WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.760 --> 00:00:08.840 It's a crisp, clear, early autumn night, and I'm with 2 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:11.640 a group of friends at City Field in Queens, New York. 3 00:00:15.120 --> 00:00:18.520 We're watching the Mets play the San Diego Padres. I'm 4 00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:21.600 not that into baseball, but it's a playoff game, so 5 00:00:21.720 --> 00:00:25.279 I know it's a pretty big deal. The stadium lights 6 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:28.520 are all on, illuminating the bright green field. The crowd 7 00:00:28.560 --> 00:00:35.920 is loud and fired up. There's a light breeze. My 8 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:39.199 friends and I chat between innings, sipping on giant plastic 9 00:00:39.240 --> 00:00:42.040 cups of beer and eating overpriced concessions. 10 00:00:42.440 --> 00:00:46.520 How many nachos with beef bass? 11 00:00:47.159 --> 00:00:51.360 That's okay? All over City Field you can easily buy nachos, 12 00:00:51.720 --> 00:00:54.320 you know, the round do chips that come with a 13 00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:57.240 little tub of cheese sauce in a cardboard box that 14 00:00:57.320 --> 00:01:00.360 opens up into a tray on your lap, and find 15 00:01:00.440 --> 00:01:04.000 vegan nachos at a vegan food stand tucked away in 16 00:01:04.040 --> 00:01:06.440 a lone little corner of the stadium, all the way 17 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:10.520 in the back. City Field is also equipped with these 18 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:15.000 big nachos only concession stands. There's eight of them. The 19 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:18.440 smell of warm cheese surrounding them is like a siren call. 20 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:20.800 And that's where my friends and I went where we 21 00:01:20.800 --> 00:01:22.880 could get all the toppings we'd ever. 22 00:01:22.760 --> 00:01:27.280 Want, sour cream, blacamole, beans, cheese on Jolopeno's, and a 23 00:01:27.319 --> 00:01:28.559 little pigoda gayo. 24 00:01:29.800 --> 00:01:30.160 That's all. 25 00:01:30.520 --> 00:01:34.160 Now, nachos are a big business. Waiting in line, I 26 00:01:34.200 --> 00:01:36.200 spoke to some of the workers manning one of these 27 00:01:36.240 --> 00:01:40.440 tricked out nacho stands. They sell two options. The difference 28 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:42.360 is the kind of plate you can get your nachos on. 29 00:01:43.000 --> 00:01:45.319 Out of curiosity, how many of these do you sell? 30 00:01:45.560 --> 00:01:47.360 Usually are a lot. 31 00:01:48.800 --> 00:01:52.320 Yeah, we'll go through more than a hundred of these, 32 00:01:52.880 --> 00:01:55.000 more than one hundred of the plates. 33 00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:59.560 More than a hundred of them. Wow. And that's like 34 00:01:59.600 --> 00:02:02.240 a busy right, like tonight. So well, that's like regular 35 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:06.560 as in maybe a regular season game that isn't sold out, 36 00:02:06.880 --> 00:02:10.359 but on a busy night when City Field gets to capacity, 37 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:14.440 holding nearly forty two thousand people, maybe more than two 38 00:02:14.520 --> 00:02:18.160 hundred of eight. On the field, the pros swinging bats 39 00:02:18.200 --> 00:02:23.040 and stealing bases take center stage, but in the stands, well, 40 00:02:23.160 --> 00:02:25.799 nachos to do a pretty good job of stealing the spotlight. 41 00:02:27.440 --> 00:02:31.320 That wasn't always the case, though, the very first nachos 42 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:34.160 weren't served in a crowded stadium in New York City. 43 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:37.560 They were made in a mostly empty restaurant in Mexico 44 00:02:37.720 --> 00:02:40.600 along the border, and they weren't designed to be a 45 00:02:40.600 --> 00:02:44.440 big hit, But nachos would end up bigger than anyone 46 00:02:44.480 --> 00:02:45.640 could have ever imagined. 47 00:02:53.960 --> 00:02:58.040 From Futromedia and PRX, It's Latino Usa, I Maria nor 48 00:02:58.160 --> 00:03:01.639 Rosa and who's in the movie food for some nachos. 