According to a golf club chef, this is the best way to make nachos

As the NFL season begins, we bring to your attention Ignacio Anaya Garcia, an unheralded hero of the game.

But not a good choice for your fantasy league.

Anaya Garcia, whose friends knew him as “Nacho,” never downplayed a gridiron. His greatest footballing moment came off the field in the early 1940s, while working as a cook in the Mexico-Texas border town of Piedras Negras, when he invented a dish that bore his nickname and has long since become a gameday staple.

Maybe whip up some nachos this weekend.

Jonathan Moosmiller certainly will.

Moosmiller is the general manager of food and beverage at the Shangri-La Resort in Oklahoma, where he and his staff offer three different nacho variations at three different resort locations. One variant is smoked beef brisket. Another consists of thick-cut potato chips, peppered bacon and beer cheese sauce (Moosmiller calls this version “Irish nachos”). The third dish combines classic ingredients like grilled steak and chicken, pico de gallo and roasted corn.

“You can never have too many choices when it comes to nachos,” says Moosmiller.

But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have rough guidelines for nacho preparation.

Here’s his 6-point playbook for making it at home:

1. Size matters. Also freshness.

Not too big. Not too small. And not bought in the store either. Any preparation worth making starts with “freshly fried tortilla chips,” says Moosmiller. “Not the cold stuff from the store.” Make them “medium,” he notes. “Ideally, they have to fit in every mouth.”

2. Don’t overload them

Nachos without toppings are just tortilla chips. So feel free to move on, provided you stay within practical limits. If you add “too many things,” says Moosmiller, “the toppings fall off and make a big mess.” And you end up eating nothing but the bare chip.”

3. Say cheese

Another rule when making nacho is that there are no rules. At least when it comes to the ingredients. Everything goes. “The possibilities are endless,” says Moosmiller. “People like what they like. I never say ‘never.'” But he says ‘always.’ As always, use cheese. “They’re not nachos without them.” Moosmiller’s preference is chili con queso, commonly referred to as queso, a combination of melted cheese and chili peppers that pours easily and spreads more easily than shredded cheese.

4. Cook accordingly

As McDonald’s once said about the McDLT: The hot stays hot and the cool stays cool. Nachos should be prepared in stages, bringing each ingredient to the appropriate temperature for it. This means that some products – such as avocados and tomatoes – are not cooked at all. “Anything cold should be added after everything else is added and comes out of the oven,” says Moosmiller. “The mix of hot and cold toppings is one of the things that makes nachos taste unique.”

5. Spread the love

If you assemble nachos in a tall pile, the chips at the bottom won’t be touched by the toppings. Spreading them out will give you better coverage. Not that every chip needs to be buried in an avalanche of additions. “There are always a few chips left over from the topping,” says Moosmiller. “However, these naked chips serve an important purpose. This will scrape away any ingredients that fall off the other chips as you make a mess. You don’t want to leave anything uneaten.”

6. Serve them smart

Nachos for a crowd can be messy and uncontrollable if you don’t present them strategically. “Make sure you set it up properly,” says Moosemiller. “For example, if you’re serving family-style, make sure everyone has a plate and the right utensils to serve themselves.” Better yet, “Maybe you should serve them.” You may have a mess, but do it to your chaos.”

Josh Sens

Golf.com Staff

Josh Sens, a golf, food and travel journalist, has written for GOLF Magazine since 2004 and now writes across all GOLF platforms. His work was anthologized in The Best American Sportswriting. He is also co-author, with Sammy Hagar, of Are We Have Any Fun Yet: the Cooking and Partying Handbook.