September 11, 2026 • 14 mins
Whether you're headed to the ballpark or a movie theater this weekend, chances are you'll encounter one of our favorite snacks: melted cheese on a pile of tortilla chips. You know how delicious this is, but do you know how nachos were invented? Or what happened when an American baseball team flew a little too close to the sun by trying to put them on a stick? You will after you listen to this episode!
This episode originally aired on November 20, 2018.
Got a question or idea for the show? Call our hotline at (302) 405-5925 or email higeniuses@gmail.com.
Follow us on Instagram @parttimegenius and Bluesky @parttimegenius.bsky.social!
Photo by Erick Su via Unsplash. Thanks, Erick!
Learn more about your ad choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Guess what, Mango? What's that, Will?
Speaker 2 (00:04):
So, you know, I'm a huge fan of ballpark food.
Like whenever we get invited to go to, you know,
big league baseball games or anything like that. I'm not
the biggest fan of baseball, but I love going to
these games because I'll just eat corn dogs, nachos, anything else.
But I decided to read up on the greatest ballpark
foods out there because I got to know what I'm missing.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
It actually turns out, I'll admit, I did not know this,
but that 2015 was a big year for snack-related inventions.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Big year. Oh, yeah?
Speaker 3 (00:34):
What was that?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Well, that's the year that the Arizona Diamondbacks debuted the
Churro Dog, which ESPN describes as a churro inside a
donut bun. topped with frozen yogurt sundae.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
I mean, come on. That's like a lot of stuff.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
I'd eat one of those.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
And while that was definitely the front runner for most
of the year, the Milwaukee Brewers, Miller Park, they came
up with an even more popular snack than that.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
And now I've got to hear this. What is it?
Speaker 1 (01:01):
You ready?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
This is kind of mind-blowing. It's nachos on a stick.
And apparently it was all the rage in 2015. Now,
all the rage in a way that somehow we didn't
find out about, but it was all the rage, I guess,
in Milwaukee. Supposedly it was a stick of beef loaded
with refried beans, rolled in Doritos, and then deep fried
(01:23):
and drizzled with sour cream and cheese.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
All on a stick. I have no idea how that works,
but it does seem pretty genius.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
So it does sound like kind of novel, I guess,
but why were people so excited about it?
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Well, the vendors were excited about it because the whole
idea was that you could be chowing down on the
stick in one hand and yet still be able to
wash it down with a beverage in the other. Because
if you think about it, that's my biggest frustration with
going to these games is you always have to put
the drink down between your feet to then eat the nachos,
which is a two-handed thing. Or you could master what
(01:56):
I master of just getting the chip with your mouth,
dipping it, and then kind of doing a flip and
letting it. you know, flip down into, I'll have to
show you later. But anyway, it's novel because you would
never get any nacho cheese on yourself by doing this.
And they saw it as this revolution and how you
would eat nachos. But reading about all this made me
(02:18):
think we should do a nine things all about nachos,
you know, break down some of the ingredients, talk about
how America got so obsessed with them. So let's dive in.
(02:48):
Hey there, podcast listeners. Welcome to Part-Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson.
And as always, I'm joined by my good friend, Mangesh Hatikader.
And on the other side of the soundproof glass, just
rocking another one of his brilliant shirts. And this one says,
Buenos Nachos. That's our good friend and producer, Tristan McNeil. Now, Mango,
this is a fun episode, you know, because we're both
(03:08):
big fans of cheese dip. We have been for years,
and I'm guessing we ate no less than four to
five tons of it in college between the two of us.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
So anyway, with that in mind, it's up to you.
Where do you think we should start?
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Well, I think I'm going to save the cheese dip
for a little later on. It's too good and start
with something a little more basic. Did you know that
chips and salsa is the official state snack of Texas?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Not only did I not know that, but I guess
I didn't know that states had official snacks. But at
the same time, I guess it's not all that surprising.
