At the ballpark in the photo above I have purchased many nacho appetizers. The stale chips and processed cheese can be disappointing though. You can buy Nachos Deluxe instead and choose so many toppings that the chips become a soggy mess that has to be shoveled in with a fork. Despite my regrets, I soldier on with my purchases anywhere nachos are sold. Bad nachos are preferable to no nachos. I prefer the home made or restaurant version though. I love cheese melted in a pot and served with chips and extra toppings on the side. I equally love shredded cheese piled on chips and warmed in the oven. I often add extra toppings beyond the classic cheese and jalapenos.
There is little doubt that nachos are a world phenomenon, but I wanted to know how that came to be. I had a vague notion of the history of the nacho from stories I was familiar with. I remembered something along the line that a man named Nacho made them to feed hungry customers. Some browsing on the world wide web led me down many false trails. Fortunately, I found that writer Sandra Nickel recently released a children's book on the topic. Her research included correspondence with descendants, discovery of two newspaper articles with interviews of Ignacio Anaya, and a trip to Pedras Negras (Nickel). Combining that information with what I could gather from newspaper articles on the topic, I was able to piece together how I believe nachos came to be.
Ignacio "Nacho" Anaya was born in 1895 and grew up loving his mother's quesadillas and learned to cook from his father. Eventually, he became the popular manager of the Victory Club restaurant near the border of Texas in Piedras Negras, Mexico. One afternoon a regular customer arrived with three of her friends. She wanted to try something different. The convivial Ignacio agreed to the request, only to find the kitchen deserted (Nickel). The owner and chefs were away, so he searched the kitchen. Ignacio found some fried tortillas and decided to shred Wisconsin Colby cheese over them. He then warmed them up and topped them with jalapenos (Brown). He was simulating the open faced quesadillas of his childhood (Jinich).
He emerged from the kitchen and received much acclaim for his creation. Customers returned and requested more, causing the dish to be added to the menu. It was named Nacho's Especiales after the creator himself. The popularity of the dish helped Nacho earn promotion to executive chef. After the Victory Club closed down in 1961 he opened his own restaurant naming it after himself Nacho's. His special became so popular in the area that famous persons including Lyndon Johnson, John Wayne, and Ricardo Montalbán went to Piedras Negras to try out Nacho's special (Nickel).
The three ancient ingredients of the original dish are cheese, jalapenos, and fried tortillas chips (Jinich). Tortillas and jalapenos are Mexican in origin with a long history in the region, stemming from the cultivation of the local maize and chiles (Corn Tortilla, Jalapeno). Cheese however, was not native. Most evidence points to cheese originating in Southwest Asia with neolithic farmers (Papademas and Bintsis 3). After which it spread across Europe to the Spanish who introduced it to Mexico along with their livestock.
Wisconsin Colby cheese also found its way to Mexico to help Nacho create the snack that feeds the world. I feel a sense of pride as a native of the state which prints America's Dairyland on its license plates. The town of Colby's website states that over a hundred years ago the mild, soft cheese was invented right there in northwestern Wisconsin. Now, over a billion pounds of cheese flows out of that four county area (Our History). Surely, if any similar cheese had been in the kitchen Ignacio would have substituted for Colby. Nachos are now served with any number of cheeses and piled high with other toppings. Still, Wisconsin Colby can take its place in history.
Ignacio Anaya's tasty appetizer was a regional phenomenon by 1976, a year after his death. It was through the efforts of Frank Liberto who assembled the system of mass produced plates of tortilla chips, processed cheese, and pickled jalapeno. His company sold them at festivals, sporting events, and movie theaters(Cummings). Easy to produce in large amounts, this new method catapulted the nacho onto the world stage.
The mass produced snack may have introduced the world to Ignacio Anaya, but I am looking to reproduce the act that started it all. The story of the loved Mexican hero behind the invention is a mix of United States and Mexican food, culture, and history. I gathered up my Colby cheese, jalapenos, and chips to prepare the special from Piedras Negras.
Ingredients
- Tortilla chips
- Colby Cheese
- Pickled jalapeno slices
- Cheese grater
- 13 by 9 inch baking tray
- oven mitts
- parchment paper
Works Cited
Brown, Mike. “Ignacio Anaya García: Necessity Was the Mother of Invention ... For Nachos.” Inverse, www.inverse.com/article/58546-ignacio-anaya-garca-necessity-was-the-mother-of-invention-for-nachos.
“Corn Tortilla.” Wikipedia, 25 Oct. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_tortilla.
Cummings, Tommy. “Frank Liberto, the Texan Who Introduced Us to Concession Nachos, Dies the Day before National Nachos Day.” Dallas News, 9 Nov. 2017,
“Jalapeño.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Feb. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jalape%C3%B1o.
Nickel, Sandra, and Oliver Dominguez. Nacho’s Nachos : The Story behind the World’s Favorite Snack. New York, Ny, Lee & Low Books, Inc, 2020.
“Our History | City of Colby, Clark/Marathon County, Wisconsin.” Ci.colby.wi.us, ci.colby.wi.us/our-history/. Accessed 12 July 2023.
Photis Papademas, and Thomas Bintsis. Global Cheesemaking Technology. John Wiley & Sons, 26 Sept. 2017.Sen, Mayukh. “RIP Frank Liberto, the Godfather of Concession Stand Nachos.” Vice, 7 Nov. 2017, www.vice.com/en/article/gyj8x9/rip-frank-liberto-the-godfather-of-concession-stand-nachos. Accessed 12 July 2023.
