them in restaurants, but more often than not, we eat them at home. Strangely, I don't believe we have... I think we've maybe made nachos at home once in my career as a home cook. But we often keep tortilla chips around, and of course, some refrigerated salsa. And it's mostly a snack for us. And frankly, actually, Ash often does kind of a version of nachos for lunch for themselves that is not... It's like cold nachos, which sounds delicious, right? No.
Matthew:
No, I want to hear more about cold nachos. I've never been more skeptical about anything.
Molly:
No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Basically what Ash does is they take a bowl, they put a bunch of Juanita's tortilla chips in it and kind of some blops of salsa on top. We tend to keep San Juan brand salsa lately, which is in the refrigerated section. And then they cut up some slices of cheese and kind of toss that on top of the bowl. And they basically make little bites for themselves, a little bit of cheese, a little bit of salsa, corn chip.
Matthew:
Okay. I think I would sort of call this a vegetarian taco salad.
Molly:
But there's no salad in it.
Matthew:
I know. Okay, fine. It's cold nachos.
Molly:
Oh my God.
Matthew:
Yeah. I was thinking it's like... Yeah, I feel like this is one or two ingredients short of a taco salad and then-
Molly:
Yeah, just one or two.
Matthew:
It's the salad. Yeah. Okay, fine.
Molly:
Okay.
Matthew:
Okay. Yeah, that sounds good. I like that. It's funny how that dish sounds perfectly delicious until you call it cold nachos.
Molly:
And then you're like...
Molly:
Okay, so cold nachos, my finest contribution to Spilled Milk history.
Matthew:
Yep. Everyone's making them. #Coldnachos is already trending, and we're not putting this episode out for two weeks.
Molly:
Okay. Anyway, Matthew, when do you usually eat tortilla chips?
Matthew:
We keep them on-hand at home most of the time, I would say, and to be eaten with salsa, or I also cook with them in a few different ways. But also sometimes I will reach... They live on top of the fridge, like borrowers, and I will just reach my hand into the bag and crunch a few as a snack.
Molly:
Oh, do you even take the bag down from the top of the fridge?
Matthew:
Often I don't.
Molly:
Wow. Interesting. What is it like to be that tall?
Matthew:
You can reach the top of the fridge.
Molly:
Yeah, I can reach the top of the fridge, but I would never... Because we also have a bag of tortilla chips on the top of the fridge right now, but I would never leave them up there because I'd be reaching above my head to get them, which feels weird. Is your fridge shorter than my fridge?
Matthew:
I don't think so. I mean, I am reaching above my head, but-
Molly:
What?
Matthew:
I was raised to reach for the stars, reach for the heights.
Molly:
Listeners, are you comfortable reaching above your head to reach into a bag of chips?
Matthew:
Have I mentioned that I've started doing YouTube karate?
Molly:
Oh my God. Wait a minute. Hold up. You've started doing YouTube karate because YouTube yoga left you injured.
Matthew:
Yeah. I kept hurting my back that, and it may or may not have been related to doing YouTube yoga, but karate, you can't get hurt doing that.
Molly:
Oh, definitely not.
Matthew:
And also I've been watching Cobra Kai on Netflix, and so I'm watching that, I'm like, "This show has a lot of old men doing karate, so what could go wrong?" And so I've been watching videos by this guy, Ryan Hayashi, who is a professional magician who also teaches karate and I think lives in Germany. I'm on lesson three, and-
Molly:
So what can you do so far?
Matthew:
Okay, I can do high block, middle block, low block, front punch, uppercut, front kick, side kick. Can't really do the roundhouse kick yet. That's very hard.
Molly:
And, Matthew, where do you do this? Because I don't picture-
Matthew:
It's a good question.
Molly:
... any room in your house, really, has space for you to do a roundhouse in.
Matthew:
Right. So I do it in the living room, and the fact that there hasn't been a tragedy yet where I destroy my foot and something in my apartment is just pure luck. It's only a matter of time, and you're going to hear about it on this show.
Molly:
And which of these moves that you've learned so far helps you access the tortilla chips on top of the fridge?
Matthew:
I'm glad you asked. It's the high block because that involves kind of sweeping your fist up to above your head to fend off a frontal attack.
Molly:
Ah, okay.
Matthew:
So you're going to kind of push the person's punch aside. But also it means your hand ends up above your head, and then you just reach right into that chip bag.
Molly:
Perfect. Perfect. Okay. Wait a minute, Matthew. So, wait, do you eat them plain, or always with a dip or salsa or as nachos? I mean, I think I know you eat them plain.
Matthew:
I do. It's not a premier snack for me. I would rather have them with salsa, whereas a bowl of Frito feels like an all-in-one snack to me. But sometimes just crunching a few tortilla chips is exactly what I want.
Molly:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Mm-hmm (affirmative). I totally agree.
Matthew:
And I'm kind of spoiled on my own homemade salsa, so if that's around, then I will go through a huge amount of tortilla chips. And if it's not, then I can go days without putting my hand above my head.
Molly:
It's interesting that you mention making homemade salsa because I feel like this is something that as a home cook, either you are into making homemade salsa and it's something that you think to make, or you absolutely never do. I have never in my entire life made homemade salsa.
Matthew:
Okay, well, I put on our list of episode ideas that I want to do a pico de gallo episode because that's something I only started making this year. And so I want to get you making it too because it's so easy and so good.
Molly:
Okay. Okay. Great. All right. So what do you do with tortilla chips other than put them above your head and eat them and dip them in salsa?
Matthew:
I mean, do you do other dips, like bean dip? I used to really like Trader Joe's spicy black bean dip, which was not at all spicy. I haven't had that in a long time, but I think they probably still have it. You never know with Joe. Or queso. I never really do dips other than salsa, but I know a lot of people do. Do you?
Molly:
I would say as a general rule, and I'm just now formulating this-
Matthew:
Seven layer dip?
Molly:
I am absolutely not a dip person in almost any situation. The only dip I ever make is this sort of all-American thing that my friend, Natalie, often makes, which is basically sour cream and ranch powder.
Matthew:
Okay. What about like a cocktail sauce?
Molly:
Nope.
Matthew:
What if you had some chicken strips? Maybe the premise of that is invalid.
Molly:
Okay. Well, Matthew, that does bring me around to chilaquiles, which I do occasionally make, always with La Victoria green, Thick 'N Chunky salsa.
Matthew:
Yes. That is a good jarred salsa.
Molly:
That's a really good jarred salsa. I buy the mild because I'm the only person in my household who can tolerate any amount of heat whatsoever. Although, Ash is getting more game.
Matthew:
Okay.
Molly:
Anyway, so yeah, chilaquiles always a big hit around here.
Matthew:
How do you make yours?
Molly:
I make your recipe.
Matthew:
Oh, okay.
Molly:
Yes.
Matthew:
So yeah, I do them, and now I know you do too, with chips, green salsa, chicken broth, and cream. Is that it?
Molly:
The tiniest bit... Well, you got to put chicken in there, too.
Matthew:
Oh, chicken. Yes, yes.
Molly:
Yeah. No, it's not very many ingredients. It's so delicious. Yeah, I really love your recipe.
Matthew:
Yeah. So I will do chilaquiles often. If I have leftover homemade salsa, that's a great way to highlight it. I will crumble tortilla chips on chili. It's an alternative to Frito pie. And I will always put tortilla chips into a bean or bean and cheese, beef and bean burrito.
Molly:
Do you make burritos at home?
Matthew:
Often.
Molly:
Okay. I have never made burritos at home.
Matthew:
Probably once a week. And it's just not a homemade burrito to me without some tortilla chips crumbled in there.
Molly:
I love that idea. I'd never thought of it.
Matthew:
It's so good. And any time if we're making burritos and we happen to be out of tortilla chips, then we have to heat up a skillet and crisp the tortilla on the outside.
Molly:
Oh my God, I can't. Who could possibly go to that trouble?
Matthew:
You got to do what you got to do.
Molly:
No, no, no. I'm being sarcastic.
Matthew:
I know.
Molly:
Okay. No, I love the idea of that. I don't know why it had never occurred to me to put them in a burrito because, yeah, a burrito so often is a homogenous texture, even with iceberg lettuce or something like that in there.
Matthew:
I was just going to say, I also like iceberg lettuce in a burrito. And if we have iceberg lettuce, I will usually do one with lettuce and then a separate burrito with chips because I don't need them both crunches, but it wouldn't be bad with both of them, certainly.
Molly:
No, absolutely not. It would not be bad at all. I think I would really like it that way.
Matthew:
Okay.
Molly:
Okay. Wait, when you make nachos, what brand of tortilla chips do you like to use for nachos?
Matthew:
So I like Santitas, which I believe they are Frito-Lay's low-priced tortilla chip line. Well, I guess now that... Well, no, because Frito-Lay is Tostitos, right?
Molly:
I'm not sure.
Matthew:
I'm pretty sure they are. But Santitas are the triangular chips that it's a one pound bag for, I think it just went up from $2 to $2.29, and they're quite good. They make especially good nachos. They're not super thin, but they're not too thick either.
Molly:
Okay. And so then what do you like to have around just for putting your hand above your head?
Matthew:
We buy Santitas and Juanita's most often. Every once in a while if they're out of one of those or there's another one on a good sale, we'll get... A store-brand chip is usually not bad. Although, store-brand flavored tortilla chips are usually not good at all. I was so excited one time when I found that they had ranch-flavored Safeway brand tortilla chips, and I'm like, "Oh, this has got to be good. Finally, someone's making a Cool Ranch knock-off." Of course it wasn't good.
Molly:
I can't even believe you considered it, Matthew.
Matthew:
As soon as I set foot in a grocery store, I can be convinced that any product might be good. I could probably be convinced of anything. If you want to sell me on your religion, just stand six feet inside the door of the Safeway, and I will be ready to dive in.
Molly:
Well, as we've discussed on the show before, you are very much an early adopter when it comes to a lot of new food products, I would say even new technology, like apps and things like that.
Matthew:
Yes. I'm always downloading the latest app. Let's see what I got lately.
Molly:
No, but really. Yeah, because you always know of the special flavored mac and cheese, or-
Matthew:
It's true. I do know the special flavored mac and cheese.
Molly:
The new flavor-
Matthew:
I don't know what you're talking about.
Molly:
No, but remember when we did some episode where we were tasting boxed mac and cheese and you talked about the green chili one or something like that?
Matthew:
Yeah, that's true. Well, I mean, I went to the store. It wasn't like I knew about it and then said we have to do an episode about that. We were doing a boxed mac and cheese episode and I went to the store, and there was Velveeta with green chilies. I was like, "Well, we should try that."
Molly:
No, but you have a different approach to these things than I do. I want the plain version and I like to get the thing that I'm already familiar with.
Matthew:
Okay. So it looks like the last two apps that I downloaded were a little virtual piano app, so I can play piano on my phone, and the IQ air quality map app.
Molly:
This seems super 2020.
Matthew:
It sure does.
Molly:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Matthew, what do you think about-
Matthew:
Next, I'm going to download Smule Ocarina.
Molly:
What is that?
Matthew:
It was like a music app where you blow into your phone that I think was popular in 2010.
Molly:
Okay. What about-
Matthew:
I mean, I still blow into my phone, but just for other reasons.
Molly:
I'm just sort of imagining the reasons.
Matthew:
Oh, they're a myriad.
Molly:
Oh, man. Yes. Okay. Matthew, in the past few years, we've seen a real...
Matthew:
Perfusion?
Molly:
Perfusion. There you go... of tortilla chips that are flavored with lime or lime and chili or things like that. What do you think about this whole lime thing?
Matthew:
Or like the Juanita's Chilipeno. well, I remember when Tostitos Hint of Lime came out, which I think was the 90s, and I kind of liked them. But I mean, lime is not a flavor that translates really well into a powder, I don't think.
Molly:
And yet in every brand of chip, there's a lime one.
Matthew:
I know, and it's definitely an appealing concept. It doesn't really hit for me usually. I think I want my tortilla chips-
Molly:
Does it slap?
Matthew:
It doesn't slap the way I want my taste buds to be slapped.
Molly:
Okay.
Matthew:
For me, I want my tortilla chip to either be plain or have a ridiculous amount of some goofy flavor powder on it, like a Nacho Cheese or a Cool Ranch.
Molly:
Okay. Fair enough.
Matthew:
Or Doritos Taco flavor. I think Doritos is sort of the Ben and Jerry's of chips in that they go overboard with flavors and you love it. And when other brands try and flavor chips, it's either too timid or not quite balanced in the way that a mega food corporation can hire flavor scientists to create the perfect ranch.
Molly:
Yes.
Matthew:
I mean, of course, fucking Safeway is a huge mega food corporation, so I don't know why they can't make a good ranch chip.
Molly:
Well, but they do many, many, many things.
Matthew:
That's true.
Molly:
Whereas Frito-Lay or whatever company owns Doritos is conceivably just doing snack food.
Matthew:
Yeah, you're right.
Molly:
Anyway.
Matthew:
I know, but what do you think? Do you like a lime chip?
Molly:
No, I don't really. I will eat them. I mean, I'm not going to refuse them-
Matthew:
Yeah, of course. It's still a chip.
Molly:
But I wouldn't buy them. And I also just find them kind of weird. They, for me, do not scratch the same itch as a plain tortilla chip. It's a different thing.
Matthew:
Yeah. Remember we did the lemon-lime soda episode and we were kind of overwhelmed by all of them?
Molly:
Yes. Yes.
Matthew:
Underwhelmed by all of them. I think I'm like a tiresome lime juice purist. I really want my lime to be an actual lime that was just squeezed and all of the other ways of invoking that flavor just don't do it for me. Whereas there are lots of other artificial and processed flavors that I love. So I don't know.
Molly:
Buttermilk powder, for instance.
Matthew:
Buttermilk powder rules.
Molly:
Yes. Matthew, you are full of contradictions.
Matthew:
It's true. I think we all are though. How can one person be so into karate and also each chips at the same time?
Molly:
I don't know. What do I do that's full of contradictions?
Matthew:
Well, I mean, in last week's dream grocery episode, you had a huge carbon footprint, but also a sustainable seafood counter.
Molly:
Oh, God. You're right. I'm a mess.
Matthew:
But also on a smaller scale, you make your own granola, which I think might suggest a lot of other things about your personality, but you also love Cool Ranch Doritos.
Molly:
That's true. And I love sour gummies.
Matthew:
And sour gummies.
Molly:
And I don't mean the sour gummies that are in the bulk section at Whole Foods. I mean, like Sour Patch Kids. Yeah, don't give me any of those flavored with fruit juice ones.
Matthew:
No, not necessary.
Molly:
No. Well, Matthew, it's been-
Matthew:
I can get my fruit juice from the source. I don't need it in my gummies.
Molly:
It's been another scintillating episode of Spilled Milk.
Matthew:
It has.
Molly:
Hey, we wanted to give a shout-out to another food podcast.
Matthew:
Yes, one that actually covers serious topics sometimes.
Molly:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Matthew:
And also silly stuff. They had us on.
Molly:
They did.
Matthew:
So The Four Top. It is a James Beard and IECP award-winning, national food and beverage podcast presented by OPB for NPR One.
Molly:
Yep. On every episode, they've got three thought leaders. We were once considered thought leaders.
Matthew:
Yeah, I love the fact that we were on this show and it identifies guests on the show as thought leaders. I'm going to milk this in any way I can.