49 00:03:02.200 --> 00:03:06.240 Today we're serving up the history and the legacy of 50 00:03:06.320 --> 00:03:14.679 this iconic snack food, nachos. You can already taste them, 51 00:03:15.080 --> 00:03:20.640 hm hot melted cheese on fried corn, dortilla chips, or 52 00:03:20.680 --> 00:03:23.480 as we call them in Spanish, to torpos. All of 53 00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:27.720 that topped off with a familiar kick of prickly calapagno. 54 00:03:29.600 --> 00:03:33.280 We often consider nacho's part of a family of classic 55 00:03:33.480 --> 00:03:38.200 quote unquote American fast casual foods, but something that many 56 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:41.760 of these dishes have in common is their foreign roots, like, 57 00:03:41.920 --> 00:03:45.400 for example, pizza, which was brought to the East Coast 58 00:03:45.720 --> 00:03:49.440 by Italian immigrants, or hot dogs, which is basically a 59 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:51.360 riff on German frankfurters. 60 00:03:51.960 --> 00:03:54.240 Nachos are no different. 61 00:03:54.840 --> 00:03:59.480 The dish itself originated in Piedras Negras, a small town 62 00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:03.120 in the Mexican state of Gualuila, right next to the 63 00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:05.320 southern border of Texas. 64 00:04:05.880 --> 00:04:09.360 Time for detour back down the Rio grand to Piros Negress, 65 00:04:09.400 --> 00:04:12.040 Mexico to explain the exact moment in history. 66 00:04:12.280 --> 00:04:13.640 But a nacho was created? 67 00:04:13.960 --> 00:04:15.119 How and for who? 68 00:04:15.480 --> 00:04:18.320 But even with some high profile figures like the late 69 00:04:18.440 --> 00:04:23.480 Anthony Bourdain exploring the roots of nachos, the vast popularity 70 00:04:23.520 --> 00:04:29.760 of the dish still overshadows its border town origins. People 71 00:04:29.880 --> 00:04:34.640 tend to overlook that the classic natural flavor profile all 72 00:04:34.680 --> 00:04:38.320 comes from Mexican food. Each time you bite into a 73 00:04:38.360 --> 00:04:42.640 tortilla chip with that gouey cheese sauce, it's kind of 74 00:04:42.680 --> 00:04:47.000 like gesso fundido, right, So you're actually eating an appropriation 75 00:04:47.160 --> 00:04:51.960 of this cuisine, the result of someone else's pursuit of profit. 76 00:04:53.760 --> 00:04:58.000 What's more, in our pursuit of a delicious snack, we 77 00:04:58.080 --> 00:05:02.440 forget that someone had to actually create this dish. Nacho's 78 00:05:02.520 --> 00:05:06.200 didn't just materialize one day at a concession stand, and 79 00:05:06.440 --> 00:05:09.400 its birth is still largely unknown to the crowds of 80 00:05:09.440 --> 00:05:14.080 people who fill their bellies and wallets thanks to natchos. 81 00:05:15.160 --> 00:05:17.640 Today on Latino USA, we're bringing you a story that 82 00:05:17.720 --> 00:05:20.880 we originally ran in twenty twenty three. It's all about 83 00:05:20.880 --> 00:05:23.760 giving credit where credit is due, and I'm going to 84 00:05:23.800 --> 00:05:28.080 give you just a hint. Nacho isn't just the name 85 00:05:28.200 --> 00:05:31.680 of a popular snack. It was first the name of 86 00:05:31.720 --> 00:05:36.800 a man, and his biggest impact isn't actually at the ballpark. 87 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:40.880 It's back home with the family he provided for. His 88 00:05:40.960 --> 00:05:45.960 descendants are living in Texas preserving his legacy. Producer Alejandra 89 00:05:46.080 --> 00:05:49.360 Salasad actually grew up with some of those family members, 90 00:05:49.400 --> 00:05:52.080 so she's going to take this story from here. 91 00:06:02.279 --> 00:06:06.479 It's summertime in San Antonio, Texas. The late July heat 92 00:06:06.640 --> 00:06:09.720 floats off the asphalt in front of my parents suburban home. 93 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:10.920 Thanks to chat. 94 00:06:19.080 --> 00:06:24.880 Oh, that is a dead cicada and with my mom, 95 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:27.440 her name is my Lina. We just stepped over a 96 00:06:27.440 --> 00:06:30.640 shell of a cicada on our way to our car. 97 00:06:31.480 --> 00:06:35.040 More cicadas hidden in the trees sing their dog day music, 98 00:06:35.400 --> 00:06:45.760 breaking the sleepy afternoon silence. Hika, my microphone is on. 99 00:06:46.640 --> 00:06:48.760 I think this is the first time my mom has 100 00:06:48.920 --> 00:06:51.440 ever seen me at work in the field holding a 101 00:06:51.440 --> 00:06:54.440 long shotgun mic with a tangle of wires and big 102 00:06:54.440 --> 00:06:57.640 over ear HEADPHONESMI the mic has to be close to 103 