History of tortilla chips

The traditional method to produce tortillas from corn was developed by Aztec Indians in the region of Mexico. As early as the 1890s, US cookbooks featured recipes for tortillas. Yet many of the recipes departed form Mexican traditions and seem designed to minimize preparations time.

Tortillas are employed in America to make tacos, enchiladas, burritos and many other Mexican style foods and are also the base for various snack foods, such as tortilla chips.

Tortilla chips were first mass produced in Long Angeles in 1940s. Rebecca Webb Carranza produced the first tortilla chip as a way to make use of rejected tortillas when she discovered that the discarded fried tortillas were becoming popular as a snack.

The chips were sold for a dime a bag at their El Zarape Tortilla Factory. The Tortilla Association credited Rebecca for inventing the tortilla chip in 1990s, giving her the Golden Tortilla award.

By 1950, Popular Mechanics magazine referred to Los Angeles as the home of the tortilla chip.

Tortilla chips became popular outside of California in the late 1970s as they competed with corn chips. Salsa is often paired with tortilla chips and has captured significant portion of the American condiment market since the 1980s.

The tortilla chip was designated as the official state snack of Texas in 2003.
History of tortilla chips