So tell me more.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Yeah, I guess it isn't that surprising, but how it
became the state snack is super fun. So in 2002,
this group of second graders from the Leo Marcel Elementary
School in Mission, Texas, decided that their state needed its
own official snack. So Texas at the time already had
a state dish, chili, a state fruit, grapefruit, and a
state pie, pecan. So the kids decided to lobby for
(04:04):
this official snack, but the competition was fiercer than you
might imagine. So the kids came up with all these nominees,
including pickles, Doritos, Flamin' Hot Cheetos, and in the end,
I guess, the victory went to the good old Chips
and Salsas.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Yeah, I think I can agree with that one. So
how did they actually get this passed?
Speaker 3 (04:24):
I guess four kids actually testified before a House committee
on behalf of chips and salsa. And while all the
kids spoke with, you know, the sort of passion that
chips and salsa demand, a little girl named Audrey made
the most convincing argument. And this is what she said, quote, First,
salsa contains two ingredients that are state symbols already. The
(04:44):
jalapeno is the state pepper and sweet onions are the
state vegetable. Put them together with a few more ingredients
and presto, perfect salsa that just makes sense.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
It does.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
It's so cute. And apparently she wasn't the only one
who thought so because Rick Perry actually signed the resolution
into law not long after.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Wow, that is pretty amazing. I really like that one.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
All right, well, since we're doing nachos facts, I feel
like we should start with the chips themselves because there's
actually a great origin story there. And this goes back
to the late 1940s. to El Zarape Tortilla Factory, and
this is in Los Angeles, and it became one of
the first to automate its production of these tortillas. So
the company had installed this state-of-the-art tortilla-making machine, and pretty
(05:28):
soon it was cranking these things out like 12 times
faster than they could by hand. So the only problem
with this is that, you know, many of the tortillas
came out misshapen or kind of twisted up, and of
course those ones couldn't be sold. So one night, the
co-owner of the business, Rebecca Webb Carranza, she takes these
reject tortillas. She just brings them home and has a
(05:49):
family party. And so she decides to cut the tortillas
into triangles, fry them up, and then serve them to
her guest as what she called tort chips. And because
her relatives love the chips so much, Carranza started selling
them for 10 cents a bag at this local Mexican
deli and also right outside of the factory there. So
you fast forward a decade to the 1960s, and Carranza's
(06:12):
tort chips were available up and down the West Coast.
And not only that, the chips were so popular, they
became El Zarape's main business.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Oh, that's pretty amazing.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
I didn't realize that the chips had their own story.
I feel like it's one of those things you just
assume exists forever, right? So here's a fact that I
might have heard before, but it's still surprising to me.
Did you realize that chipotle and jalapeno peppers are the
same plant?
Speaker 1 (06:37):
I don't think I knew that. Yeah, it's just super weird.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
To me because they have like such distinct tastes and colors,
but it's partially due to just when and how they're harvested. So,
you know, jalapenos, like a bunch of other peppers, start
out green, but then they turn red as they ripen.
And there's a reason we don't often see red jalapenos
in grocery stores. It's because in farming, you know, the
longer you let something grow, the more time there is
(07:00):
for things to go wrong along the way. So from
this like financial standpoint, it's just less risky to pick
the peppers when they're green. But the chipotles are just
red jalapenos that have been smoked dried.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
All right.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Well, here's a quick one about pico de gallo. You know,
the super simple mix that just has fresh diced tomatoes, onion,
jalapenos and usually cilantro and. It just tastes so good
on tortilla chips. But anyway, according to Epicurious, pico de
gallo actually means rooster's beak in Spanish.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
What? Why rooster's beak?
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Well, it actually turns out that the traditional way of
eating pico de gallo was just to use your fingers,
and in particular, your thumb and index fingers. You do
have to keep in mind that tortilla chips and the
act of dipping them in salsa, that was really more
of an American thing. And so This style of eating,
when you have those two fingers, it reminded people so
much of the way roosters peck at food with their
(07:54):
beaks that they just decided the name should reflect that.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
That's really cute. Well, one of the strangest things I
learned this week was that if you like sour cream
on your nachos, you really ought to thank the Mongols.