00:06:57.680 --> 00:07:07.600 your face to get audio. No, we're driving now, on 104 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:10.640 our way to my the e Cristina's house. The Cristina 105 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:13.920 is actually the reason I'm working on this story. Gristina 106 00:07:14.400 --> 00:07:17.320 isn't technically a blood relative, but she and her entire 107 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:19.680 family might as well be. Gristina and my mother have 108 00:07:19.720 --> 00:07:22.720 been best friends since they were young teenagers. They're both 109 00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:25.720 from the same border town of Eagle Pass, Texas or 110 00:07:25.960 --> 00:07:29.880 Igle Pass if you're a local. My mom and pretty 111 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:32.520 much all of her friends grew up with their lives 112 00:07:32.640 --> 00:07:36.000 split across the Rio Grande. Mommy started going to school 113 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:37.960 in Eagle Pass when she was in the third grade, 114 00:07:38.600 --> 00:07:41.280 but her family home was still on the Mexican side, 115 00:07:41.400 --> 00:07:43.560 in a town called Pierre's Negras Squaw. 116 00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:47.160 Cross the border every day to go to school every day, 117 00:07:47.200 --> 00:07:52.120 twice coming from and then going back. 118 00:07:54.320 --> 00:07:54.960 And then. 119 00:07:55.760 --> 00:07:58.600 I mean, it was just it was no big deal crossing, 120 00:07:58.760 --> 00:08:02.400 you know. It was just like I and annoyance Cariacolla Cali. 121 00:08:03.960 --> 00:08:10.280 But other than that, it was like, eh, not, like 122 00:08:10.400 --> 00:08:12.200 now that makes such a big deal that go, Oh 123 00:08:12.280 --> 00:08:12.720 my god. 124 00:08:13.560 --> 00:08:15.360 Christina and my mom met when they were in high 125 00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:19.200 school and the friendship took off from there. Both women 126 00:08:19.280 --> 00:08:21.920 grew up falling in and out of touch until they 127 00:08:21.920 --> 00:08:25.400 both settled down and reconnected in San Antonio. They had 128 00:08:25.520 --> 00:08:29.000 children who they treated as each other's family. Dia Cristina 129 00:08:29.080 --> 00:08:32.920 is actually my youngest sibling's godmother. I remember visiting Dia 130 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:36.120 Cristina and Dio Felix's house when I was little, hanging 131 00:08:36.120 --> 00:08:39.720 out with their kids. Our dads watched Spurs basketball games 132 00:08:39.800 --> 00:08:43.480 and our moms shared cheesemath at the kitchen table. Their 133 00:08:43.520 --> 00:08:45.880 bond turned out to be a lifelong one. 134 00:08:46.120 --> 00:08:48.679 And never got tired of her, and she never got 135 00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:53.959 tired of me. And she's pretty much the closest thing 136 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:54.880 I have to a sister. 137 00:08:55.840 --> 00:08:58.120 I don't remember when my mom first told me about 138 00:08:58.160 --> 00:09:02.440 Christina's paternal grandfather, Ignacio a Naya. He was more commonly 139 00:09:02.440 --> 00:09:06.640 known as Natcho to his friends and family, Ignacio Nacho 140 00:09:06.760 --> 00:09:10.360 a Naya, and his story has stuck in my head 141 00:09:10.360 --> 00:09:15.360 ever since. How can you forget something like that? See, 142 00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:21.160 Gristina's grandfather is Natcho be natural a culinary inventor behind 143 00:09:21.720 --> 00:09:30.120 well nachos. Yeah, plot twist. It took me a second 144 00:09:30.200 --> 00:09:33.720 to let it sink in too. To be totally clear, 145 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:37.520 the whole natural thing isn't central to Mythia's life. When 146 00:09:37.559 --> 00:09:39.400 I asked her for her blessing to do a story 147 00:09:39.440 --> 00:09:42.040 on it, well it didn't seem like that big of 148 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:48.040 a deal. Just another day at brunch, you know. After 149 00:09:48.120 --> 00:09:50.920 a half hour drive through the San Antonio suburbs, Mammy 150 00:09:50.920 --> 00:09:53.800 and I arrive at Christina's house greeted by a dog, 151 00:09:54.000 --> 00:10:02.760 as usual, Pristina and her family have always been animal lovers. 152 00:10:02.760 --> 00:10:03.200 Hello. 