Flamin' Hot Cheetos were a hit when they launched, and just got more and more popular over the years. It was one of the first mainstream snack foods that was marketed as 'spicy'. And for a generation of kids who grew up in the late 90s and 2000s, that snack was Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.

The snacks of your childhood stick with you even into adulthood. Maybe I’m a weirdo like that but that's also what happened when I was a kid.ĭan Pashman: Clearly, Gustavo and I could debate Cheetos vs. I put more significance to the first time I ate Cool Ranch Doritos than I ever did Flamin' Hot Cheetos. So I think you always associate what's wonderful and great with your childhood. Gustavo Arellano: Cheetos? I always like Cheetos are a little bit cheesier, but they just didn't have that crunch that Doritos have.ĭan Pashman: It shocks me, Gustavo, that you would say you like Doritos better than Cheetos because Doritos are crunchier? I feel like Doritos have a brittle crunch but Cheetos have a deep down bass kinda crunch that really rocks me. So you get variation from one bite to the next. Not just more more overall crunch, but I like that there's different size and shape pieces in the Cheetos. And the Doritos, the way the hot sauce cascades across the chips, the Doritos chips, it gives it nice even flavor.ĭan Pashman: I would probably take regular Cheetos over regular Doritos because of the crunch. OK? So if you're a Mexican, it doesn't matter what the flavor is, you have to put hot sauce on it, whether it's Tapatio, Valentina, some Tabasco in a pinch. Gustavo Arellano: I can't even remember because, look, I'm a Doritos man. We’re used to this level of spice.ĭan Pashman: Tell me about the first time you ate a Flamin' Hot Cheeto. I've never understood people who say, 'Oh, Flamin' Hot Cheetos, it burns me!', or like - I have never seen it, but then again I’m a Mexican. Gustavo Arellano: But for me, Flamin' Hot Cheetos, it's flavorful. You know, like the lime flavor to it that makes them almost tart because they're so sharp on that. I like the Takis because they have the sharpness of the heat, but also they have that layer of citrus.

And like I've eaten my share of Takis - the spicy Takis to me are just painfully sharp. Gustavo Arellano: What did you like about them?ĭan Pashman: I mean, they were spicy to my palate.ĭan Pashman: But sweet, salty in a way that just made me want to keep eating them. But, you know, look, as a consummate journalist, I felt it was my obligation to eat them some before I spoke to you. Gustavo Arellano: What?! All these years later?ĭan Pashman: I know, I know. And there was one food in particular that I wanted to talk to him about.ĭan Pashman: I ate Flamin' Hot Cheetos for the first time today. For years, he’s been obsessed with finding the stories of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, who haven’t gotten credit for the foods they introduced, foods that have become part of American culture. He’s a columnist at the LA Times, and author of the book Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America. The person you just heard is Gustavo Arellano. Each week on our show we obsess about food to learn more about people. How could it not be real?ĭan Pashman: This is The Sporkful, it’s not for foodies, it’s for eaters, I’m Dan Pashman. It was just too good of a feel good story. But when it came to this one, I just couldn't cast out on it. I destroyed Taco John's claim by going into the archives and telling the true story of the term, Taco Tuesday. I blew apart the claim by Taco John's the fast food taco chain based in Wyoming, who has a trademark to Taco Tuesday. Gustavo Arellano: I debunked the story of Glenn Bell and how he got the idea for Taco Bell. View Transcriptĭan Pashman: This episode contains explicit language.

'Hennepin' by James Buckley and Brian Bradley.

Interstitial music in this episode by Black Label Music : Times, a complicated past - and a promising future (Gustavo Arellano, L.A. Was the Times too hard on a Latino icon who exaggerated his role in Flamin’ Hot Cheetos? (Letters To The Editor, L.A. What the anger over Flamin’ Hot Cheetos origin story is really about (Gustavo Arellano, L.A. The man who didn’t invent Flamin’ Hot Cheetos (Sam Dean, L.A. Times started looking into this feel-good story, he found a very different tale. The story made Montañez something of a Latino icon, with two memoirs and a soon-to-be-released biopic based on his life. In recent years its legend has grown, as word spread that they were invented by Richard Montañez, a Mexican-American janitor at Frito-Lay who went on to become a company executive. For two decades, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos has been one of the most popular snacks in America.

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