Of course. And maybe the Russians, too. So this is
according to io9. The Mongols always had plenty of milk
on hand thanks to the horses they traveled with. But
the only problem was that a large part of the
(08:18):
population was lactose intolerant. So instead of drinking the fresh
mare's milk, they'd, I guess, let it ferment for a
long time until all the bacteria had eaten away the
lactose and replaced.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
It with alcohol.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
And then they drank this, I guess, slightly alcoholic milk
drink called Kumis. Anyway... When they brought this drink to Russia,
the people really went crazy for it. Only they kind
of tweaked the process a little. Like they used milk
from cows rather than horses. And they also allowed the
milk to thicken much longer, which kept it from turning alcoholic.
(08:49):
And what they ended up with was this smooth, somewhat
sour tasting cream, which is basically the same stuff we
keep on our nachos today.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Wow. I didn't believe that you were actually going to
be able to connect that to the Mongols, but I
think you successfully did. All right, well, before we get
too deep into the toppings, I feel like we should
really talk about the man behind the dish that we
know as nachos, somebody that we all owe so much to, really,
if you think about it. His name was Ignacio Anaya,
or as his friends called him, just Nacho. Now, according
(09:18):
to the story, nachos were born in a Mexican border
town back in 1943, and Ignacio wasn't actually a chef,
but more of a maitre d' at a restaurant that
was called the Victor Club. Now, one night during World
War II... Anaya was closing up the restaurant when a
dozen women just showed up and they were desperate for
a late night meal. These were the wives of U.S.
(09:39):
soldiers who'd been stationed just across the border in Eagle Pass, Texas.
Of course, Anaya didn't want to turn them away, but
he also knew the kitchen was low on food and
that the chef had already left for the night. So
Anaya goes back to the kitchen and tries to see
what he can pull together. And of course, what he
comes up with is the very first plate of nachos, which,
(09:59):
of course, was tortilla chips topped with shredded cheese, jalapenos,
and then he'd bake them all in the oven. Now,
the dish was a huge hit with the army wives.
And when they asked their server what it's called, he said,
nachos especiales, which of course was later just shortened to nachos.
And The dish eventually became so popular that Anaya quit
(10:20):
to open his own nacho-centric restaurant.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
I really, I have no idea if this thing still exists.
Probably not.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Why didn't this take off? I feel like nacho-centric restaurants
should have gone everywhere.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
I would have totally gone to one or would still.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Well, we've got two more facts to get to before
we close this out, but let's take a quick break.
Welcome back to Part-Time Genius, where we're talking nachos. So
(10:55):
here's a question I had. Are refried beans really fried twice?
It feels like this age-old question. Like, why would beans
need to be fried more than once? Well, it turns
out the answer is that they don't. In fact, sometimes
they aren't even fried once. They're just mashed and boiled instead,
which brings up the follow-up, why all the confusion? And
of course, you know, Gabe had the answer for us
(11:17):
as always. It turns out the English name refried beans
is really just a mistranslation of the Spanish name for
the dish frijoles refritos. So frijoles is, of course, the
Spanish word for beans and frito is a Spanish adjective
meaning fried or cooked. So the translation error really comes
down to the prefix re-. And in English, we put
that prefix on things like retry or reschedule, things that
(11:39):
are being done more than once. But in Spanish, I
guess the prefix has a completely different meaning. It adds
emphasis to an adjective. So refritos doesn't actually mean refried
at all. It means well-fried or well-cooked.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Oh, I did not know that's a good one, Gabe.
