Nachos, as Mexican as tequila

What to many may be an invention of U.S. cuisine as part of that never-ending desire to flirt with its southern neighbor, turns out to be more Mexican than expected. That is so because nachos were born in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, a Mexican town close to Eagle Pass, Texas.

According to several authors, in October 1943 a group of American ladies arrived at a restaurant called Club Victoria, which had closed for the day. However, the gallantry of the manager, Ignacio “Nacho” Anaya, not only erased their hunger, but he made something out of the little that he had on hand. With corn tortillas and cheese, he created what we now know as nachos, though he named them Special Nachos.

For Adriana P. Orr, a librarian who worked for a quarter century as a researcher at the Oxford English Dictionary, her investigation concluded when she found a 1949 cookbook titled “A Taste of Texas,’ edited by Jane Trahey, which included a comment on the authorship of the nachos, giving credit to Anaya, as she stated in her article, “Nachos, anyone?”,  published by the dictionary in 1999.

Karen Haram agreed with Orr, as she stated in an article entitled “The Legend of Nacho’s Appetizer,” published by the San Antonio Express-News in 2002. She interviewed Ignacio Anaya Jr., son of the creator of the universal snack, who corroborated the story of the creation.

According to Orr and Haram, the originator of the dish died in 1975.

“I did not know about that story, but almost all Tex-Mex style food has its origins in Mexico,” said Gonzalo Aguilar, a native of Chihuahua, Mexico, who is a cook at a seafood restaurant in east Tulsa. “I have a very good recipe for nachos with beef. And it ends up the way I like it: spicy.”

Aguilar’s nachos have chipotle peppers, jalapeños, beans, peeled tomatoes, garlic, beef, and of course, chips. “You can’t leave out the jalapeno slices,” he said.

The flavors of the Mexican states of Sonora and Puebla are present in the nachos served by Luis Mercado and Javier Manríquez, owners of a mobile food outlet next to Plaza Santa Cecilia in east Tulsa.

“The Sonora style nachos come with beans and ground beef,” Mercado said. “The Puebla style are for people who are dieting; they come with chunks of chicken and pico de gallo.”

Gonzalo Mejia, a native of Jalisco, Mexico, and a cook in a taco truck on the city’s northwest side, said “the original nachos have beans, tomatoes, jalapeño, guacamole, sour cream and on top, meat or chicken.”

Whether they originated here or south of the border, nachos represent – at least in their  ingredients – the Hispanic cookbook.

Did you know?

October 21 is International Day of the Nacho.

Who were Frank Liberto and Howard Cossell?

Liberto and Cossell are considered promoters of nachos in the United States. Liberto adapted Anaya’s recipe to suit the palate of his customers in the baseball stadium in Arlington, Texas, while Cossell was responsible for popularizing it among football fans.

Photos by Juan Miret

Hispanic grocery stores: reminders of home

Our wise elders often recall favorite stores that had “a little of everything,” which is precisely what is offered at the Hispanic grocery stores, known variously as pulperías stores that carry abarrotes (groceries) or mercaditos(small markets). They have everything: food, drinks, candles, medicines, cakes, magazines, piñatas, clay pots, soccer balls and even guitars, to name just a few things.

Jorge Bossio, author of  “Historia de las Pulperías,” defines such a store as a place that is “mythical, real, common, an institution and a legend.” He adds that they have been “the refuge of fellow countrymen, a required meeting place for leisure and recreation, a social reference point.”

Martha González, 46, a Peruvian who has been living in Tulsa for seven years, says these Hispanic stores “are a piece of our countries in the United States,” She made her comment while in a shop located on Tulsa’s south side. where she was buying Inca Kola, a soft drink that is popular in Peru, “Something as simple as this beverage makes life easier for us. It is as if for a moment you are transported back home.”

Beef – whose cuts change name from country to country – is the main reason that Elvira Hernández, originally from Zacatecas, Mexico, goes to the Morelos grocery store in southwest Tulsa instead of a larger market. “First, they talk to you in your language, and that is already a benefit,” she said. “But what I like most is that they will prepare the meat just the way Mexicans like it.”

