Chimichanga

Origins

The origin of the chimichanga is uncertain. According to Mexican linguist and philologist Francisco J. Santamaría's Diccionario de Mejicanismos (1959), Chivichanga is a regionalism from the State of Tabasco: Chimichanga and its variants Chivichanga and Chibachanga are synonymous with the term Timbirimba, which means:

Folk history

From the Mexican term chivichanga, one account adduces that Sonoran immigrants brought the dish with them to Arizona. Instead, most researchers agree that the chimichanga was created by accident at a Mexican restaurant in Arizona, United States, although they disagree over precisely where. The words chimi and changa come from two Mexican Spanish terms: chamuscado (past participle of the verb chamuscar), which means seared or singed, and changa, related to chinga (third-person present tense form of the vulgar verb chingar), a rude expression for the unexpected or a small insult.

According to one source, Monica Flin, the founder of the Tucson, Arizona, restaurant El Charro Café (est. 1922), accidentally dropped a burrito into the deep-fat fryer in the early 1950s. Knowledge and appreciation of the dish spread slowly outward from the Tucson area, with popularity elsewhere accelerating over the decades. Though the chimichanga is now found as part of the Tex-Mex cuisine, its roots within the U.S. are mainly in Tucson, Arizona.

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, in Phoenix, Arizona. These "fried burritos" became so popular that by 1952, when Woody's El Nido became Macayo's,

Nutritional value

According to data presented by the United 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.

References

References

1. (1959). "Diccionario de Mejicanismo". Editorial Porrúa.
2. (1959). "Diccionario de Mejicanismos". Editorial Porrúa.
3. Rochlin, Margy. (23 September 2016). "Where did the chimichanga, the glorious deep-fried burrito, come from anyway?". Los Angeles Times.
4. Trulsson, Nora Burba. (October 1999). "Chimichanga Mysteries: The Origin of Tucson's Deep-fried Masterpiece Is an Enigma Wrapped in a Tortilla".
5. Henderson, John. (2007-01-24). "We All Win as Chimichanga War Rages On". [[The Denver Post]].
6. Laudig, Michele. (2007-11-22). "Chimi Eat World: Arizona's deepest-fried mystery is smothered in cheese, guacamole and sour cream". [[Phoenix New Times]].
7. Lacey, Marc. (2011-11-15). "Arizonans Vie to Claim Cross-Cultural Fried Food". [[The New York Times]].
8. . (). ["chamuscar"](http://lema.rae.es/drae/?val=chamuscar). *[[Real Academia Española]]*.
9. . (). ["chingar"](http://lema.rae.es/drae/?val=chingar). *[[Real Academia Española]]*.
10. Del Castillo, María. (1966). "Cocina mexicana". Editorial Olimpo.
11. Jordan, Jill. (August 26, 1987). "Burro tale origins of the elusive chimichanga still remain buried in local food lore". [[The Arizona Republic]].
12. Stradley, Linda. (August 2024). "Chimichanga History and Recipe". What's Cooking America (blog).
13. (5 February 2015). "The History of Our Traditional Mexican Restaurant - Macayo's".
14. Miller, Tom. (2000). "Jack Ruby's Kitchen Sink: Offbeat Travels Through America's Southwest". National Geographic.
15. . (). ["Basic Report: 21071, Fast foods, chimichanga, with beef and cheese"](http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/6586?fg=&man=&lfacet=&format=&count=&max=25&offset=&sort=&qlookup=chimichanga). *[[United States Department of Agriculture]]*.
16. Stein, Natalie. (May 22, 2012). "Nutrition Facts About Chimichangas". [[San Francisco Chronicle]].
17. Leeds, Jeff. (1994-07-19). "The Whole Enchilada: It's Too Fat for You, Study Says". [[Los Angeles Times]].