 Chimichangas | |
| Alternative names | Chivichanga |
|---|---|
| Type | Burrito |
| Place of origin | Southwestern United States orMexico |
| Main ingredients | Tortillas,rice,cheese,beans,machaca,jalapeño,carne adobada or shreddedchicken |
Achimichanga (/ˌtʃɪmɪˈtʃæŋɡə/CHIM-ih-CHANG-gə,Spanish:[tʃimiˈtʃaŋɡa]) is adeep-friedburrito that is common inTex-Mex and otherSouthwestern U.S. cuisine. The dish is typically prepared by filling aflour tortilla with variousingredients, most commonlyrice,cheese,beans, and a meat, such asmachaca (chopped or shredded meat),carneadobada (marinated meat),carne seca (dried beef), or shreddedchicken, and folding it into a rectangular package. It is thendeep-fried, and can be accompanied bysalsa,guacamole, orsour cream.
The origin of the chimichanga is uncertain. According to Mexican linguist and philologistFrancisco J. Santamaría'sDiccionario de Mejicanismos (1959),Chivichanga is a regionalism from the State ofTabasco:[1]
In Tabasco, it's any trinket or trifle; something unimportant and whose true role or origin, is not known legitimately. — Variants:chibachanga,chimichanga.
Chimichanga and its variantsChivichanga andChibachanga are synonymous with the termTimbirimba, which means:[2]
Term used in some parts of the interior of the country, to refer to a thing whose name is unknown, or a thing that is properly ignored.What timbirimba is that? Synonym ofchivichanga.
From the Mexican termchivichanga, one account adduces thatSonoranimmigrants brought the dish with them toArizona.[3][failed verification][original research?] Instead, most researchers agree that the chimichanga was created by accident at aMexican restaurant inArizona, United States, although they disagree over precisely where.[4][5][6][7] The wordschimi andchanga come from two Mexican Spanish terms:chamuscado (past participle of the verbchamuscar),[8] which means seared or singed, andchanga, related tochinga (third-person present tense form of the vulgar verbchingar[9]), a rude expression for the unexpected or a small insult.[10]
According to one source,[11] Monica Flin, the founder of theTucson, Arizona, restaurantEl Charro Café (est. 1922), accidentally dropped aburrito into thedeep-fat fryer in the early 1950s.[7] She immediately began to utter aSpanishprofanity beginning "chi..." (chingada),[original research?] but quickly stopped herself and instead exclaimedchimichanga, a Spanish equivalent of "thingamajig".[12] Knowledge and appreciation of the dish spread slowly outward from theTucson area, with popularity elsewhere accelerating over the decades. Though the chimichanga is now found as part of theTex-Mex cuisine, its roots within the U.S. are mainly in Tucson, Arizona.[7][3][13]
Woody Johnson, founder of Mexican restaurant chain Macayo's Mexican Kitchen, claimed he had invented the chimichanga in 1946 when he put some burritos into a deep fryer as an experiment at his original restaurant Woody's El Nido, inPhoenix, Arizona.[14] These "fried burritos" became so popular that by 1952, when Woody's El Nido became Macayo's,[5] the chimichanga was one of the restaurant's main menu items. Although no official records indicate when the dish first appeared, retiredUniversity of Arizona folklorist Jim Griffith recalls seeing chimichangas at the Yaqui OldPascua Village in Tucson in the mid-1950s.[15]
According to data presented by theUnited States Department of Agriculture, a typical 180-gram (6.5-ounce) serving of a beef and cheese chimichanga contains 443 calories, 20 grams protein, 39 grams carbohydrates, 23 grams total fat, 11 grams saturated fat, 51 milligrams cholesterol, and 957 milligrams of sodium.[16][17][18]
Media related toChimichanga at Wikimedia Commons
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