The Flamin' Hot Cheetos origin story
February 23, 2018 2:26 PM Subscribe
How one visionary Latino has influenced his community and one of the largest corporations in America. Flamin Hot Cheetos were created by son of migrant farmworkers, who grew up not speaking English, and dropped out of high school and became a janitor. He had the idea while watching a street vendor in his neighborhood make elote, or grilled Mexican street corn — corn on the cob covered in cheese, butter, lime and chili. “What if I took the same concept and applied it to a Cheeto?” he thought.
Always entrepreneurial, he describes his first days at school, before he learned English:
Richard’s mornings were rough, as he couldn’t understand his teachers’ lessons, so he was relieved at the thought of a lunch break. However, lunch proved to be even worse. “I pulled out my food and everyone stared at me: I had a burrito. They didn’t even know what that was at the time, so I’d just put my food away and didn’t eat because I didn’t want to be stared at for being different,” Richard says. “I went home and told my mom to make me a bologna sandwich and a cupcake like the other kids had. Instead she made me two burritos and told me to go make a friend. By the end of the week I was selling burritos for $0.25 a pop!”
And now his story is being turned into a movie.
Always entrepreneurial, he describes his first days at school, before he learned English:
Richard’s mornings were rough, as he couldn’t understand his teachers’ lessons, so he was relieved at the thought of a lunch break. However, lunch proved to be even worse. “I pulled out my food and everyone stared at me: I had a burrito. They didn’t even know what that was at the time, so I’d just put my food away and didn’t eat because I didn’t want to be stared at for being different,” Richard says. “I went home and told my mom to make me a bologna sandwich and a cupcake like the other kids had. Instead she made me two burritos and told me to go make a friend. By the end of the week I was selling burritos for $0.25 a pop!”
And now his story is being turned into a movie.
Whatttttt? This is amazing!
Um, I really really want elote now. Dangit. I guess I can settle for some Flamin Hots.
posted by Made of Star Stuff at 3:17 PM on February 23, 2018 [6 favorites]
Um, I really really want elote now. Dangit. I guess I can settle for some Flamin Hots.
posted by Made of Star Stuff at 3:17 PM on February 23, 2018 [6 favorites]
This is charming:
...an executive in the meeting threw me for a curve when he asked me, ‘What size market share do you think we should get with this product?’ It hit me that I had no idea what he was talking about, or what I was doing. I was shaking, and I damn near wanted to pass out. I thought hard and envisioned the sales racks that you see at the bodegas or the grocery store and realized what those shelves looked like, and I opened my arms to about as wide as the rack displays were and I said, ‘This much market share!’ I didn’t even know how ridiculous that looked. They could have laughed in my face right then and there, but the CEO stood up and put his arms out the same way and said, ‘Gentlemen, do you realize we have a chance to go out and get this much market share?’posted by Pallas Athena at 3:30 PM on February 23, 2018 [24 favorites]
OH! THEY ARE MAKING ABOUT HIM! I was at the gym today and on one of the TVs there was a news headline saying there was going to be a flaming hot cheetos movie. There was no sound, so I assumed that it was going to be like an emoji movie or something, and I was slightly irritated that there were no more original ideas anymore, yadda, yadda, yadda. Glad to see that I was highly mistaken.
posted by littlesq at 3:43 PM on February 23, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by littlesq at 3:43 PM on February 23, 2018 [6 favorites]
reading along, entertained, until eyes suddenly widen as realization dawns I actually have a thing of Crunchy Flamin' Hot Limon Cheetos sitting on the kitchen table at home waiting for me. Heck yeah.
posted by Lexica at 4:13 PM on February 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Lexica at 4:13 PM on February 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
Excuse me but elote starts with hot corn on a stick, slathered in mayonnaise, rolled in cotija, squirted with butter, and then powdwerd with chili powder. Leaving out the mayo is sacrilege. The elote cart stops on my street, three wheel bicycle with shaved ice too, mangoes, and chips. Carry on.
posted by Oyéah at 4:13 PM on February 23, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by Oyéah at 4:13 PM on February 23, 2018 [6 favorites]
Do you think...?
Yeah, there must be...
[ quick internet search ]
Yup!
