Carmen Rocha, Waitress who Popularized Nachos, Dies at 77
OCTOBER 17, 2008 TAGS:
In the early 1960s Carmen Rocha, a waitress at the Los Angeles Mexican eatery, El Cholo, would, upon request from her favorite customers, prepare a tex-mex dish of fried tortilla chips, layered with cheese and jalapeno peppers and warmed in the oven. It was a dish she learned in San Antonio, where Rocha grew up. Nachos, of course, is now a national, American delicacy, resplendent in its variations and amalgamations.
In time the dish gained enough popularity to be added to the menu at El Cholo, changing Los Angeles’ and the country’s gastronomic relationship with melted cheese forever. Carmen Rocha died on October 9. She was 77.
The actor Jack Nicholson, a long-time regular at El Cholo, is quoted in the Los Angeles Times’ obit. He said, "Carmen was wonderful, to me and to everybody. It's a community loss.”
Moreover, it’s a national loss. From bar to stadium, T.G.I. Fridays, to college dorm room, nachos are an example of the nationalization of a regional American delicacy. Eating nachos is an oddly uniting activity for Americans, claimed as birth right for coastal elites and Joe-the-Plumbers alike.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word nacho first appeared in the English language in 1949, six years after Ignacio "Nacho" Anaya prepared the dish for the first time at his restaurant in the border town Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico.
Picturing the tortilla chip trail of popularization isn’t too difficult. And Carmen Rocha, like a jovial Juanita Appleseed, did her crucial part. So next time you commune with America’s national spirit over a plate, a platter or a basket of cheesy, crunchy, spicy nachos, think of Carmen Rocha’s warm, smiling face.
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Obit from the Los Angeles Times
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In time the dish gained enough popularity to be added to the menu at El Cholo, changing Los Angeles’ and the country’s gastronomic relationship with melted cheese forever. Carmen Rocha died on October 9. She was 77.The actor Jack Nicholson, a long-time regular at El Cholo, is quoted in the Los Angeles Times’ obit. He said, "Carmen was wonderful, to me and to everybody. It's a community loss.”
Moreover, it’s a national loss. From bar to stadium, T.G.I. Fridays, to college dorm room, nachos are an example of the nationalization of a regional American delicacy. Eating nachos is an oddly uniting activity for Americans, claimed as birth right for coastal elites and Joe-the-Plumbers alike.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word nacho first appeared in the English language in 1949, six years after Ignacio "Nacho" Anaya prepared the dish for the first time at his restaurant in the border town Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico.
Picturing the tortilla chip trail of popularization isn’t too difficult. And Carmen Rocha, like a jovial Juanita Appleseed, did her crucial part. So next time you commune with America’s national spirit over a plate, a platter or a basket of cheesy, crunchy, spicy nachos, think of Carmen Rocha’s warm, smiling face.
--
Obit from the Los Angeles Times
--
Related Stories
A Legendary Name in SandwichesAlbert J. Langer made "the finest hot pastrami sandwich in the world."
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