Plate of Cheesy Nachos Sparks Fierce Debate Online: 'This Is What You Get'

A post about a dish served as "nachos" has gone viral on Reddit, where it received over 29,000 upvotes at the time of writing.

The image shared by Reddit user WomensToiletLurker, which appeared to show tortilla chips topped with shredded cheese on a paper plate, was titled with a question that read: "Friend offers to make nachos and this is what you get. How do you respond?"

The nacho dish presented in the latest post appears to be lacking some key elements.

Nachos are tortilla chips that are covered with "warm melted cheese and often with hot peppers, beans, salsa," according to the Britannica Dictionary.

The Cambridge Dictionary refers to nachos as "small pieces of fried tortilla" or "flat bread made from maize flour" that are covered with "melted cheese, beans, sometimes pieces of meat, and a spicy sauce."

So where did nachos come from? According to a blog post by the Oxford English Dictionary, a San Antonio Express food editor in San Antonio, the largest city influenced by Tex-Mex trends, said the first nachos dish was credited to Ignacio Anaya.

Anaya, who was a chef at the old Victory Club in Piedras Negras, a Mexican town just across the border from Eagle Pass, Texas, served the first nachos dish in the 1940s to some women from Eagle Pass on a shopping trip.

According to a forecast report on the nachos market from 2017 to 2027 by the Transparency Market Research firm based in Albany, New York, "as a result of increasing numbers of fast food chains," serving both vegetarians and non-vegetarians, "the demand for nachos is rising rapidly" and "the nachos market is expected to increase over the forecast period."

The report said: "North America holds the major share of the global nachos market and it is expected to grow at a steady rate," while the "Western Europe market is expected to grow at a relatively higher growth rate over the forecast period."

Other Redditors were amused by the latest viral post. Several suggested some creative responses that the original poster should give to their friend.

In a comment that got 17,600 upvotes, DieInADitch said: "I'd say 'thank you' and ask if I could use the microwave for a few seconds."

In a comment that got 3,500 upvotes, tittysprinkles112 said: "Nachos are non negotiable," and advised the original poster should tell their friend: "Alright, well, I think I'm going to head out. I have a headache."

User sunsinstudios suggested saying: "As sensible as you may think that seems, I fear I must leave or risk ending this friendship."

Snowpuppy13 suggested a rather elaborate response, noting the original poster should say: "Well I'm sorry, I'm allergic to grade A5 cheese [a play on A5 wagyu, the highest grade of the cut of Japanese beef] that isn't melted over meat and topped with pico de gallo and sour cream. Jalapeño slices are optional, and habanero slices are wonderful. Perhaps we can use the oven then, because A) these aren't nachos (yet), and B) the oven works better anyway."

Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment.