not Frito®-Lay


I went to the chip store today while at tiangues to get a supply of these little beautis. They are the "corn-iest" chips ever! This is very much a Rube Golberg operation that takes place in a brick shed in an unpaved yard with chickens and other livestock nosing around in the dirt for stray crumbs. For 15 pesos (about $1.35) you take home a bag of 50 crisp, crunchy, flavorful chips. They also make raspadas, the larger, paper-thin shells used for tostadad.


These chips have already been through the "fat bath" once and are draining on this grating. After all the excess oil has dripped onto the floor, this woman scoops up a big tray-full and dumps them back into the fat for just about 5 seconds.


Then she scoops them out and slides them into the big galvanized tin bathtub lined with newspapers on her left where they sit for a few minutes before being picked out and put into bags. If you get there at the right time they are still warm and nice and greasy! Actually, they aren't all the greasy and only very lightly salted. I have no idea when (or if) they ever change the cooking fat, but who cares. They are absolutely addictive! And you can't get them anywhere else.