The Alva de Mars Megan Chapel Art Center at Saint Anselm College in Manchester will hold an opening reception for its new exhibition “Still Waters, Deep Reflections: The Art of Evelin Bodfish Bourne” on Thursday, Feb. 12, 6 to 8 p.m. The show will be on display Feb. 13 through May 8. See anselm.edu and click on “The Arts.”
Friday, Feb. 13
The Majestic Theatre (880 Page St., Manchester, 669-7469, majestictheatre.net) presents Always a Bridesmaid, a comedy about the perils of keeping teenage promises — in this case for a group of friends to attend each other’s weddings, even 30 years later. Performances will be tonight at 7 p.m.; tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 14, at 2 and 7 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 15, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20 through the Majestic’s website.
Saturday, Feb. 14
It’s Backyard Winter Bird Survey Weekend! Today and tomorrow observe and report species of birds you see in your backyard to the New Hampshire Audubon to help track winter bird popoulartions, according to nhaudubon.org, where you can find instructions on how to register and log your results.
Saturday, Feb. 14
Enjoy a Valentine’s Day Evening with Elvis (performer Robert Black) at Fulchino Vineyard (187 Pine Hill Road, Hollis, 438-5984, fulchinovineyard.com). Doors open at 5 p.m. and the show starts at 6 p.m. A special menu will be available. Tickets are $29 through the Vineyard’s website.
Saturday, Feb. 14
The Nashua Center for the Arts (201 Main St., Nashua, 800-657-8774, nashuacenterforthearts.com) presents Emo Night Brooklyn tonight at 8 p.m. This is an 18+ late-night DJ-based dance party featuring emo and pop-punk jams. Tickets start at $26 through the Center’s website.
Sunday, Feb. 15
The Aaron Tolson Institute of Dance presents Lily’s Pad today at 4 p.m. at the Dana Center for the Humanities (Saint Anselm College, 100 Saint Anselm Drive, Manchester, anselm.edu) featuring Lily Booker and her three-piece jazz band on her journey through rhythm and tap dance. Tickets are $34 through the Dana Center’s website.
Wednesday, Feb. 18
The Poetry Society of New Hampshire will host an Afternoon of Poetry at Gibson’s Bookstore (45 S. Main St., Concord, 224-0562, gibsonsbookstore.com) today from 4:30 to 6 p.m., featuring poet Liane St. Laurent. An open mic will follow her reading. Visit psnh.org/events.
Save the Date! Saturday, Feb. 21 Musical Fusion act Black Violin will perform Saturday, Feb. 21, at 7:30 p.m. at the Nashua Center for the Arts (201 Main St., Nashua, 800-657-8774, nashuacenterforthearts.com). For nearly two decades Black Violin has been merging string arrangements with modern beats and vocals. Their 2019 album release, Take the Stairs, earned a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, and the band recently received a Grammy nomination for the track “The Message” as Best Americana Performance, in collaboration with The Blind Boys of Alabama. Tickets start at $57 through the Center’s website.
Featured photo: Majestic Theatre presents the comedy Always a Bridesmaid. Courtesy photo.
NH Recycles is offering three in-person Solid Waste Safety Summits and one webinar about lithium-ion battery safety open to solid waste and recycling facility operators and staff, local firefighters, municipal and town employees and interested residents, according to an email from nhrecycles.org. Choose an in-person event in Laconia on Thursday, Feb. 12; New London on Thursday, March 19, or Keene in July, the email said. The in-person summits run from 9 to 11:30 a.m. with light refreshments and travel stipends are available for some municipal employees, the email said. The webinar is slated for Monday, April 6, from noon to 1:30 p.m., the email said. See the website to register.
Services fair
The Moore Center will host a free transition fair on Thursday, Feb. 12, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at its offices at 195 McGregor St. in Manchester, for individuals of all ages and abilities with services and resources for those with disabilities (including developmental or intellectual disabilities and acquired brain disorders), according to a press release. The agencies, representing resources available in Greater Manchester and across New Hampshire, include those offering support related to education, employment, health care, housing and community life, the press release said. “The event is free and open to residents of Auburn, Bedford, Candia, Goffstown, Hooksett, Londonderry, Manchester and New Boston. Students interested in careers in human services are also encouraged to attend,” the release said. Call 603-206-2814 or see moorecenter.org.
Douglass Day
The Nashua Public Library, 2 Court St. in Nashua, will participate in the Douglass Day Transcribe-a-Thon on Friday, Feb. 13, from 12:30 to 3 p.m. celebrating the Feb. 14 chosen birthday of Frederick Douglass by creating transcriptions related to Black history, according to nashualibrary.org. According to DouglassDay.org, “This year we are going to be transcribing a vast new collection of records on the Colored Conventions movement. Our transcriptions will range across dozens of states and stretch from the start of the movement in 1830 through the turn of the 20th century.” The library is closed on Fridays but staff will let participants into the library from noon to 12:45 p.m., the library’s website said. BYO laptop or tablet if you have one; the event will feature birthday cake, the website said.
Film fest
Tickets for the 18th annual New Hampshire Jewish Film Festival go on sale on Sunday, Feb. 15, at nhjewishfilmfestival.com. The festival will kick off Sunday, March 15, and the first in-person screening will be of Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire at the Rex Theatre in Manchester. In-person and virtual screenings continue through Sunday, March 29, and the festival will feature 13 feature films and four short films, according to a press release. Screenings will take place in Manchester, Concord, Portsmouth, Hanover and Keene, according to the website, where individual tickets and ticket packages will be available for purchase.
First Congregational Church in Concord will hold a Mardi Gras Jazz Sanctuary Service on Sunday, Feb. 15, at 2:30 p.m. featuring music “rooted in early jazz, gospel and blues traditions,” according to a press release. See jazzsanctuary.com.
Etz Hayim Synagogue, 1½ Hood Road in Derry, will hold a mah jongg tournament on Sunday, April 26, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to an event email. The entry fee is $30; sign up by April 12. “There will be four rounds of game play, four games per one-hour round,” the email said. The day will feature prizes, raffles, refreshments and more; register at etzhayim.org/mah-jongg-tournament.
The Concord Coachmen Chorus will send a barbershop quartet and a red rose to your Valentine’s Day sweetheart in and around Manchester and Concord on Friday, Feb. 13, and Saturday, Feb. 14. Go to concordcoachmen.org and click on “Singing Valentines” to see available time slots.
Nashua Community Arts and Spectacle Live will present the Navy Band Northeast Pops Ensemble on Wednesday, March 18, at 7 p.m. at the Nashua Center for the Arts. Tickets are free, first come first served. Reserve tickets at nashuacenterforthearts.com.
Art and music go together like chardonnay and a fine brie. The pairing of jazz guitarist David Newsam with an exhibition by a group of regional painters opening Feb. 7 promises to be equally satisfying. Explore, Express: Painting with Purpose offers works from a New England College class led by Bedford artist Patrick McKay that’s met for the past 15 years.
“Someone like David is ideally suited for this kind of thing,” Rick Lugg, Exhibition Chair at Two Villages Art Society, said recently. “We’re trying to generate traffic, so we want a lot of people in there, and we want something that at least loosely complements the theme or the work of the show.”
Newsam has performed at Two Villages openings before. In a phone interview from his home in Raymond, he said he’ll play jazz standards and American Songbook selections this time.
“In the past, I’ve done a lot of open, free improvisation,” he said, adding, “I feel that a really important element is to try to shape the music to match the vibe of the artists.”
He’ll play solo on acoustic and electric guitar, eschewing the pedals, loops and other sound-scaping tools other musicians often use to augment their sound.
“I think it’s much more of a challenge to be able to do it all live without any kind of effects,” he said, pointing to guitarist Tommy Emmanuel’s approach as an ideal.
“He can present and portray an entire band just by himself, with the mechanics of the instrument,” Newsam explained. “I heard him answer this question once at a clinic, and he just said, ‘I hear the bass, I hear the piano, I hear the vocals, and I just try to play it all.’”
Born in Connecticut, Newsam attended Berklee College of Music and returned later to teach. He also taught at Dartmouth College and at UNH, where he founded their jazz guitar program.
“I always joked that at Berklee I was one of 50 guitar faculty, and at UNH I was the entire guitar program,” he said.
In high school Newsam listened to Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter, and guitar-based bands like the Allman Brothers; then he found jazz at Berklee. During his senior year he spent a lot of time in Hyannis, Mass., while taking care of his grandfather and got even deeper into the genre.
“Cape Cod was really a hotbed of amazing jazz players like Dave McKenna, the pianist, and Lou Colombo, the trumpet player,” he said. “I mean, these were some of the best players in the world, and they all were based in Cape Cod, so I had a ton of opportunities.”
