2008 NachOlympics
The NachOlympics are a combination of nachos and Olympics. Held on the final day of the 2008 Beijing Olympics the NachOlympics use food to focus our attention away from the boosterism of Team USA and embrace the many other countries competing for gold.
Each participant creates a plate of nachos based on the foods of their chosen countries. The results are then judged on a 0 - 10 rating system, with up to two decimal points (highest and lowest scores are eliminated, modeled after the Olympic Trampoline event).
Dave (center) chose the hopeful 2012 country of The Republic of Texas and took the gold medal with his frito pie. Katie's (left) Cuban Nachos, with a base of fried polenta topped with rice, avocado, beans, lime, and other toppings. Bronze went to dalas (right) and his conceptual Ethiopian Nachos which was a purchased plate of delicious Ethiopian food poured over some tortilla chips. The scores between bronze and silver were just 0.004 points.
Curt and Molly's Australia came in 4th and was a crowd favorite with the English-inspired toppings of baked beans, tomato sauce, and fried egg. Lauren's Jamaican Nachos would have won Best In Show had presentation been a part of the judging. Her jerked veggie chicken, black beans, avocado, and cheese formed the image of the Jamaican flag! Judah and Sarah chose Spain and created a thick handmade Spanish tortilla topped with aioli (and served with delicious sangria).
The bottom of the rankings included Mike's awkward attempt at Japanese Nachos, consisting of wasabi flavored rice chips, with canned Alaskan pink salmon and shredded nori, covered in a sauce made of vegannaise and sriracha and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds. It tasted better than it looked, but still was only 7th place. Another strong conceptual contender was Willow's Irish Nachos which used a potato chip base topped in baked beans and a fancy Irish cheddar cheese. In last place was the typical American style nachos of tortilla chips and cheese sauce. It was deservedly last place.
Please tell us more! The video didn't make it clear what was in each nacho.
The documentation about each nacho is incomplete, but I can tell you about Japan (which I made): Base was wasabi flavored rice chips, with Alaskan pink salmon and shredded nori, covered in a sauce made of vegannaise and sriracha and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds. It looked, like a lot of Japanese food, pretty exotic, but was surprisingly tasty.
REWRITE! I got some help from Steve and Willow and rewrote it. :)
Thanks for the details! If I had been there, I would have made Jewish Nachos of reuben toppings (pastrami, kraut, russian dressing, gruyere cheese) on bagel chips. I would have won at least Mike's heart with this attempt. I may yet give it a try.
But they all sound awesome and fun to eat! Good event!
Nobody tried dessert nachos??? Like, say, fried flour tortillas with ice cream and fruit or something?
There was talk of dessert nachos during the event. Possibly for the winter olympics? :)
I have to say I loved the Irish nachos, and will be making them for myself soon. What's the deal with most baked beans having bacon in them though?