Elote made with Flamin' Hot Cheetos
♫ IT'S THE CIRRRCLE OF LIIIIIIIIFE... AND IT MOOOVES US AAAALLL... ♫
posted by D.Billy at 4:52 PM on February 23, 2018 [16 favorites]
Yeah, there must be...
[ quick internet search ]
Yup!
Elote made with Flamin' Hot Cheetos
♫ IT'S THE CIRRRCLE OF LIIIIIIIIFE... AND IT MOOOVES US AAAALLL... ♫
posted by D.Billy at 4:52 PM on February 23, 2018 [16 favorites]
And let's not forget elote's little brother, esquites. It's the same mayo/cojita/lime/chili corn, but off the cob and in a cup and freaking delicious. I've been searching for years, and have only found half a dozen places in the US that serve it. This surprises me, given our large supplies of cheap corn and Mexican restaurants. (feel free to DM me with any and all esquites havens you know of)
posted by bruceo at 4:57 PM on February 23, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by bruceo at 4:57 PM on February 23, 2018 [7 favorites]
brusco, I've found one place in the Bay Area, CA that serves esquites, but I won't do it a favor by sharing the name of the establishment. They ruined it. The corn and accoutrements were sitting in an inch of hot water... like they didn't realize you shouldn't include the filthy water of the elote cart in their deconstructed elote.
posted by matt_od at 5:25 PM on February 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by matt_od at 5:25 PM on February 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
If the discussion is shifting away from Cheetos proper, may I recommend Nieves Cinco de Mayo to any of y’all who find yourselves in Oakland? Their elote ice cream is amazing.
posted by Lexica at 6:08 PM on February 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Lexica at 6:08 PM on February 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
Yes, but why are the Baked variety impossible to find in 99% of the United States?
posted by kewb at 6:17 PM on February 23, 2018
posted by kewb at 6:17 PM on February 23, 2018
omg elotes and esquites
Every time I see someone advise a prospective traveler to avoid Mexican street food it is a tragedy because SERIOUSLY YOU HAVE TO TRY THE CORN
Yuppified elotes are totally a thing in restaurants now (my favorite is at Toro in Boston) but nothing is as good as the street cart version.
And now I need to go get these Cheetos I never realized I wanted.
posted by olinerd at 6:35 PM on February 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
Every time I see someone advise a prospective traveler to avoid Mexican street food it is a tragedy because SERIOUSLY YOU HAVE TO TRY THE CORN
Yuppified elotes are totally a thing in restaurants now (my favorite is at Toro in Boston) but nothing is as good as the street cart version.
And now I need to go get these Cheetos I never realized I wanted.
posted by olinerd at 6:35 PM on February 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
"...corn on the cob covered in cheese, butter, lime and chili. “What if I took the same concept and applied it to a Cheeto?” he thought."
Pleeeease let there be somebody in this world with too much time on their hands, some quick'n'dirty javascript skillz and a corpus of fully qualified brand name products who can whip up a semi-madlib generator site for completing that sentence.
"What if I took the same concept and applied it to Pantene Pro-V?” he thought.
"What if I took the same concept and applied it to a Renault Clio?” he thought.
"What if I took the same concept and applied it to Fry's Turkish Delight?” he thought.
"What if I took the same concept and applied it to Alan Wake's American Nightmare?” he thought.
"What if I took the same concept and applied it to Johnson's Baby Oil?” he thought.
Etcetera etcetera etcetera!
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 6:44 PM on February 23, 2018 [6 favorites]
Pleeeease let there be somebody in this world with too much time on their hands, some quick'n'dirty javascript skillz and a corpus of fully qualified brand name products who can whip up a semi-madlib generator site for completing that sentence.
"What if I took the same concept and applied it to Pantene Pro-V?” he thought.
"What if I took the same concept and applied it to a Renault Clio?” he thought.
"What if I took the same concept and applied it to Fry's Turkish Delight?” he thought.
"What if I took the same concept and applied it to Alan Wake's American Nightmare?” he thought.
"What if I took the same concept and applied it to Johnson's Baby Oil?” he thought.
Etcetera etcetera etcetera!
