History
Nachos were created in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, according to a story reported in several newspapers and confirmed by the Oxford English Dictionary, as well as in episode #10.14 of the television program Good Eats.
In 1943 twelve wives of American airmen stopped in the restaurant owned by Rudolfo De Los Santos. The chef was gone, but the Ignacio "Nacho" Anaya quickly made a snack from what he could find in the kitchen. He melted some Wisconsin cheese on top of fried tortilla pieces. One of the women, Mimam Finan, named the dish the grammatically incorrect "Nacho's Especiales".
When Anaya later worked for the Moderno restaurant he served the dish there.
The Oxford English Dictionary has identified the earliest known occurrence in English-language print of the word "nacho", in a cookbook called "A Taste of Texas", edited by Jane Trahey, published in 1949. "A Taste of Texas" refers to the story of Ignacio Anaya as the inventor of nachos.