I'm glad he helped you out on that one.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
All right, well, I don't think we should end this
show without talking a little bit about how stadium nachos,
where that gooey cheese came to be, And, you know,
while nachos started growing more popular after their invention in
the 1940s, you kind of needed an oven to melt
the cheese. And so that meant the dish was really
restricted to restaurants and cooking at home. And you didn't
(12:15):
see them at fast food joints at that point or
movie theaters or ballparks. But that all changed thanks to
a man named Frank Liberto. Now, Frank worked concessions at
Arlington Stadium back in the 1970s. And this is back
when it was home to the Texas Rangers. And his
customers would often say how they wish they could have
nachos at the game. And of course, Frank knew that
(12:36):
he couldn't install ovens or broilers just, you know, on
this hunch that the dish would sell. So instead, he
started working on this gooey liquid form of the cheese
that could be quickly ladled over the chips. And it
took a little time to get the secret recipe just right.
But in 1976, concession nachos finally hit the stands. And
I feel fortunate because That's just a few years before
(12:58):
we were born. So we can say that for all
of our lives, we've never had to go without the
availability of nachos at a ballpark.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
That is a wonderful thing.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
It really is.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
I can't even imagine what life was like, you know,
when you think back pre-electricity, pre-nachos in the ballpark.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
It's just, it's tough.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
But anyway, at first, the operators wanted nothing to do
with Frank's invention. So he had to build his own
nacho carts to push through the stadium. But once they
caught sight of these massive lines that routinely formed behind
the nacho carts, the cheesy chips became a stadium staple.
You know, they even started out selling popcorn, which had
been the former top seller, which It's weird because, I mean,
(13:37):
I like popcorn at movie theaters, but for some reason, psychologically,
like I want nothing to do with.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Popcorn in the ballpark.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
You just want a cup of cheese. I just want
some cheese on some chips. But anyway, within the next
few years, Frank's liquid cheese was being dished out with
nachos at ballparks all over the country.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
What a hero. I really like that. So maybe you
should take the trophy home for celebrating nacho cheese.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
You know, I appreciate the thought there. I feel like
the fact that you connected such a strange dish to
the Mongols.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Was really impressive.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
I feel like just to honor how much cheese dip
we ate in college, why don't we call this one
a draw and go order ourselves some celebratory nachos?
Speaker 3 (14:17):
I like that. And we'll take Tristan with us. Well,
that's it for today's show. If you've got a great
nachos story or fact, be sure to share it with
us on our socials. You know we're curious about it.
And from Gabe, Tristan, Will, and me, thank you so
much for listening.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Thank you.
Guess what, Mango? What's that, Will?
Speaker 2 (00:04):
So, you know, I'm a huge fan of ballpark food.
Like whenever we get invited to go to, you know,
big league baseball games or anything like that. I'm not
the biggest fan of baseball, but I love going to
these games because I'll just eat corn dogs, nachos, anything else.
But I decided to read up on the greatest ballpark
foods out there because I got to know what I'm missing.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
It actually turns out, I'll admit, I did not know this,
but that 2015 was a big year for snack-related inventions.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Big year. Oh, yeah?
Speaker 3 (00:34):
What was that?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Well, that's the year that the Arizona Diamondbacks debuted the
Churro Dog, which ESPN describes as a churro inside a
donut bun. topped with frozen yogurt sundae.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
I mean, come on. That's like a lot of stuff.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
I'd eat one of those.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
And while that was definitely the front runner for most
of the year, the Milwaukee Brewers, Miller Park, they came
up with an even more popular snack than that.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
And now I've got to hear this. What is it?
Speaker 1 (01:01):
You ready?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
This is kind of mind-blowing. It's nachos on a stick.
And apparently it was all the rage in 2015. Now,
all the rage in a way that somehow we didn't
find out about, but it was all the rage, I guess,
in Milwaukee. Supposedly it was a stick of beef loaded
with refried beans, rolled in Doritos, and then deep fried
(01:23):
and drizzled with sour cream and cheese.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
All on a stick. I have no idea how that works,
but it does seem pretty genius.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
So it does sound like kind of novel, I guess,
but why were people so excited about it?
