Through an entertaining and moving story, Flamin’ Hot: The flavor that changed history addresses topics such as the ups and downs and challenges of the “American dream”, vision and perseverance, the power of faith and family to empower and encourage, and the importance of discipline and the desire to improve certain aspects of your life.
Who is Richard Montanez?
Richard Montañez is the son of Mexicans, born in 1958 in Ontario, California. Like other migrants, he began his working life at a very young age to contribute money to his house and, not having studied, since he did not know how to write in English, his horizons seemed very limited.
Richard Montañez, a resident of East Los Angeles, at some point succumbed to the temptations of local gangs, who offered him the possibility of obtaining easy money through illegal activities. However, Montañez confesses that he lacked the ability for such tasks and, as a result, he always ended up being captured.
When he turned 18 in 1976, Richard Montañez, with the help of his girlfriend Judy at the time, decided to fill out a job application at the Frito-Lay factories, looking for a stable job with social security.
Montañez shared his experience saying, “I remember filling it out and turning it in to the human resources department, and I was very nervous, since the application did not contain any certainties. However, I got the job immediately,” in an interview with the radio station public npr.
Initially, he was hired as a janitor, but soon, after a year, other opportunities presented themselves, such as being a machine operator at the fry factory located in Rancho Cucamonga, east of Los Angeles, or even doing distribution work. .
He spent more than a decade in junior positions at the company.
At one particular moment, while organizing frituras in a Mexican community store, Montañez says he had the idea that would change his life: “I watched people buying chiles. I saw people buying spices. And I looked at our flavorless Lay’s potatoes. .. So we don’t have anything for those who like it spicy?” he mused.
How did you create the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos flavor?
In this film that deals with the Flamin’ hot, he narrates the creative process that was experienced to achieve this recipe.
Already working in the company and with his impressions of the salty taste of the chips, his wife will prepare the sauce, Richard Montañez spent a lot of time devising how to incorporate it into Lay’s chips. Eventually, he found a way to turn it into a powder, similar to the method used to add the orange cheese flavoring that is so characteristic of Cheetos.
As shared with npr, in 1989 he brought the spicy Cheetos to the factory. His classmates were impressed by the taste. He tried to introduce them to managers to show them that there was a potential market among Latinos and other lovers of spiciness, such as Asians, but received no response.
His idea took time to materialize, he explained, as he needed the backing of experts in processed foods, who couldn’t just use homemade hot sauce powder. However, as he related, by 1990 everything was in progress.
“I remember the excitement of seeing the bags go up the conveyor belt at the plant for the first time. I thought, ‘I did it,'” he told NPR.
Where to see the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos movie?
The film was released on June 9, 2023 through the streaming platforms Star+ and Disney+.
This is one of Disney’s big bets for the boreal summer.
Who participated in the film?
The new film from Searchlight Pictures directed by the award-winning actress, director and producer Eva Longoria, counts among her cast names like: jesse garcia (Quinceanera) as Richard; Annie Gonzalez (peoplefied) as Judy, his wife; Emilio Rivera (The indomitable, first degree crime, venom) as Vacho, Richard’s father; dennis haysbert (Far from the sky, 24) as Clarence, Richard’s mentor; and Tony Shalhoub (The wonderful Mrs. Maisel, monk), winner of four Emmy Awards, as Roger Enrico, CEO of PepsiCo. They are also part of the cast Matt Walsh (Veep), Bobby Soto(Narcos) and Pepe Serna (Scarface).