153 00:10:04.640 --> 00:10:09.120 Hello, Christina is smiling. I haven't seen her in a 154 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:11.840 few months since her daughter's wedding last March, and she 155 00:10:11.880 --> 00:10:17.400 gives me a big hug. She's wearing a casual navy 156 00:10:17.400 --> 00:10:20.079 Maxi dress, her hair pinned back away from her face, 157 00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:23.280 and half updo. She's always dressed nicely whenever I see her. 158 00:10:24.360 --> 00:10:27.120 A couple of cats linger outside, and an older boxer, 159 00:10:27.280 --> 00:10:29.959 Roxy is in the living room. A novela plays on 160 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:34.600 the TV fun fact. Mammy and Christina were born on 161 00:10:34.640 --> 00:10:38.280 the same day, exactly one year apart. Both women are 162 00:10:38.280 --> 00:10:40.640 in their mid fifties now, and their dynamic is the 163 00:10:40.640 --> 00:10:45.400 result of decades of messing with each other. They both 164 00:10:45.480 --> 00:11:01.600 talk very fast, and they're both very funny. They're always laughing. Eventually, 165 00:11:02.160 --> 00:11:05.400 we sit down at Christina's dining table, squeaky clean and 166 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:07.960 wrapped in a plastic cover. I set up a little 167 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:10.760 mic stand for my idea. Could you just tell us 168 00:11:10.920 --> 00:11:15.120 just to your name, your age, and originia right now. 169 00:11:15.880 --> 00:11:19.560 My name is Christina Losantos and I live in San Antonio. 170 00:11:20.160 --> 00:11:24.480 I am one of the granddaughters of the inventor of 171 00:11:24.520 --> 00:11:30.320 the Nacho Signacio Naya, my grandfather, daughter of Ignacioonaya Junior. 172 00:11:30.760 --> 00:11:33.439 Res My Rest in Peace de los Santos is Christina's 173 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:37.760 married name. Her maiden name is Anaya. I want my 174 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:40.679 thea to feel comfortable in front of the mic. She 175 00:11:40.679 --> 00:11:44.000 hasn't been interviewed about her grandfather before, and definitely not 176 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:47.880 in English. She says, her dad did some interviews years ago, 177 00:11:48.080 --> 00:11:50.400 but it's not like a lot of people come calling 178 00:11:50.440 --> 00:11:53.960 to asktianayas about Nacho. In fact, Christina had to reach 179 00:11:53.960 --> 00:11:56.160 out to some relatives to make sure she remembered the 180 00:11:56.280 --> 00:12:00.520 entire story correctly. The first thing she mentions is not work. 181 00:12:00.920 --> 00:12:03.839 By the time Christina was born, her grandfather already ran 182 00:12:03.880 --> 00:12:08.200 his own restaurant, Natcho's Restaurant in Pierre's Negres. He'd opened 183 00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:11.000 it after decades of working all jobs in the industry. 184 00:12:11.480 --> 00:12:14.800 He liked cooking and always gravitated towards the kitchen. But 185 00:12:14.880 --> 00:12:17.400 first and foremost, he was a businessman. 186 00:12:17.720 --> 00:12:20.120 He passed away when I was like eighteen seven or eight, 187 00:12:21.080 --> 00:12:26.240 and what I remember of him, it was just being 188 00:12:26.280 --> 00:12:31.200 in business all the time. I remember getting to the 189 00:12:32.520 --> 00:12:34.520 every day there to the restaurant. 190 00:12:34.800 --> 00:12:39.800 He was always busy. Natural Naya was a serious looking man, 191 00:12:40.160 --> 00:12:42.560 with a light gray mustache and thick dark hair that 192 00:12:42.600 --> 00:12:46.040 he liked to brush back. Christina always remembers him wearing 193 00:12:46.080 --> 00:12:48.800 a suit jacket with a button up shirt and a tie. 194 00:12:49.440 --> 00:12:51.720 Rarely did he wear short sleeves or t shirts out 195 00:12:51.760 --> 00:12:52.199 of the house. 196 00:12:52.760 --> 00:12:56.520 My grandfather was a really elegant man. I'm going to 197 00:12:56.559 --> 00:12:57.280 show you a picture. 