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Well, the vendors were excited about it because the whole
idea was that you could be chowing down on the
stick in one hand and yet still be able to
wash it down with a beverage in the other. Because
if you think about it, that's my biggest frustration with
going to these games is you always have to put
the drink down between your feet to then eat the nachos,
which is a two-handed thing. Or you could master what
(01:56):
I master of just getting the chip with your mouth,
dipping it, and then kind of doing a flip and
letting it. you know, flip down into, I'll have to
show you later. But anyway, it's novel because you would
never get any nacho cheese on yourself by doing this.
And they saw it as this revolution and how you
would eat nachos. But reading about all this made me
(02:18):
think we should do a nine things all about nachos,
you know, break down some of the ingredients, talk about
how America got so obsessed with them. So let's dive in.
(02:48):
Hey there, podcast listeners. Welcome to Part-Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson.
And as always, I'm joined by my good friend, Mangesh Hatikader.
And on the other side of the soundproof glass, just
rocking another one of his brilliant shirts. And this one says,
Buenos Nachos. That's our good friend and producer, Tristan McNeil. Now, Mango,
this is a fun episode, you know, because we're both
(03:08):
big fans of cheese dip. We have been for years,
and I'm guessing we ate no less than four to
five tons of it in college between the two of us.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
So anyway, with that in mind, it's up to you.
Where do you think we should start?
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Well, I think I'm going to save the cheese dip
for a little later on. It's too good and start
with something a little more basic. Did you know that
chips and salsa is the official state snack of Texas?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Not only did I not know that, but I guess
I didn't know that states had official snacks. But at
the same time, I guess it's not all that surprising.
So tell me more.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Yeah, I guess it isn't that surprising, but how it
became the state snack is super fun. So in 2002,
this group of second graders from the Leo Marcel Elementary
School in Mission, Texas, decided that their state needed its
own official snack. So Texas at the time already had
a state dish, chili, a state fruit, grapefruit, and a
state pie, pecan. So the kids decided to lobby for
(04:04):
this official snack, but the competition was fiercer than you
might imagine. So the kids came up with all these nominees,
including pickles, Doritos, Flamin' Hot Cheetos, and in the end,
I guess, the victory went to the good old Chips
and Salsas.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Yeah, I think I can agree with that one. So
how did they actually get this passed?
Speaker 3 (04:24):
I guess four kids actually testified before a House committee
on behalf of chips and salsa. And while all the
kids spoke with, you know, the sort of passion that
chips and salsa demand, a little girl named Audrey made
the most convincing argument. And this is what she said, quote, First,
salsa contains two ingredients that are state symbols already. The
(04:44):
jalapeno is the state pepper and sweet onions are the
state vegetable. Put them together with a few more ingredients
and presto, perfect salsa that just makes sense.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
It does.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
It's so cute. And apparently she wasn't the only one
who thought so because Rick Perry actually signed the resolution
into law not long after.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Wow, that is pretty amazing. I really like that one.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
All right, well, since we're doing nachos facts, I feel
like we should start with the chips themselves because there's
actually a great origin story there. And this goes back
to the late 1940s. to El Zarape Tortilla Factory, and
this is in Los Angeles, and it became one of
the first to automate its production of these tortillas. So
the company had installed this state-of-the-art tortilla-making machine, and pretty
(05:28):
soon it was cranking these things out like 12 times
faster than they could by hand. So the only problem
with this is that, you know, many of the tortillas
came out misshapen or kind of twisted up, and of
course those ones couldn't be sold. So one night, the
co-owner of the business, Rebecca Webb Carranza, she takes these
reject tortillas. She just brings them home and has a
(05:49):
family party. And so she decides to cut the tortillas
into triangles, fry them up, and then serve them to
her guest as what she called tort chips. And because
her relatives love the chips so much, Carranza started selling
them for 10 cents a bag at this local Mexican
deli and also right outside of the factory there. So
you fast forward a decade to the 1960s, and Carranza's
(06:12):
tort chips were available up and down the West Coast.
