Frito-Lay celebrated its 80th anniversary in a big way on Monday, October 1 at 9:45 a.m. How big, you ask? Big enough to try and set the record for the world’s largest Frito chili pie at the State Fair of Texas. The current Guinness World Record weighs in at a whopping 1,100 pounds, making this challenge a heavy feat, to say the least.
While many of us might imagine cooking the Frito pie in an over-sized container, the chefs at Frito Lay had a much more organized system. They used a curved, heated tray that cooked at a scorching 187 degrees. Hundreds of bags full of cheese, Frito chips, and chili were then filled to the brim of the tray and layered to perfection.
State Fair attendees gathered closer and closer as the smell of Frito pie wafted around Big Tex Circle. Before long, the crowd became enormous and frenzied with excitement.
Jump if you like Fritos
One bystander was especially enthusiastic as she emphatically described what she wanted to do with all that Frito pie. “If I had a hazmat suit, trust me, I would be in there,” Risa Goldstein says. “I mean, look at it. It’s a bubble bath full of fabulousness!” Another fair goer decidedly brought her own plastic fork for the promised free sample of Frito pie.
After an hour of layering, I was time for the final weigh-in. Guinness representative Michael Empric took the mic to announce (cue drum roll) that at 1,325 pounds, the State Fair of Texas now holds the record for the world’s largest chili Frito pie.
And what better way to celebrate than to enjoy free samples of Frito pie at our beloved State Fair of Texas? Pretty much nothing.
D Magazine intern Iris Zubair graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in December 2011 with a BA in Magazine Journalism. She has written for Austin Monthly Magazine and UT’s student newspaper, The Daily Texan.