198 00:12:58.880 --> 00:13:01.199 In one picture, he said, bar of his own restaurant, 199 00:13:01.400 --> 00:13:03.880 reclined on a stool, holding up a drink and a 200 00:13:03.920 --> 00:13:06.520 toast with a group of other sharp dressed men, A 201 00:13:06.559 --> 00:13:10.680 small smile lingers on the edge of his mouth. I 202 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:13.640 had never seen these photos of Natcho until Pustina shows 203 00:13:13.640 --> 00:13:16.960 them to me at her dining table. Chances are that you, 204 00:13:17.440 --> 00:13:20.960 dear listener, haven't either, because a lot of the photos 205 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:24.480 of Nacho that you can find online aren't of Natcho 206 00:13:24.520 --> 00:13:29.640 at all. Thenia's joke about it, but still frustrating and 207 00:13:29.800 --> 00:13:33.360 kind of sloppy, like the people who document and share 208 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:36.600 our history didn't really care about getting the details right. 209 00:13:38.400 --> 00:13:41.520 A few years ago, Natcho was commemorated with a Google 210 00:13:41.559 --> 00:13:44.800 doodle for his one hundred and twenty fourth birthday. For 211 00:13:44.880 --> 00:13:47.600 a whole day, an animated drawing of a round faced 212 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:51.160 man assembling Nacho's popped up on the side's homepage. But 213 00:13:51.240 --> 00:13:53.720 the image that came up when you looked up Ignacio Naye, 214 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:58.360 that wasn't him. Guisina was surprised that no one ever 215 00:13:58.440 --> 00:14:00.960 reached out to the family to get a curate photos, 216 00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:05.359 not Google, and not any of the websites hosting images 217 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:08.240 of Ignacio, And like, what the heck is this? 218 00:14:12.200 --> 00:14:14.439 I asked my son to can you change the picture? 219 00:14:14.520 --> 00:14:16.679 Can you tell them that this is not your great grandfather? 220 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:20.920 And he tried, he tried, He sent them to Google 221 00:14:21.600 --> 00:14:24.440 and he got it to change the picture. I think 222 00:14:24.520 --> 00:14:26.480 it lasts a lot, even like fifteen twenty minutes. 223 00:14:26.520 --> 00:14:27.120 I put it back. 224 00:14:29.040 --> 00:14:30.400 Yeah, I like that's a lot much. 225 00:14:30.440 --> 00:14:30.680 Hya. 226 00:14:30.800 --> 00:14:35.000 Yeah, Wikipedia at least has an accurate photo up as 227 00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:37.800 of this taping, and it seems like the Internet generally 228 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:40.760 gets the broad strokes of Natural's story right. He was 229 00:14:40.800 --> 00:14:43.400 born in eighteen ninety five in Mexico in a small 230 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:46.800 town named Manuel Benavides in the state of Chihuaua. It's 231 00:14:46.840 --> 00:14:49.400 pretty close to the border on the west side of Texas, 232 00:14:49.720 --> 00:14:53.920 about fifty miles from Big Bend National Park. After losing 233 00:14:53.920 --> 00:14:56.480 his parents at a young age, Natcho decided to move 234 00:14:56.520 --> 00:14:59.160 to the US when he was just a teenager, around 235 00:14:59.160 --> 00:15:02.320 fourteen or fifteen years old. He hopped around small towns 236 00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:07.400 in Texas working odd jobs landscaping, bussing, waitering, until he 237 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:11.280 settled on the border in Pierre's Negres, opposite the Rio 238 00:15:11.320 --> 00:15:15.080 Grande from Eco Past Texas. And that's where he made 239 00:15:15.240 --> 00:15:18.840 history based off of how your family has like preserved 240 00:15:18.840 --> 00:15:20.800 the story and how you tell the story or remember 241 00:15:20.840 --> 00:15:23.200 it now, because you kind of walk me through the 242 00:15:23.240 --> 00:15:25.800 story of how the natchal was invented. 243 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:29.440 Whenever someone tells the story, they always changed something on 244 00:15:29.520 --> 00:15:34.000 the story. That's what I've been noticing. Even they publish things, 245 00:15:34.040 --> 00:15:37.080 and they always change something in the story, but what 246 00:15:37.240 --> 00:15:42.120 I know it was that my grandfather was working at 247 00:15:42.120 --> 00:15:43.480 Club Victoria. 248 00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:48.040 Glue Victoria, that used to be a swanky restaurant right 249 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:50.840 near the river at the border on the Pierre's Negra side. 250 00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:53.720 Natchal was a waiter there at the time. He also 251 00:15:53.800 --> 00:15:56.360 used to work at a nearby spot called Blue Moderno, 252 00:15:56.680 --> 00:15:59.000 and some write ups claim that it was that restaurant 253 00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:02.600 where this all went down the Anayas though insist it 254 00:16:02.640 --> 00:16:06.160 was Clue Victoria. The year is nineteen forty three. 