Nachos aren’t part of traditional Mexican food. Rather it is part of the wonderful, spice-filled culinary kingdom that is Tex-Mex cuisine.
Tex-Mex, a word that is a combination of Texas and Mexico, is the food that spawned when both of these collided, and the history of how nachos came to be is an excellent example of that.
In 1943, the wives of U.S. soldiers stationed at Fort Duncan in Eagle Pass, TX were in nearby Piedras Negras, Mexico on a shopping trip. They shopped for a long time, lost track of time, and arrived at a restaurant starving and desperate, after it had closed.
The host, Ignacio "Nacho" Anaya, took what was left in the kitchen, tortillas and cheese, and did what he could with them. He cut the tortillas into triangles, added shredded cheddar cheese, quickly heated them, added sliced pickled jalapeño peppers, and served them.
When asked what the dish was called, he answered, “Nachos especiales.”
As word of the dish traveled through out Texas, the dish was simplified to “Nacho’s special,” then “special nachos,” and then finally just “nachos.”
Variations of the dish are always popping up and people have added beef, pork, shredded chicken, black beans, guacamole, cilantro, olives, even mango.
Yet people always seem to tweak the toppings, no one ever thinks to futz with the nachos.
That is until now…
First thing we did for this recipe is take out some frozen tots.
We neatly lined them up on parchment paper and an oven tray.
Then we popped them in the oven at 400 °F for 20 minutes.
Once they were done, we let them cool for 10 minutes.
Then the fun began with the sprinkling of a little cheddar cheese.
Then we added a little pre-made chili.
Next we added even more cheese.
Then we popped it all in the microwave for about a minute, or until the cheese fully melted.
Once melted, we added some salsa.
Then we plopped on some guacamole.
And topped it off with a dollop of sour cream.
The end result was Tater Tot Nachos or ‘Tochos!’
Honestly, it looked and smelled so good, I wanted to eat it all for myself.
But I decided to share it with some friends.
We downed the whole plate under 10 minutes. It was probably one of the most delicious things I’ve ever had!