And not only that, the chips were so popular, they
became El Zarape's main business.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Oh, that's pretty amazing.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
I didn't realize that the chips had their own story.
I feel like it's one of those things you just
assume exists forever, right? So here's a fact that I
might have heard before, but it's still surprising to me.
Did you realize that chipotle and jalapeno peppers are the
same plant?
Speaker 1 (06:37):
I don't think I knew that. Yeah, it's just super weird.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
To me because they have like such distinct tastes and colors,
but it's partially due to just when and how they're harvested. So,
you know, jalapenos, like a bunch of other peppers, start
out green, but then they turn red as they ripen.
And there's a reason we don't often see red jalapenos
in grocery stores. It's because in farming, you know, the
longer you let something grow, the more time there is
(07:00):
for things to go wrong along the way. So from
this like financial standpoint, it's just less risky to pick
the peppers when they're green. But the chipotles are just
red jalapenos that have been smoked dried.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
All right.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Well, here's a quick one about pico de gallo. You know,
the super simple mix that just has fresh diced tomatoes, onion,
jalapenos and usually cilantro and. It just tastes so good
on tortilla chips. But anyway, according to Epicurious, pico de
gallo actually means rooster's beak in Spanish.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
What? Why rooster's beak?
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Well, it actually turns out that the traditional way of
eating pico de gallo was just to use your fingers,
and in particular, your thumb and index fingers. You do
have to keep in mind that tortilla chips and the
act of dipping them in salsa, that was really more
of an American thing. And so This style of eating,
when you have those two fingers, it reminded people so
much of the way roosters peck at food with their
(07:54):
beaks that they just decided the name should reflect that.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
That's really cute. Well, one of the strangest things I
learned this week was that if you like sour cream
on your nachos, you really ought to thank the Mongols.
Of course. And maybe the Russians, too. So this is
according to io9. The Mongols always had plenty of milk
on hand thanks to the horses they traveled with. But
the only problem was that a large part of the
(08:18):
population was lactose intolerant. So instead of drinking the fresh
mare's milk, they'd, I guess, let it ferment for a
long time until all the bacteria had eaten away the
lactose and replaced.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
It with alcohol.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
And then they drank this, I guess, slightly alcoholic milk
drink called Kumis. Anyway... When they brought this drink to Russia,
the people really went crazy for it. Only they kind
of tweaked the process a little. Like they used milk
from cows rather than horses. And they also allowed the
milk to thicken much longer, which kept it from turning alcoholic.
(08:49):
And what they ended up with was this smooth, somewhat
sour tasting cream, which is basically the same stuff we
keep on our nachos today.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Wow. I didn't believe that you were actually going to
be able to connect that to the Mongols, but I
think you successfully did. All right, well, before we get
too deep into the toppings, I feel like we should
really talk about the man behind the dish that we
know as nachos, somebody that we all owe so much to, really,
if you think about it. His name was Ignacio Anaya,
or as his friends called him, just Nacho. Now, according
(09:18):
to the story, nachos were born in a Mexican border
town back in 1943, and Ignacio wasn't actually a chef,
but more of a maitre d' at a restaurant that
was called the Victor Club. Now, one night during World
War II... Anaya was closing up the restaurant when a
dozen women just showed up and they were desperate for
a late night meal. These were the wives of U.S.
(09:39):
soldiers who'd been stationed just across the border in Eagle Pass, Texas.
Of course, Anaya didn't want to turn them away, but
he also knew the kitchen was low on food and
that the chef had already left for the night. So
Anaya goes back to the kitchen and tries to see
what he can pull together. And of course, what he
comes up with is the very first plate of nachos, which,
(09:59):
of course, was tortilla chips topped with shredded cheese, jalapenos,
and then he'd bake them all in the oven. Now,
the dish was a huge hit with the army wives.
And when they asked their server what it's called, he said,
nachos especiales, which of course was later just shortened to nachos.
And The dish eventually became so popular that Anaya quit
(10:20):
to open his own nacho-centric restaurant.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
I really, I have no idea if this thing still exists.