255 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:10.000 The story was that he was working there and what 256 00:16:10.160 --> 00:16:13.840 I knew that the restaurant was closing when the group 257 00:16:13.920 --> 00:16:16.400 of ladies he was like around ten to twelve ladies 258 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:23.080 that were wives of military men and or generals at 259 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:27.960 the Air Force base over there in Ego Pass and 260 00:16:28.120 --> 00:16:32.360 they went to visit to have dinner something in Pierrol Negas. 261 00:16:32.560 --> 00:16:33.600 So they show up to. 262 00:16:33.560 --> 00:16:39.760 The restaurant and my grandfather welcomed them in, but the 263 00:16:40.040 --> 00:16:43.000 chef of the place at that time he was gone. 264 00:16:43.720 --> 00:16:46.720 If that chef had still been in the kitchen, who 265 00:16:46.760 --> 00:16:49.640 knows what would or would not have happened. 266 00:16:50.040 --> 00:16:52.680 He was trying to, okay, what can I prefer since 267 00:16:52.680 --> 00:16:55.920 the kitchen was close already. They just asked, no, just 268 00:16:56.040 --> 00:16:56.920 not an appetizer. 269 00:16:57.040 --> 00:16:57.400 That's it. 270 00:16:57.480 --> 00:16:59.320 We don't need anything else. 271 00:16:59.360 --> 00:16:59.480 Oh. 272 00:16:59.520 --> 00:17:02.480 He went out and start cutting the tortillas, fry them, 273 00:17:02.520 --> 00:17:03.400 and get the cheese. 274 00:17:03.880 --> 00:17:08.080 The original Natural recipe has been lightly disputed over the years. 275 00:17:08.520 --> 00:17:12.600 Some records say Natural used Colby Longhorn cheese to create 276 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:17.320 his bass. Christina, though swears it was shredded Wisconsin. 277 00:17:17.040 --> 00:17:18.960 And he put them in the oven and bring them 278 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:20.840 to them and they loved it. 279 00:17:21.040 --> 00:17:24.640 That almost feels like an understatement. Naturals were a hit. 280 00:17:25.480 --> 00:17:28.680 The textures of the cheese and the jalapenos were just right, 281 00:17:29.000 --> 00:17:32.160 with an added crunch in each bite. Each to topo 282 00:17:32.320 --> 00:17:36.479 was compact, a self contained delivery system for flavor, and 283 00:17:36.560 --> 00:17:38.680 it was so convenient to share in a group. 284 00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:45.000 Mimi Finan, that's the lady that was with that group, 285 00:17:45.880 --> 00:17:48.840 and I believe she used to live She was the 286 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:50.760 one that brought them over there, but I did she 287 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:53.720 used to live around in Piero Neros or Eagle Pass 288 00:17:53.840 --> 00:17:57.199 or something. So she was the one that asked him, 289 00:17:57.560 --> 00:18:01.320 what is the name of these dishes up? Since we 290 00:18:01.600 --> 00:18:04.879 like it, he said, Ah, I don't know, I just 291 00:18:05.280 --> 00:18:07.639 I just did it. Right now, and I just created 292 00:18:07.760 --> 00:18:09.520 right now, and I don't have a name for it. 293 00:18:09.640 --> 00:18:11.480 So she was like, well, so what's your name. He 294 00:18:11.640 --> 00:18:14.720 was like, my name is Signacio Nacho, and she was 295 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:17.320 the one that say we're gonna call him Nacho specials. 296 00:18:18.760 --> 00:18:21.840 Ignacio Naya remained in the restaurant business for the rest 297 00:18:21.880 --> 00:18:25.680 of his life, and he kept making nachos Clue. Victoria 298 00:18:25.760 --> 00:18:28.679 eventually added the dish to its menu, and in nineteen 299 00:18:28.760 --> 00:18:32.479 sixty one, almost twenty years after creating his namesake platter, 300 00:18:32.800 --> 00:18:37.200 Ignacio opened up his own restaurant. It was on Avenida Caranza, 301 00:18:37.600 --> 00:18:40.800 the main street of Pierre Negres, just a couple of 302 00:18:40.840 --> 00:18:44.359 miles from the Border bridge. The Anaya family home was 303 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:47.800 right next to the restaurant, connected by a door in 304 00:18:47.840 --> 00:18:51.080 the kitchen. When she was