Fritos® Pie: Stories, Recipes, and More (Volume 24)

Tarleton State University Southwestern Studies in the Humanities

by Kaleta Doolin, Davia Nelson (Foreword)

Fritos® Pie is an insider’s look at the never-before-told story of the Frito Company written by Kaleta Doolin, daughter of the company’s founder. Filled with personal anecdotes, more than 150 vintage and newly created recipes, and stories, this book recounts the company’s early days, the 1961 merger that created Frito-Lay, Inc., and beyond.
In 1932 C. E. Doolin, the operator of a struggling San Antonio confectionery, purchased for $100 the recipe for a fried corn chip product and a crude device used to make it, along with a list of nineteen customer accounts. From that humble beginning sprang Fritos® (“fries” in Spanish), a product that, thanks to Doolin’s marketing ingenuity and a visionary approach to food technology, would become one of the best-known brands in America.
One of the first firms to utilize point-of-sale advertising, the Frito Company developed dozens of recipes intended to get American homemakers “Cooking with Fritos.” Indeed, Doolin shows that many of the vintage recipes developed by her grandmother, her father, and company employees became integral to the company’s marketing success. The book includes recipes—for everything from appetizers to desserts, all using Fritos as an ingredient—along with the author’s comments and anecdotes about her adventures experimenting with them in her kitchen.
Doolin also draws upon hours of interviews with her mother, siblings, cousins, and many of her father's closest business associates as well as focused research in Frito-Lay corporate archives and other collections to paint a portrait of her father as not only an innovator in food marketing but also a visionary inventor, a forward-thinking agriculturalist, and an entrepreneur with an amazing grasp of detail.

224 pages, Paperback

First published July 21, 2011

Reviews

[Lynnea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned so much about a company I thought I knew a little about. The history of the family and the people behind the brand was very interesting. A glimpse into recipes of the past is always fascinating and often a bit unappealing to our modern tastes. I enjoy those glimpses. It was a fun book, I am glad I bought it.

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely tribute to the genius of her father and creator of Fritos. Loaded with recipes using Fritos from days gone by. I may even try a few.

[Paddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great family lore, foodways scholarship, fascinating stories!

[Katrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a combination cookbook and the story of the man who invented the Frito. I did enjoy reading about his life's work in the snack food industry. How ironic that a man so interested and personally invested in homeopathic healing and the natural, whole foods movement created the Frito! As far as the included recipes, most didn't appeal to me, but I might have to try to make the famous frito pie.

[Kelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess I expected a rags to riches story chronicling the history of the business with a little historical view of San Antonio. I never got the impression that it was a small operation with multi-state locations, including a restaurant in Disney World. Still, the stories were interesting and the recipes are crazy.

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Personal account of Fritos company written by founder's daughter. Would have liked even more about how Doolin grew the business, but accept the personal aspect is this story's focus (her father died when she was 9). Lots of nice photos of advertising campaigns. Really neat how many innovations came out of this family and company.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

reviewing for a local history journal. . .
A fun look at a local company with some very crazy recipes. Loved all the vintage advertising and photos. But it probably would have been a lovely magazine article.