In Mexico and in the borderlands, if you want to call someone a fatso, but in the nicest possible way, you would call him a gordito, or if it’s a girl, gordita. If you are in a Mexican restaurant in the Southwest and want to order a fat little cornmeal pocket filled with chili or carne asada or roasted vegetables, you ask for a gordita. These pleasingly plump little sandwiches usually come two or three to an order, and instead of offering the substantial crunch of a fried taco shell, they supply an earthy pillow to cushion whatever it is they are stuffed with.
Little Diner outside El Paso offers gorditas stuffed with chili con carne.