While Hernández was waiting for six pounds of flank steak, her son, Alexis, 4, was enjoying a “Pulparindo” – a spicy treat that combines the acidic pulp of the tamarind fruit with a bit of salt and sugar.

Oscar Pedroza, a native of El Salvador, went to a small market across from Plaza Santa Cecilia in east Tulsa, seeking a fruit that is common in his country and is known as “anona,” which is in the sugar-apple family and look like a cross between an apple and an artichoke. “It is very sweet, and this is the only place where I can get it, but it always sells very quickly,” he said, disappointed upon finding none.

Remedies for ailments can also be found in Hispanic stores. Flor Méndez, a native of Mexico, was in an east side story looking for an ointment with camphor. “It heals muscle aches,” she said as she walked toward the aisle with votive candles, maybe to add some insurance to her treatment.

A piñata and a “tres leches” cake were the only two items on the list for Jesús and Graciela Rámirez, a Mexican couple who were shopping at a Hispanic market in east Tulsa for his nephew’s birthday. “It is easy to come to this store because you find everything here.”

Perhaps shops today do not have the color of before, where one could see cockfights or where serenades were planned, but they keep alive cultural expressions from the Rio Grande to Patagonia.

If you went to the store in search of a nail and did not find it, don’t get mad – you may discover a fruit that you were not familiar with, or you will finally find that record by Pedro Vargas that you searched for so much.

 Photos by Juan Miret

Meals on wheels: tastes that take one back home

You arrive. Place your order. Eat, pay, and leave.

That is how fast and easy it is to eat at a mobile food stand, or as they are known in a sort of Spanglish term: loncheras. They are restaurants on wheels, loaded with flavors that remind one of his or her homeland. Such fare includes tacos, enchiladas, corn in a cup, fruit sprinkled with the sour and spicychamoy, and even a menudo soup on Saturday morning to cure a hangover.

Andrés Hernández, a native of Mexico, arriving at noon to a red-colored food stand in the parking lot at Plaza Santa Cecilia in Tulsa’s east side, and he gave three reasons for being there. “I am very hungry, I don’t have much money and I don’t have much time.” He ordered a “chilindrina,” a meal consisting of fried pork skin or chicharrón with sour cream, tomato, lettuce, pickled pig skin and avocado, and sprinkled with hot sauce. “Now I can go work, with enthusiasm,” he said as he left, sticking to his daily routine.

After Hernández was given his order, Juan Chavarria arrived and ordered a water-and-tamarind-drink, and three round, flour duros with lemon and “a lot of Valentina sauce.”

But what has made the provider of traditional Mexican snacks well known is the combination of fruit with hot sauce and salt. “It is refreshing and tasty,” said Eugenia Pedroza, who was waiting for a mango covered in viscouschamoy and sprinkled with a Tajín spice, or a mix of ground cayenne and lemon.

Just two blocks away are two other food stands. Each claims to provide the best tacos in Tulsa. “My tacos are express, very fast,” said José Duarte, one of three cooks. “We work as a team, so the orders come out quickly.”

His neighbor, Lupe Castañeda, said he offers “quality,” adding that “I’m not as fast as they are, but I’m not bad. But I have to say, my tacos have the flavor of (Mexican state) Sinaloa.”

Francisco González, owner of a food trailer near Eleventh Street and Lewis Avenue, says “the food at these loncheras is homemade; it is authentic food.” He said “we do not compete with any restaurant. That is very different. The menu is smaller and people come because it is something special. Imagine eating at a lonchera in the middle of Tulsa.”

Gonzalez says his “little truck” was not a mobile kitchen and everything was adapted until he converted it to a lonchera. He said people come to the business to have their picture taken and others rent it for parties at their homes. “It is very original, and it is like taking a piece of Mexico with them.”

But the main interest of his customers is speed. “They can call ahead and do not even have to wait,” he said. “The speed of service and the freshness of the products make this a good business.”

Not far from there, in the Kendall-Whittier neighborhood and near Third Street and Lewis Avenue, Fernando Mendoza, originally from Tamaulipas, Mexico, was at a mobile food outlet. He ordered five tostadas with ceviche – “four to go and one to eat on the road,” he said. “It is Easter, so I cannot eat meat. This site is famous for its hot-dogs, I always order them.” With him was his cousin, Manuel, who nodded in agreement and said “they are the best.”

