A National Day to its credit alright, but an International Day and also an entire International Festival celebrating its thumping three angled assertion- that despite its relatively recent history spanning not even the decent mark of a century and the popularity of nachos does not even call for any of the stats in validation. Honoring of course the food itself but also its definite originator- quite unlikely a case for a snack so famous to not command dispute over its creator- has been this International Day of the Nacho the celebration of which dates way back to the year of 1975.
October seems to be the month of choosing for the essentially cheesy curations of the nacho, with the 21st day of the month being exclusively celebratory of its essence as well as fame. Also happening around the same time as this singular day in observance is the more elaborate International Nacho Festival that occurs as a three day celebration of all things nacho- perhaps in reference to the three sided identity of what is essentially a fried tortilla chip, but only in our assumption of that congruency. Whatever that might be though, that nachos derive almost entirely out of another popular snack food of the tortilla chip and yet manage to be so standout in their own is surprising indeed. Less surprising therefore is the more than lone celebration of them, the festival version of which commenced exactly two decades after the day dedicated to ’em addictiveness had been officially established.
The story of origin of the nachos is one of much interest even when fried tortilla chips had already been invented as a delicacy themselves in the 1940s. The nacho specifically came to be in 1943 as an even inventive take by Ignacio Anaya García, himself nicknamed nacho to lend not just his ‘culinary vision’ but also his name upon the Tex- Mex dish. Quite fittingly then upon his passing away in 1975, Garcia was honoured with not just a plaque in the city of Piedras Negras where he derived this version of the dish but also the now immensely popular International Nacho Day.
Piedras Negra also is where the Nacho Fest occurs annually that which is a phenomenon of mass popularity anyway but commanding still special significance with its specific serving of the ‘biggest nacho of the world’ as a contest that sees nacho lovers volunteer to do everything from kneading and preparing the dough to rolling and frying it before finally topping it up with copious amounts of cheese and less copious amounts of jalapeno peppers to prepare this bi- national food in its most authentic version. So prominent is the scale of this preparation claiming to crisp up the world’s biggest nacho that is even registered with the Guinness World Records. Also featuring live music, art, cultural activities and pretty much everything that makes fests the fun affairs they are is this October 13-15 event that only further establishes the global winningness of this widely relished snack.
The relishing of the nacho gets to gain even greater mileage in the versatility of it. Allowing for a host of toppings to find space upon their triangular area with everything from veggies and meats to even sweet somethings on not necessarily a corn base though as well as incorporating a range of different cheeses as part of their character, nachos come across thus as settings in much popularity. Go beyond the essence of it as only food and nachos perhaps is symbolic also of the friendship that the Mex- Tex resonance spans out as, making for a case thus in very deserving popularity indeed to have such dedicated days and occasions doing up their cheese dripping deliciousness.