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 6:44 PM on February 23, 2018 [6 favorites]
I am sadly too white for Flamin' Hot Cheetos but I would sell my soul if they'd bring back the Salsa con Queso variety. They were muuuuuuuuuuy delicioso.
posted by elsietheeel at 7:42 PM on February 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by elsietheeel at 7:42 PM on February 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
My local elote go to is this place, hidden in a mostly abandoned strip mall, next to a subdivision that was razed for a mostly failed runway project .
posted by fluttering hellfire at 8:42 PM on February 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by fluttering hellfire at 8:42 PM on February 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
Cycles and epicycles.
On Ash Wednesday I bought an elote at church (I only ever go there for the food) with homebrew flamin hot powder. Someone local figured out a pretty good version and I guess they are selling it by the kilo.
The ingredients included cheese powder, yeast extract powder, msg, chili powder, sodium diacetate, and citric acid. I found it pretty cool that I was eating all this powdered flavor stuff just after being reminded that quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris
Yeast extract on elotes was a revelation.
I am thinking of making esquites like this, with vinegar and lemon instead of of the sodium diacetate and the citric acid. The msg stays.
posted by Index Librorum Prohibitorum at 12:15 AM on February 24, 2018 [6 favorites]
On Ash Wednesday I bought an elote at church (I only ever go there for the food) with homebrew flamin hot powder. Someone local figured out a pretty good version and I guess they are selling it by the kilo.
The ingredients included cheese powder, yeast extract powder, msg, chili powder, sodium diacetate, and citric acid. I found it pretty cool that I was eating all this powdered flavor stuff just after being reminded that quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris
Yeast extract on elotes was a revelation.
I am thinking of making esquites like this, with vinegar and lemon instead of of the sodium diacetate and the citric acid. The msg stays.
posted by Index Librorum Prohibitorum at 12:15 AM on February 24, 2018 [6 favorites]
And let's not forget elote's little brother, esquites. It's the same mayo/[cotija]/lime/chili corn, but off the cob and in a cup and freaking delicious.
Sighted recently just south of Seattle, ironically in an unincorporated neighborhood called White Center in the West Seattle area. (Just north of Burien). Delicious!
posted by msalt at 12:45 AM on February 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
Sighted recently just south of Seattle, ironically in an unincorporated neighborhood called White Center in the West Seattle area. (Just north of Burien). Delicious!
posted by msalt at 12:45 AM on February 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
There are few things that bring back memories of junior high quite like the oversaturated salmon-orange-pink of some flaming hots dipped into some school lunch vat-grade nacho cheese. Delicious, unnaturally colored, and the messiest thing to eat.
posted by dinty_moore at 5:56 AM on February 24, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by dinty_moore at 5:56 AM on February 24, 2018 [4 favorites]
There is a taco place on the way downtown on 18th street, it serves Flamin' Hot Cheeto Burritos. I will get me one in the next while.
posted by Oyéah at 11:39 AM on February 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Oyéah at 11:39 AM on February 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
I've tried flaming hot cheetos twice.
Both times, a second bite was just not going to happen.
I love cheetos. I love spicy things. Many different flavors. I will eat just about anything.
But those things are just wrong on a fundamental level, like fingernails on chalkboard or something. You people are broken.
posted by yesster at 7:34 PM on February 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
Both times, a second bite was just not going to happen.
I love cheetos. I love spicy things. Many different flavors. I will eat just about anything.
But those things are just wrong on a fundamental level, like fingernails on chalkboard or something. You people are broken.
posted by yesster at 7:34 PM on February 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
Y'all are Doing It Wrong if you're not using chopsticks to keep your fingers unsullied at your office job*. Also, this Serious Eats esquites recipe exists if you want a little guidance into DIY deliciousness.
*yes, I know the powder transfer and attendant finger staining is part of the Authentic Flamin' Hot Experience™ but I posit that it's worthwhile to not cross that boundary with the unenlightened
posted by a halcyon day at 8:34 AM on February 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
*yes, I know the powder transfer and attendant finger staining is part of the Authentic Flamin' Hot Experience™ but I posit that it's worthwhile to not cross that boundary with the unenlightened
posted by a halcyon day at 8:34 AM on February 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
Just don't eat flamin hot Cheetos and watch porn at the same time.
posted by Index Librorum Prohibitorum at 10:34 AM on March 9, 2018
posted by Index Librorum Prohibitorum at 10:34 AM on March 9, 2018
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Hero.
posted by Atom Eyes at 3:05 PM on February 23, 2018 [7 favorites]