Newsam continues to teach at Berklee and perform as well as occasionally record music. He and sax player Bobby Tynes recently released an instrumental EP, Kindred Souls. It includes a lively rendition of “Fishin’ Hole,” the theme song from 1960s sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, and a scintillating version of “The Very Thought of You.”
The two became friends in 1983.
“I had an opportunity to play a summer job, so I moved up to the Lake Winnipesaukee region,” he said. “Bobby’s uncle had a cabin. We met at a jam session and we’ve been playing music ever since … partners in crime for over four decades.”
The record is their first together. “It’s a collection of things we either did in the studio or did live that Bobby took into his recording studio,” Newsam said. “Some of the recordings are probably 20 years old…. It’s not like we went in as a project and recorded all that in one day.”
The five-track effort is available on streaming services for now.
“It’s really been fun listening to that, reminiscing about the music that we’ve played,” Newsam said. “We really are kindred souls. We don’t play for two or three months and when we get together it feels like we’ve been playing every day. It’s just that kind of relationship.”
Opening reception with guitarist David Newsam When: Saturday, Feb. 7, noon Where: Two Villages Art Society, 846 Main St., Contoocook More: twovillagesart.org
“When you drive by,” Kellyn Thompson said, “there’s a big field out behind the brewery. They’re clearing the snow, and they actually have started stacking pallets. We take these wooden pallets, stack them — we’re doing two — and we’ll light them, one at 5 p.m. and one at around 7 p.m. So one while the sun is still up, one after the sun has gone down. It’s really just the coolest. It’s just a huge, huge bonfire.”
Thompson is the creative director of 603 Brewery in Londonderry, which is hosting its second annual Fire on Main event across the street from the brewery on Saturday, Feb. 7. She said the bonfire is 603’s vision of a winter block party.
“In addition to the bonfires we will line Main Street. We blockade this whole street out front, and then we bring in local food trucks and food and beverage vendors. They’ll set up shop along the street. There will be a giant beer tent so people can come get drinks. The beer hall will be open with our regular food and beer specials. And there will be a DJ doing live mixing. The owner of Fire N Gin brings a vintage fire truck and parks it right in the middle of the street. He’ll put up some string lights, which is also a really cool [picture to take] because you’ve got this vintage fire truck and then you can pan over to this giant bonfire.”
“In addition,” Thompson said, “we’ll have some burn barrels — picture metal barrels just scattered throughout, so people can warm up and hang out around a smaller fire that’s, you know, less dangerous. This year we’ll have two of these and then we have firefighters who are volunteering to come and light the fire in a safe way. A group of firefighters will have a table. They’ll sell merch, and they’re fundraising for muscular dystrophy awareness. On this street behind us, there’s a tattoo studio inside of this building. So they will be open, doing flash tattoos, which just means they’re small, kind of quick, and cheaper tattoo options, so you can go over there and in 20 minutes for between $50 and $100 get a tattoo. It’s fun and gives you a little bit of respite from the cold.”
Thompson said last year’s inaugural event was extremely successful.
“The outcome totally blew us away,” she said. “I think we had expected maybe 2,000 people and we got over 4,500 people. So it was really epic. I think it really just gives people something to do in this dead of winter that doesn’t involve skiing or having a ton of gear or knowing how to do anything. I remember when this idea was first pitched, the reaction was sort of like, ’OK, so a bonfire — that’s not that revolutionary.’ But then when you saw it all come together and like you saw all of the different moving parts, and then when you saw the turnout and just that many people kind of all coming together, to see this big thing happen, it was just really cool.”
2nd annual Fire on Main bonfire When: Saturday, Feb. 7, from 3 to 9 p.m. Where: 603 Brewery, 42 Main St., Londonderry, 404-6123, 603brewery.com Vendors will include Dead Proof Pizza, Wagon Wheels Mini Donuts, Teeny Weenies, Ken and Mimi’s Gourmet Snacks (formerly Ken’s Corn), Tin Can Co, Fire N Gin, and Barking Sisters Coffee. 603 Brewery has released a special edition Fire on Main smoked beer to mark the occasion, available on tap or in four-packs inside the brewery.
Theatre Kapow performs What The Constitution Means To Me
When Theatre Kapow put together its current season last spring, the selection for early February looked to be a good one. The independent company leans toward plays that engage, challenge and provoke audiences. What The Constitution Means to Me, Obie-winning playwright Heidi Schreck’s account of the document’s impact on her life, fit that bill.