Food served out of a trailer is a Hispanic tradition, which in a hectic society allows one to  briefly enjoy those curb-side taquitos, with a sweet and refreshing glass of horchata and the spiciness of a sauce that reminds one of home. Besides, these vendors add a special color to the city. Right?

Photos by Juan Miret

Cigars: a handmade tradition

In a hectic society, where everything is running 24 hours a day and the minutes contain fewer and fewer seconds, cigars are the perfect excuse to scream out to the world: Stop! I need to take a break by enjoying this cylindrical chimney whose smoke generates ideas and encourages discussions.

“I do not sell cigars, I sell an experience,” said Chris Weiss, owner of a cigar shop that covers 3,000 square feet downtown in the Brady district. “Smoking cigars is an art. One must do it step by step, without hurrying.”

Community college teacher Isaac Hiriart, a native of Mexico living in Tulsa, says that “to enjoy a cigar, you have to take your time and not go hurry,” adding that “depending on a person’s taste, you can complement the cigar with a drink of choice; for me, a very cold, dark beer.”

Hiriart says that one can use that time to think, “to clear one’s mind after a hard day, or one can be in the company of friends with whom to talk and to have a good time.”

Weiss explains that cigars are nothing but tobacco leaves that have been dried and fermented, and that is why humidity is a determining factor. “Cigars should be stored under controlled humidity, an ideal climate, otherwise they lose their aroma and their properties,” he said. “That’s why I insist in stating that smoking them is an art.”

To keep them fresh, Hiriart has a humidifier that allows him to set the humidity above 70 percent. “Cigars can last a long time as long as they are kept in a humid and cool environment,” he said. “I do not like to leave them for more than 10 months. I smoke one or two cigars a month, so I never have more than 15 on hand, so they won’t spoil, but to have them and to share them.”

For a cigar to be called “habano,” or Havana cigar, 100 percent of its components must have been grown in Cuba, says Weiss. As for the belief in the extraordinary and unsurpassed quality of the cigars from that Caribbean island, he said that such claims are “part of an urban legend,” adding that “Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic have developed a very advanced tobacco industry, mixing different types of tobacco and producing high-quality cigars.”

Hiriart said he has two favorite types: Churchill and Double Corona. As for brands, he mentions H. Upman, Partagas, Macanudo, and Romeo y Julieta.

For Weiss, everything hinges on the smoker’s palate. “There are some that are very exclusive, such as Montecristo Black Label (Reserva Negra), which has a Nicaraguan wrapper known as San Andrés Morrón and a filling of A-grade tobacco from Honduras and Nicaragua,” he said. “Also, they come in a very elegant box.”

Prices of cigars vary depending on their style and type, said Weiss. “There is something for all tastes and in all prices.”

In fact, there are cigars such as the Black Dragon Gurkha, whose price for each is $1,150, a considerable cost considering it is 8.5 inches long. However, an average price for, say, a Cohiba Espléndido is $34; a box of 25 is $750.

In the end, the price could be the least of matters. As Hiriart said, “a cigar is not smoked simply for the effects of the nicotine, but to savor the taste of the tobacco. It is like tasting different wines.”

If that is so, then: To your health!

Cigar Glossary

Color

This is determined by its wrapper; terms used refer to shades of tan, brown and black.

Form

The less orthodox, the higher the cost. The most common are called parejos and these in turn are classified as: Rothschild, Robust, Panatela, Petit Corona, Charlotte, Corona, Corona Gorda, Toro, Corona Grande, Lonsdale, Churchill, Double Corona, President, Gran Corona , Double Toro Gordo.

Figurado

These are cigars of irregular shapes. They are considered higher quality and therefore have a higher cost. They are termed as: Torpedo, Pirámide, Perfecto, Presidente/Diadema, Culebras, Toscano.

Before smoking, cut the cap

To be able to smoke a cigar, one must have a cutter to cut the cap or the end where the smoke will be drawn in. There are three types of cutters: Guillotine, punch cut and V-cut.

Photos by Juan Miret