I was answering an online quiz and I came across the word “nachos”. I have actually never heard of the term, and I was very surprised to learn that most people knew it and it’s very common. I’m from Europe, by the way, and in my 20s. How did I not know about “nachos” all this time?
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Hmm not much tex mex style food there? Nachos are delicious, though, you gotta try them.
I guess it’s just nacho culture
I’ve eaten nachos in Europe before so you might just be a bit aloof.
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Ohhhh my god they are my favorite food. MAGICAL! In the US there are two versions – one with a “cheese sauce” and the other with melted cheese and meat and sometimes beans and guacamole and salsa….. ohhhh my god. The cheese sauce “nachos” (which are gross and pretty much only liked by very drunk people at baseball games or little kids) are inexpensive and something I don’t consider an actual nacho. But real nachos – with melted cheese and all the toppings? They’ll change your life. 😀 When I go out to Mexican restaurants I usually go for grilled fish tacos or ceviche…. but sometimes nachos are just the perrrrfect carb, fat, protein bomb that you need in your life. They are usually HUGE plates and intended to be shared with others as “an appetizer” but real talk – they are so filling they are essentially a meal.
Europe is a fairly big place. Where exactly are you from? Maybe you’re just somewhere with less exposure to various other parts of the world
If this is true, then should you ever come to the USA, it is very important that you get nachos at some point.
The only things we know about you are that you are in your 20s and you are from Europe.
That you are in your 20s tells us that you have spent very little time existing. So it would not be too surprising that you have not experienced something.
As far as being from Europe, things would depend on how common Tex-Mex cuisine is in your country. So what country? The UK? Moldova?
But have you heard of potatoes?
https://www.reddit.com/r/tifu/comments/2tdbig/tifu_by_enraging_the_parents_of_my_girlfriend_by/
Probably because of where you’re from. Nachos tend to be more of an American thing.
I guess they’re so common in north and South America that we don’t think about it, but someone not knowing what nachos are is genuinely insane to me
How about potatoes? XD
Buenos nachos!
I’ve seen nachos on the menu in some surprising places in Europe. Unsurprising spoiler alert: they’ve all been awful.
First of all, try them.
Second, though, is that they are at least twice as good when they have a queso/nacho cheese sauce instead of melted shredded cheese
I didn’t realize nachos weren’t as universal as something like burgers or sandwiches
Have you never seen a movie with nachos in it
I’m Dutch, nachos are often a food on a menu in like a cafe or bar. It’s just tortilla chips/Doritos/triangle chips with cheese on them. I also see them in movie theaters but I never see someone eat them
I think the first time I ate nachos at a local restaurant could not have been earlier than 2013 (I know because the shopping center was renovated and expanded then, and it was one of the first new restaurants there). That’s where I learned the recipe. The restaurant was trying to be a “real American” restaurant, so not just another McDonald’s. “American food” was little else than McDonald’s and a local chain called Chico’s. I hadn’t heard of anyone making the dish here in Finland before then. Corn tortilla chips were available, but people only served them with salsa.
Mmmm Nacho is actually a nickname for Ignacio, the dish is named after the dude who invented it… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nachos
I love nachos like full on with sour cream salsa guacamole, jalapeño hot sauce
You were just one of today’s lucky ten thousand, no big deal.
It is a bit weird that you never heard of it, since you grew up with access to the internet. But I guess it can happen. I’m from Europe myself and you can get nachos in the supermarket and even buy them at the cinema. Maybe you saw them before in the supermarket but didn’t really pay attention to them. They’re not really a mainstream snack in Europe I think.
It’s chips mixed with meat, beans, and sometimes vegetables that are covered in a spicy cheese sauce called nacho cheese
It’s nacho business.
Fun fact: originally, (MX) nachos are called “totopos”.
Nachos are a Tex-Mex dish, meaning it stemmed from a mix of Mexican and Texan culinary traditions. My understanding is that Mexican food and culture isnt as prevalent in a lot of Europe then it is in the United States since the US is right next door.
What do you call cheese that isn’t yours? Nacho cheese 😎
Wait until you try good nachos!
I’m always so happy when I hear that somebody discovers a great new TV series for the first time and is about to experience all the highs and lows I did.
I am elated for you given the subject at hand is “nachos”
This reminds me of the guy that pretended to not know what a potato was when he met his girlfriend’s parents
What do you call it when you put cheese on tortilla chips?
I do NOT believe this at all lmao. Bitch, you don’t know what nachos are? Yeah okay. Nice bait, though. LMAOOOOO
Europe has nachos. At least every country I’ve visited in Europe does, and that’s a lot. Plus I live in Spain. We have nachos here for sure.
What is “potato”?
Buenas Nachos!
Doritos is a nacho brand.
Bescause they not yo’s
In the last printing of the OED, the intro booklet tells the story of nacho as one of the most challenging and involved etymologies they’ve ever had to track down.
I’d expect most urban western Europeans to know what nachos are. Myself in from Norway, and we deffo know what nachos are.
Read you’re from rural Germany, and early 20’s. So I guess you’re not much into food, so that might be the reason.
People have different interests.
Honestly, no idea. You must have zero exposure to pop culture or food.
What is nuttallergy?
Nachos were supposedly invented by a guy named Ignacio at a border town between Mexico and the US to feed some white shopping ladies right around closing time in 1943. They were crispy corn tortilla chips with cheese melted on top with pickled jalapeños.
I’ve seen videos of Germans attempting to make nachos. They end up creating the most orderly nachos ever. It looked like that dish from the Ratatouille movie. I don’t even know how they do it. In the US some of our tortilla chips are bent in half or broken. Y’all need to relax a little!
