Doritos

How many of you have a Taco Bell in your part of the woods?

In my area, we used to have one years ago.  I think it shut down for good in 2003, and it has since become either a Tim Hortons or a Kentucky Fried Chicken location.  It's been a while since it happened, so I can't seem to remember which building Taco Bell was in.  I'm almost positive that it was the Tim Hortons building, but I really don't remember.

And there's a reason why I don't remember.  Aside from the occasional order of nachos and cheese, I never really ate there.  I've never been a huge fan of Mexican or Spanish cuisine.  Nothing against it.  I've always liked Italian and Chinese better.  I guess I'd rather dine on pepperoni pizza and chicken fried rice. 

However, I keep on seeing commercials for a particular product that Taco Bell has to offer that makes me want to sample it.  Even though I don't really care for tacos much, there's just something about this particular taco that makes me really want to go to the nearest Taco Bell location to try it.

Here.  I'll post a commercial for it below.

I think you know what I'm talking about here.  I'm talking about a taco that is built inside of a Dorito shell!  

The Nacho Cheese flavoured ones have been out for a couple of years now, but this past year, Taco Bell has started selling them in a Cool Ranch flavour.  Either way, I would totally sample either kind of taco because having a taco made with Doritos just sounds like the coolest thing ever.

In fact, since I've brought up Doritos in this blog entry, let's make that the topic for today's FOODIE FRIDAY!  What can I say?  When it comes to junk food, I have a couple of weaknesses.  Peanut butter M&M's, sour jujubes, and of course, Doritos of any flavour.

But just how did Doritos come to be a part of every day life?  Well, believe it or not, the Dorito is celebrating it's fiftieth anniversary this year!

The year was 1964, and the location was a little restaurant in the middle of Disneyland.  At the "Casa de Fritos" restaurant, the owners decided on a creative way to get rid of their excess tortilla shells.  They cut them into smaller triangle like pieces, fried them, and added some seasoning.  The creation turned out to be a huge hit at the park, and they caught the attention of Arch West, who was Frito-Lay's vice president of marketing.  He made a deal with Alex Foods - the provider of many of the ingredients for the Casa de Fritos restaurant - to continue manufacturing the chips regionally.  That plan only lasted a few months, as the overwhelming popularity of the chips overwhelmed the small manufacturing facility.  Production was moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and it took approximately two years before the chips - named the Dorito after the Spanish word doradito (definition: turned golden or crisp) - were sold nationwide.

TRIVIA:  And with the invention of Doritos came the very first tortilla chip to be launched nation-wide throughout the United States.  Sure, there have been other brands that have appeared over the years (one that I remember from my childhood were giant bags of cheese tortilla chips that had Garfield on the bag), but as far as I'm concerned, nothing matches the perfection of the Dorito.

I mean, think about it.  Like Kentucky Fried Chicken's slogan, Doritos are also finger licking good.  No other chip seems to coat your fingers in a deep shade of orange quite like the Dorito.  Well, provided that you get the nacho cheese flavoured ones anyway.

And, speaking of flavours of Doritos, there have been dozens of them introduced.  Not all of them had the staying power of Nacho Cheese, Sweet Chili Heat or Cool Ranch, but they were still memorable.

Back in the days in which I used to peruse pop culture themed discussion forums, I heard a lot of people wanting Frito-Lay to bring back Taco Doritos.  And, occasionally, I've seen them make temporary reappearances on store shelves.  I've tried them, and I like them okay.  But, they are not really my favourite. 

(My favourite flavour for the record is Sweet Chili Heat).

One flavour of Doritos that seemed to only be available in Canada for a limited time was one called "Texas Tang".  They were nice and spicy and I couldn't get enough of them!  It's just too bad that they have since been discontinued.  I'd give anything to try them again.

Of course, there are some temporary flavours that I wouldn't touch again with a ten foot pole.  A few years back, Doritos held a contest here in Canada where you had two secret flavours in small bags labelled A and B.  We could vote on which flavour we wanted to see in larger bags online or via text message, and the winning flavour would be sold in stores.  I loved the B flavour, which was I believe buffalo wing and ranch.  But I hated the A flavour, which was a disgusting onion ring and ketchup flavour.  There was also a contest where fans could record a commercial for their favourite flavour for the chance to win a cash prize.

Guess which flavour won the contest?  Not the one I voted for.

(Though I suppose that the Doritos Collisions bag with buffalo wing chips and blue cheese chips were a reasonable substituton.)

And, I never thought that you could add dill pickle flavouring into a Dorito, but I admit that I did like the Dill-icious Dorito.  Then again, my favourite snack as a kid were dill pickles.  I know, I was a strange kid.

And, that's not even counting some of the wacky flavours that could be found all over the world.  Just get a load of some of these flavours...would you try any of them?

Hint of Lime Doritos - United Kingdom

Sushi Doritos - Japan

Clam Chowder Doritos - Japan

Fried Chicken Doritos - Japan

Butter and Soy Sauce Doritos - Japan

Tuna and Mayonnaise Doritos - Japan

Steak Doritos - Japan

Seaweed Doritos - Japan

Yogurt Doritos - South Korea

Orange Doritos - Israel

(Wow...remind me not to grab a snack from a Japanese vending machine anytime soon!)

And, now I turn the floor over to you.

BONUS QUESTION:  Do you like Doritos?  What are your favourite?

One final note for Canadian readers.  Have you seen the Roulette Doritos?  They look like ordinary bags of nacho cheese Doritos...but some of them have a secret.  Some of them burn your mouth with Frank's Red Hot sauce like levels.  And, wouldn't you know it?  The first chip out of the bag was a hot one.  Just my luck.