a little kid, Christina would 305 00:18:51.080 --> 00:18:54.360 go spend time at Nacho's restaurant after school. He used 306 00:18:54.359 --> 00:18:55.639 to have a chef. 307 00:18:56.200 --> 00:19:00.159 His name was Margharrito, Don Margharrito, and all my and 308 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:02.680 that he was like super nice, super sweet man. 309 00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:06.359 Nacho had mentored Margharito since the latter was a kid. 310 00:19:06.800 --> 00:19:09.119 After he found the boys selling knickknacks on the street 311 00:19:09.160 --> 00:19:13.560 to make cash, Margharito became family NATO's right hand man. 312 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:16.960 Thanks to him, Christina made her own contribution to the 313 00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:17.760 restaurant menu. 314 00:19:18.040 --> 00:19:20.920 I didn't like cheese back then, so the nachos had 315 00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:25.440 cheese in the round of kalapenno. And I will always 316 00:19:25.480 --> 00:19:28.560 say no chice on the nachos and no jalapeno's now spicy. 317 00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:30.960 Can you make me just the ta papos with beans? 318 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:33.399 And he was like, you are you always want to 319 00:19:33.480 --> 00:19:37.240 change my recipes, but he will spoil me and make 320 00:19:37.280 --> 00:19:38.720 me my bean nachos. 321 00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:46.680 By the time Christina was experimenting in NATO's kitchen, Mexican 322 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:50.200 restaurants all across South Texas were already offering their own 323 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:53.959 takes on the dish, directly competing with her grandfather. His 324 00:19:54.040 --> 00:19:57.960 restaurant proudly declared itself home of the Nachos Special, but 325 00:19:58.080 --> 00:20:02.240 this had become bigger than that. Early on, Christina made 326 00:20:02.280 --> 00:20:04.120 the decision to just roll with. 327 00:20:04.080 --> 00:20:08.640 It, realize on that it became popular. He was, you know, yeah, 328 00:20:08.720 --> 00:20:13.000 whenever started getting older, probably when I was in. 329 00:20:12.920 --> 00:20:15.080 Middle school, high school. 330 00:20:15.400 --> 00:20:18.399 But he never was like something like, oh my god, 331 00:20:18.560 --> 00:20:24.320 this is my grandfather's invention. And I wasn't saying anything 332 00:20:24.359 --> 00:20:28.119 because people will say, yeah right, you know, don't believe it, 333 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:32.399 so what for? So instead of telling everybody feeling like 334 00:20:32.440 --> 00:20:35.400 oh yeah, yeah, yeah, no I was, I better don't 335 00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:37.560 say anything, just enjoy it whatever. 336 00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:42.359 Natcho was offered the chance to take Natcho's Special to 337 00:20:42.440 --> 00:20:45.840 the big time by patenting the name or even starting 338 00:20:45.880 --> 00:20:50.480 a chain of restaurants around it. Several sources, including the NIS, 339 00:20:50.760 --> 00:20:53.199 corroborate that he had a small window to patent his 340 00:20:53.240 --> 00:20:57.000 invention and potentially profit from it in the late nineteen 341 00:20:57.040 --> 00:21:00.640 forties and fifties, but Nato opted not to go through 342 00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:04.040 the trouble. In an interview with the San Antonio Express 343 00:21:04.119 --> 00:21:07.480 News in nineteen sixty nine, when Nacho was already in 344 00:21:07.520 --> 00:21:10.520 his seventies, he said that he had no idea just 345 00:21:10.600 --> 00:21:13.560 how big this snack would become. For the longest time, 346 00:21:13.840 --> 00:21:16.920 he thought it just wasn't a bet worth making a 347 00:21:17.000 --> 00:21:19.760 tourdlla with cheese on it. You mean, like the kind 348 00:21:19.760 --> 00:21:21.119 of foodie as a kid. 349 00:21:21.520 --> 00:21:27.320 Really introducing Comble's new Nacho cheese souped in it turns 350 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:30.000 anything not soo zippy into Nacho zippy. 351 00:21:30.440 --> 00:21:35.000 It's Christina's father Ignacio and Aya Junior did try to 352 00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:38.359 revisit the question of patents in the nineteen eighties and nineties, 353 00:21:39.040 --> 00:21:41.960 but it was too late. By then, Nacho's were already 354 00:21:41.960 --> 00:21:42.840 in the public domain. 