Use whatever toppings you like. Cheese is essential, use something that will melt. Just think about what is good hot and what is good cool and cook appropriately. Include something spicy and something meaty and some other stuff.
It should be a bit haphazard, but do try to get at least a couple of each topping on every single chip. You can make another layer or two of chips and toppings if you want to. Then bake or broil it, but don’t burn it. Just think about what’s going to taste good hot and what tastes good when it hasn’t been heated up.
Clearly not a Beavis and Butthead fan.
The… The food? Or do I not know either?
Welcome to the wisdom of age. There are all sorts of things you don’t know about, never heard about, and it is vitally important to someone out there. At over 50 I’ve realized I don’t know much except what I do. When you think you understand something or have your head around a situation, keep in mind these nachos you have discovered. There is vital context to most things that sometimes you are completely clueless to.
I’m sorry but I’m having a really hard time believing that someone in their 20s with access to the internet, movies, tv shows and music from all over the world (mostly American since that’s where the most popular music, movies and series come from) has never heard of the word “nacho”. It’s not really a common food in my country either but I’ve heard that word countless of times in music, tv, the internet and pretty much any other form of media. So you’re either really, really rural and only just know began browsing the web and don’t have a TV at home, or you’ve got some weird mental condition that makes you ignore the word “nacho” until just recently it has cured itself.
Edit: Nevermind, I wrote all this dumbass text before I looked at your profile to see that you’re a new user from rural Germany so yeah maybe I guess it makes sense?
We have nachos in Ireland, so… I have no idea.
Don’t feel bad; it’s nacho fault.
It makes sense that you haven’t experienced nachos being from rural Germany, but now you know they exist and should try them.
I’ve had nachos in Munich….they weren’t great, but I was in a Mexican bar in Munich, so what are you gonna do? Figured they’d be in Mexican places around western Europe, but if you aren’t hanging out in such places why would you know an invented food from north America that really only became widely popular 50 years or so ago?
nacho is a nickname for the spanish name Ignacio, in mexico and elsewhere, fun fact.
Not knowing the word ‘nachos’ is like not knowing the word ‘burrito’. Pretty surprising but not a big deal
Tons of melted cheese on bread or a breadlike delivery device to get into your mouth. Yummy! It is just a different name. Raclette in Paris. Fondue in Switzerland. Poutine in Canada. Queso in Mexico.
Where in Europe are you from? I need to remember to never visit there.
So, I guess you’ve also never had Nachos?
Only an American would say: “I’m from Europe so…”.
Anyone from a European country would say “I’m from xyz country, and…”.
Double also!!! Germany has nachos too, so OP must be very sheltered 👀
Someone in their 20’s from Europe not knowing what Nachos are is really unusual. Just to point this out for people who say it “makes sense” because it’s Europe.
I’ve been to countless countries in Europe, I also live in Europe, and nachos are available in many restaurants in the usual format, but also in the cinema, in the supermarkets, etc.
Of course Doritos are also popular as are store own-brands but they are usually called Tortilla chips but people still refer to them as “nachos”.
It is highly unusual to have never heard of nachos and not know what they are.
Well you clearly don’t have enough Mexicans
Tacos? Burritos? Tostadas? Quesabirria? Quesadilla? Tostones? Refrijoles? Taquitos? Molcajetes? Gorditas?
Bro just unlocked a side quest called “nachos” at level 20 💀
For reference in a European that knew about nachos in my teens during 2005-2010, so I am surprised people didn’t know about it
Oh, no worries, you’ve just been living under the most delicious rock. It’s only slightly weird that you’ve never heard of nachos just a global snack phenomenon, no biggie!
I’ve heard of nachos, but I am not really sure what they are – some kind of baked or fried tortilla chips, served au gratin with dips and jalapenos, usually. But do they have to be corn tortillas? Or can you use wheat tortillas? And are you supposed to fry the wedges or can you bake/airfry them? Can you use pre-made tortilla rounds or do you have to make them yourself? And what about those packets of “tortilla chips” you can buy? Would that still be nachos, if I bought some “corn chips” and baked them up with a little tinajeros and manchego, sour cream, salsa and guacamole? Or would that be considered barbaric? There also seems to be some controversy about the toppings – I remember seeing someone get really upset at something sold as nachos that didn’t have all the requisite slimes and goos. But does it have to be an American style salsa (sugar, HFCS, antioxidants, salt), or could I use pico de gallo or a nice black mole with chocolate and nuts?
Basically, nachos – and American-style Mexican food in general – seems to me to be are an area where the amount of opprobrium that you can get as a non-American for even trying to make some kind of an effort reflects something insecure in the American psyche. Woe betide you like chilli with tomatoes – and if you put corn in it, expect to be hogtied. Americans may not have any food or culture of their own, but they defend the two or three things they have stolen from better cultures as though their honour depends on it. What honour?
Nacho business
Leave it alone dude, nacho business.
They’re essentially tortilla chips with melted cheese and toppings. Maybe you’ve had them without knowing the name
Probably because you’re not American. They’re ubiquitous in the US.
What country in Europe?
Now I want to come cook you my personal style of loaded nachos so that you can truly understand the greatness of nachos
I’m reading this while eating some, chuckling to myself over lunch.
Obviously, I recommend you try them if you get the chance. They’re easy to make with corn chips/crisps, cheese, and toppings of choice. I added paprika and onion powder to mine.
If you try them, be warned that some places have rules about eating all the loaded nachos when you order it with someone.
What country are you from?