Jackson Free Press

Have you ever sat down in front of humongous pile of nachos and wondered, "Who was the genius that invented this amazing conglomeration of crispy chips, melted cheese, chunky salsa and chopped beef?"

In 1943, Ignacio "Nacho" Anaya created nachos in a little town called Piedras Negras in Coahuila, Mexico. The wives of soldiers stationed at the military base across the Mexican border in Eagle Pass, Texas, stopped in the restaurant where Ignacio worked after it had closed one evening. Without the head chef, Anaya, the headwaiter of the Victory Club, tried to provide the best dish with a few leftovers, mainly consisting of tortillas and cheese. He quickly cut the leftover tortillas into triangles, sprinkled them with cheese, heated them until the cheese melted and then topped them with jalapenos. They were such a hit that Anaya added them to the menu as "Nachos Especiales," or Nacho's specialty. The recipe followed Anaya when he became the manager of El Moderno restaurant in Eagle Pass, and also when he opened his own restaurant in 1975, shortly before his death. Remaining truly humble, he never patented the name "nacho."

The International Nacho Festival is a weeklong celebration held the second week of October every year in Piedras Negras (meaning "black stones"), Mexico, with the official International Day of the Nacho on Oct. 19. The festival features live music and art, and attendees can participate in the "biggest nacho in the world" contest, recognized by the "Guinness Book of World Records."

The day is usually spent devouring mass quantities of the iconic dish.