355 00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:47.880 Are you missing that Taco Bells knew nachos cheese? 356 00:21:48.359 --> 00:21:51.600 Tried Nacho cheese doritos? Did they taste as good as 357 00:21:51.640 --> 00:21:52.199 they crunch? 358 00:21:53.840 --> 00:22:01.359 You couldn't patent it even if you tried. Nacho and 359 00:22:01.400 --> 00:22:04.600 his family never did directly profit off of the Nacho's 360 00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:13.359 widespread success. Nacho's restaurant isn't even there anymore. Nacho died 361 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:17.320 in nineteen seventy five, but his invention would live on, 362 00:22:18.400 --> 00:22:21.680 and just a year after his passing, one savvy San 363 00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:27.960 Antonio based entrepreneur would take Nachos to the big leagues. 364 00:22:28.760 --> 00:22:30.199 Coming up on Latino Usa. 365 00:22:30.840 --> 00:22:37.040 Nachos take the world by storm, but their skyrocketing popularity obscures. 366 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:39.240 The Nachos real origin story. 367 00:22:39.760 --> 00:23:05.800 Stay with us, Yes, hey, We're back. In nineteen forty three, 368 00:23:06.119 --> 00:23:11.600 Ignacio Nacho Anaya invented his namesake dish in the Mexican 369 00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:16.200 border town of Piedras Negras, Guauila. When we left off, 370 00:23:16.280 --> 00:23:20.440 Nachos had already become a popular appetizer dish all over 371 00:23:20.520 --> 00:23:25.160 South Texas. But nachos would become even bigger than their 372 00:23:25.160 --> 00:23:30.640 inventor ever anticipated, thanks to an enterprising concession's food business 373 00:23:31.080 --> 00:23:35.280 headquartered less than two hundred miles away in San Antonio. 374 00:23:35.520 --> 00:23:39.600 So here's producer Alejandra Salasad with the rest of the story. 375 00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:50.240 It's the turn of the twentieth century. An Italian boy 376 00:23:50.320 --> 00:23:54.160 from a small Sicilian province moves to the United States. 377 00:23:54.760 --> 00:23:58.560 He's fourteen years old and alone, arriving in New Orleans 378 00:23:58.560 --> 00:24:01.520 in eighteen ninety, decides to build a life in this 379 00:24:01.720 --> 00:24:05.560 land of opportunity. He opens a grocery store. He gets 380 00:24:05.600 --> 00:24:09.199 married and starts a family. They moved to Texas in 381 00:24:09.200 --> 00:24:14.160 the early nineteen hundreds, eventually permanently relocating to San Antonio. 382 00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:17.920 The grocery business comes with them, now renamed after the family, 383 00:24:18.320 --> 00:24:24.360 Liberto Market and Grocery One. Liberto son Enrico inherits the business, 384 00:24:24.760 --> 00:24:27.400 and in the decades that follow the store shifts its 385 00:24:27.400 --> 00:24:32.679 focus to selling concessions roasted peanuts and popcorn, candy and bulk, 386 00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:36.359 and Rico trains his son Frank to take over next. 387 00:24:36.800 --> 00:24:39.840 My grand parents had my dad and they're like only child. 388 00:24:40.359 --> 00:24:40.719 That's it. 389 00:24:40.760 --> 00:24:42.760 So my dad got to take the business over by himself. 390 00:24:42.800 --> 00:24:44.080 He didn't have any brothers and sisters. 391 00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:48.000 This is Tony Liberto. He's the fourth generation to run 392 00:24:48.040 --> 00:24:52.000 the family business. The company, though, isn't called Libertos anymore. 393 00:24:52.560 --> 00:24:57.720 In this story about namesakes and nicknames, Frank eventually renamed 394 00:24:57.720 --> 00:25:03.760 the company after his father, Rico Rico Rico's Products Company. 395 00:25:04.320 --> 00:25:07.800 As the company's current president and CEO, Tony oversees a 396 00:25:07.840 --> 00:25:10.720 business that has expanded to all fifty states in the 397 00:25:10.840 --> 00:25:16.200 US and fifty seven countries worldwide. You've probably seen their 398 00:25:16.280 --> 00:25:19.879 products at movie theaters and stadiums. They're even selling their 399 00:25:19.880 --> 00:25:21.440 snacks in grocery stores now. 400 00:25:21.600 --> 00:25:24.800 When it started from my great grandfather, and then you 401 00:25:24.800 --> 00:25:27.080