On 04 Feb 2004 08:42:26 GMT, (ASmith1946) wrote:

TMO wrote:


Since chile con queso was far less Mexican than it was an American (50s?)
interpretation of TexMex food, the original "popular" recipe for the
appetizer and party dip was a clever blend of Velveeta and Rotel brand
canned tomatoes with green chiles.

Velveeta, maybe; Rotel, no. I have a booklet of "Historic Cookery"
published by a New Mexico state university, "revised" in 1958 which
has a 'green chiles with cheese' recipe that simply specifies "slices
of cheese" added to sauted onion, garlic, and canned(!) or dried,
soaked green chiles until melted. No 'serving suggestions' for either
chips or tortillas


I've located chili con queso recipes in US cookbooks dating to the 1930s, and
indeed chili con queso was likely a Tex-Mex creation (as was chili con carne).
Early recipes do not use Velveeta, which was first manufactured in 1928. It was
common practice to use Velveeta in chili con queso recipes by the 1970s in New
Mexico. Velveeta was much cheaper than cheese; when heated and mixed with other
ingredients, the properties of Velveeta made a decent chip dip that was better
than ones made from real cheese.

Velveeta *is* 'real cheese', processed as you mention. Will have to
remember that 1928 date for reference.

As to chip dips, I blame Lipton's Soup for this phenomena. As far as I know,
their recipe combining dry onion soup mix with sour cream, along with the
multi-million dollar promotion blitz, was the impetus for the party dip craze
that began in the 1950s. (Out of curiosity, did Lipton promote this dip in the
UK or elsewhere as well?) During the 1950s, the chips of choice were potato
chips (or crisps if you prefer). Corn chips (for dipping as opposed to fritios,
which were/are too small for dipping) did not become popular in the US until
the late 1960s.

"California dip" was apparently introduced as a package recipe in
1954. According to some references, sour cream was very little used in
American cooking until that time, although crème fraîche, and various
yogurt/sour milk products have a long history. The potato chip (or
Saratoga chip) was introduced in the 1850s as a variation on fried
potatoes, which presumably have been around in one form or another
since there've been potatoes and fat.

Looks as if Snack America began in the mid 1950s. Or at least
Chip'n'Dip America. Crackers, pretzels, sweets, and cookies have been
around for a long time.