Molly:
So for every episode, you've got host, Katherine Cole, and then three thought leaders-
Matthew:
Like us.
Molly:
Yep. And they engage in a fast-moving round table discussion on the hot button topics in food and beverage.
Matthew:
Yep. So start listening at thefourtop.org, Spotify, iTunes, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Molly:
And we should say this isn't just for you if you're super into food or super into beverage. It's not a recipe swap or a celebrity chef show. It's just a lively discussion of timely issues.
Matthew:
Yeah. So they have great guests, like real writers for The New Yorker or The Atlantic, Food and Wine, and they dig into pop culture, like secret menu items and juice cleanses, but they also tackle real issues, like fair wages for restaurant and food workers, climate change, food waste, globalization, and so on.
Molly:
So check it out, The Four Top.
Matthew:
Savor the conversation. So that was our tortilla chip episode. Get in touch. You can find us on the Reddit, which is where you can discuss things about Spilled Milk now that we deleted our Facebook. That's reddit.com/r/everythingspilledmilk. That was created by listener, Ben. Thank you listener, Ben. You can contact us directly. Contact at spilledmilkpodcast.com. What do you dip? What do you reach above your head for? Or do you ever reach above your head?
Molly:
Yeah. When was the last time you reached above your head?
Matthew:
When was the last time you reached above your head, or below your belt, for that matter? Don't tell us that.
Molly:
Okay. Where do you keep your tortilla chips?
Matthew:
That's a good question.
Molly:
That's a thrilling question.
Matthew:
In a root cellar, on top of the fridge, in a safe? Do you own a safe?
Molly:
I don't own a safe. Do you own a safe?
Matthew:
No. And I think wife of the show, Lori, and I were talking about this recently because we stayed at a hotel recently, and of course, there's a safe in the closet at the hotel. And we're not the kind of people who would ever have the kind of valuables that would require a safe.
Molly:
So in your renter's insurance... Do you have renter's insurance?
Matthew:
Yeah.
Molly:
So is there a place where you itemize valuables in your home?
Matthew:
There is, and I think the only thing we put down was computers.
Molly:
Yeah. I think the only thing I have is computers and maybe my wedding ring, but compared to how much wedding rings can cost, mine isn't really something you would itemize on that.
Matthew:
I've mentioned how much my wedding ring costs on the show, right?
Molly:
Was it like $10?
Matthew:
I think it was like $24.
Molly:
Oh.
Matthew:
I'm very happy with it.
Molly:
Sorry I low-balled it there.
Matthew:
Yeah. Thanks a lot. What kind of person do you think I am?
Molly:
Anyway. Okay, well, so yeah, let us know what you itemize on your homeowner's or renter's insurance policy. We'll be right over to steal it.
Matthew:
Yes. That is what we want to know. Yeah. Let's see a photo of those itemized, I was going to say deduction because that's the word that always comes after itemized, but you know what we mean.
Molly:
Anyway, thank you, as always, to our producer, Abby Cerquitella.
Matthew:
Yep. And thank you for listening to Spilled Milk.
Molly:
The show that is doing a high block and a low block and a roadblock.
Matthew:
I'm Matthew Amster-Burton.
Molly:
No. No.
Matthew:
Wait, but what would happen when you roll up to the Spilled Milk roadblock? What are we checking for?
Molly:
Well, I think we're checking to see... I don't know.
Matthew:
We just want to know what snacks you keep in your car. We're just curious. It's a curiosity roadblock.
Molly:
We want to make sure that you have snacks because there's nothing worse than not having snacks.
Matthew:
Yeah, that's right. If you don't have any snacks in your car and you show up at the Spilled Milk roadblock, we will supply you with some.
Molly:
Yeah. Come on over.
Matthew:
Come on over to our roadblock. It's open 24/7, coming to a turnpike near you. I'm Matthew Amster-Burton.
Molly:
I'm Molly Wizenberg.
Matthew:
Ed Harris has been waiting for us in the Marianas Trench for so long. He's getting so bored down there.