Chef Aarón Sánchez Says This Tex-Mex Staple Is The 'Destruction Of Humanity'

Any chef has strong opinions about food, either passionately supporting a dish or ingredient they love, or opposing something they truly dislike. Anthony Bourdain called Johnny Rockets' burgers "soul destroying." Gordon Ramsay once called pineapple on pizza an "Italian tragedy." In that same spirit, Chef Aarón Sánchez has strong opinions about fried tortilla bowls. "It's actually something that's super inaccurate ... I think it's the destruction of humanity," he told Tasting Table at the Nassau Paradise Island Wine & Food Festival. 

Those big tortilla bowls are definitely not authentic Mexican. They appeared in the 1960s, following in the footsteps of a smaller innovation called the Tacup, a cup-shaped Frito created by the head of the Frito Company. They were sold at the Casa de Fritos Restaurant in Disneyland, and eventually, the menu was upgraded to a taco salad served in a deep-fried flour tortilla. Though it is not a traditional Mexican item, there is some evidence that the Mexican family running the Disneyland restaurant helped develop it. Interestingly, you also have them to thank for the world's first Doritos.

The perceived lack of authenticity is one of Chef Sánchez's major criticisms, but so is how it's prepared. "Well, first of all, you don't fry a flour tortilla. That's number one," he told us. "So think about it. It's made with flour and it's saturated with oil. It's not going to be something pleasant. You know what I mean?"

In many recipes, a flour tortilla is an acceptable replacement for a corn tortilla, but corn tortillas have a much longer history in Mexican cuisine. Flour tortillas were invented hundreds of years ago, but Mesoamericans first processed corn around 3,000 years ago. If you're not sure when to use flour versus corn tortillas, know that the differences are often regional, and flour typically holds up to heavier fillings best. But in terms of frying to make a crispy bowl, neither history nor geography really comes into play.

A far more traditional approach to a fried tortilla bowl is the tostada, a crispy fried corn tortilla that is generally prepared flat. Tostadas have been a part of Mexican cuisine for centuries. They're topped with everything from grilled shrimp and avocado to ground beef and cheese. People do make flour ones these days, but they are less common. One thing to note is that flour tortillas puff up more than corn tortillas do, and the flavor is noticeably different, although making your tortillas at home can always help with that. 

Using a fried flour tortilla as a bowl seems to have originated at Disneyland in the 1960s before expanding elsewhere. Whether that makes it "the destruction of humanity" is up for debate, but at least you know where Chef Sánchez stands.