Probably not.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Why didn't this take off? I feel like nacho-centric restaurants
should have gone everywhere.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
I would have totally gone to one or would still.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Well, we've got two more facts to get to before
we close this out, but let's take a quick break.
Welcome back to Part-Time Genius, where we're talking nachos. So
(10:55):
here's a question I had. Are refried beans really fried twice?
It feels like this age-old question. Like, why would beans
need to be fried more than once? Well, it turns
out the answer is that they don't. In fact, sometimes
they aren't even fried once. They're just mashed and boiled instead,
which brings up the follow-up, why all the confusion? And
of course, you know, Gabe had the answer for us
(11:17):
as always. It turns out the English name refried beans
is really just a mistranslation of the Spanish name for
the dish frijoles refritos. So frijoles is, of course, the
Spanish word for beans and frito is a Spanish adjective
meaning fried or cooked. So the translation error really comes
down to the prefix re-. And in English, we put
that prefix on things like retry or reschedule, things that
(11:39):
are being done more than once. But in Spanish, I
guess the prefix has a completely different meaning. It adds
emphasis to an adjective. So refritos doesn't actually mean refried
at all. It means well-fried or well-cooked.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Oh, I did not know that's a good one, Gabe.
I'm glad he helped you out on that one.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
All right, well, I don't think we should end this
show without talking a little bit about how stadium nachos,
where that gooey cheese came to be, And, you know,
while nachos started growing more popular after their invention in
the 1940s, you kind of needed an oven to melt
the cheese. And so that meant the dish was really
restricted to restaurants and cooking at home. And you didn't
(12:15):
see them at fast food joints at that point or
movie theaters or ballparks. But that all changed thanks to
a man named Frank Liberto. Now, Frank worked concessions at
Arlington Stadium back in the 1970s. And this is back
when it was home to the Texas Rangers. And his
customers would often say how they wish they could have
nachos at the game. And of course, Frank knew that
(12:36):
he couldn't install ovens or broilers just, you know, on
this hunch that the dish would sell. So instead, he
started working on this gooey liquid form of the cheese
that could be quickly ladled over the chips. And it
took a little time to get the secret recipe just right.
But in 1976, concession nachos finally hit the stands. And
I feel fortunate because That's just a few years before
(12:58):
we were born. So we can say that for all
of our lives, we've never had to go without the
availability of nachos at a ballpark.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
That is a wonderful thing.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
It really is.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
I can't even imagine what life was like, you know,
when you think back pre-electricity, pre-nachos in the ballpark.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
It's just, it's tough.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
But anyway, at first, the operators wanted nothing to do
with Frank's invention. So he had to build his own
nacho carts to push through the stadium. But once they
caught sight of these massive lines that routinely formed behind
the nacho carts, the cheesy chips became a stadium staple.
You know, they even started out selling popcorn, which had
been the former top seller, which It's weird because, I mean,
(13:37):
I like popcorn at movie theaters, but for some reason, psychologically,
like I want nothing to do with.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Popcorn in the ballpark.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
You just want a cup of cheese. I just want
some cheese on some chips. But anyway, within the next
few years, Frank's liquid cheese was being dished out with
nachos at ballparks all over the country.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
What a hero. I really like that. So maybe you
should take the trophy home for celebrating nacho cheese.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
You know, I appreciate the thought there. I feel like
the fact that you connected such a strange dish to
the Mongols.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Was really impressive.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
I feel like just to honor how much cheese dip
we ate in college, why don't we call this one
a draw and go order ourselves some celebratory nachos?
Speaker 3 (14:17):
I like that. And we'll take Tristan with us. Well,
that's it for today's show. If you've got a great
nachos story or fact, be sure to share it with
us on our socials. You know we're curious about it.
And from Gabe, Tristan, Will, and me, thank you so
much for listening.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Thank you.
Part-Time Genius News
Hosts And Creators
Will Pearson
Mangesh Hattikudur
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.