Things I Wish Were Easier to Find in Germany #005 Plain Tortilla Chips

You can occasionally find plain Tortilla chips in stores, but it is hard. Most of what you will find are coated with "Nacho cheese" or some other flavoring, which renders them useless for making Nachos or for dipping in fresh salsa or pico gallo. I rarely see my German friends using plain salsa as a dip, instead seeing the jar-cheese and jar-guacamole-cream, both of which are heavy enough and bland enough to warrant the senseless use of flavored chips.

The Fuego brand of plain chips are pretty good, as is the WalMart brand. Toom carries a not so famous brand that are also pretty good, although they are too coarse for the Partnerin's taste. The Dippa brand also has a good plain chip, which is what the Partnerin prefers to use when she makes nachos ... I kid you not, and they are good. It's the one thing from America, other than your's truly, that she really digs.

I suppose I could make my own, but the fresh tortillas would never last so long to warrant frying ... yep, chips are essentially left-over tortillas, although several of the national Mexican restaurant chains in the US now very openly make the fresh tortillas and then fry them up for you to dip while you wait for that big burrito.