As a teenager Schreck was an evangelist for the Constitution. “It was like a Bible to me,” she said in a 2018 interview. At 15 she toured the country earning college tuition money by winning Constitutional debate competitions. Much of her play looks at the document’s impact on women’s lives, beginning with her great-great-grandmother and moving forward.
No one could have predicted Theatre Kapow’s prescience in choosing What The Constitution Means to Me, however. While Carey Cahoon, who plays Schreck, and director Emma Cahoon certainly knew its themes were timely and important, the past several months have made them even more impactful.
“One of the amendments that Heidi talks about quite a bit is the 14th,” Carey said in a recent Zoom interview that included Emma. “Many of us have been thinking about that particular amendment a lot lately, because that’s birthright citizenship; due process, equal protection under the law.”
In the same 2018 BUILD Series interview, Schreck called the amendment an impetus for writing the play. “I was looking for ways my own life had been personally affected by the Constitution,” she said. “The 14th amendment is very powerful, and they used it to decide a lot of cases having to do with female bodies.”
Re-reading the script to prepare for her role reminded Carey of its relevancy. “What’s more important to understand is the impact on our daily lives,” Carey said. “What does it mean to live it?” Emma described cathartic preparations, as events in Minnesota, Maine and other places demanded attention.
“We come in at the top of every day and spend 15 minutes being like, ‘Oh my God, the news since we last met,’” she said. “Then we just dive into something that feels productive. We get to step outside of ourselves without ignoring the big thing; instead, really processing the big thing.”
Emma stressed that addressing vital issues isn’t the only reason they’re doing the play.
“It’s very vulnerable and also very dark, and its historical language can be very specific, but it’s also very funny,” she said. “As we continue to deconstruct this play I think we’re still finding a way to have fun with it in spite of everything.”
The cast includes Nick Meunier playing a Legionnaire who helps a young Schreck during her debates, and two students from New Hampton School, Adia and Inaya Robinson-Wood, who alternate as high school debaters. The play concludes with a debate, on whether the Constitution should be abolished, with audience participation encouraged.
What The Constitution Means to Me opens with three shows at Winnipesaukee Playhouse and concludes with three more the following weekend at Concord’s BNH Stage. Following each of two Sunday matinees, anyone who wants to stay is invited for a conversation with the cast and director, with the hope of personalizing the production.
Carey noted that native New Englanders have a unique perspective.
“Revolutionary and Constitutional history is the local history,” she said. “You’re talking about it starting in your elementary school, because those things happened right here. If you grew up in a different part of the country, you’re not necessarily so well-versed in that period of American history.”
Both urge audiences to arrive with a willingness to engage in active listening — but also to enjoy the play as theater.
“I’m finding it fun, and I’m finding it layered — and I’m finding it cathartic,” Emma said. “I’m hoping that’s the experience people have in the room with us as well. I hope the spirit we’ve found in the rehearsal room is exactly what it feels like to then join us as an audience.”
What The Constitution Means To Me When: Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through Feb. 15 Where: Winnipesaukee Playhouse, 33 Footlight Circle, Meredith (Feb. 6–8) and BNH Stage, 16 S. Main St., Concord (Feb. 13–15) Tickets: $30 and up at tkapow.com Advisory: Contains references to and discussions of domestic violence, sexual assault, abortion, and generational trauma
Featured photo: Carey Cahoon & Nick Meunier. Photo by Claire Gardner
Experts weigh in on this fully loaded party-ready snack
Nachos might be the most social food; they are meant to be shared.
Jon Carnevale, the owner of Shorty’s Mexican Roadhouse in Manchester and Nashua, agreed. “I think that’s the great thing about nachos,” he said. “I think it certainly really lends itself to just being social and going out with friends and enjoying yourselves, enjoying company. It’s something that, like our nachos here, they’re huge. So they can feed one, two, three people to an order, depending on the appetite. … [Nachos] have something primal about them — eating them with your hands. …There’s a connection there that doesn’t exist for some other dishes.”
According to Andy Sanborn, owner of Draft Sports Bar in Concord, it’s possible that nachos have become the No. 1 bar food. “We have some great nachos and it raises the question … are nachos overtaking chicken wings and tenders as the go-to snack for America,” Sanborn speculated, “and we think it could be. We have some awesome, awesome wings here that I’m very proud of. But it could be nachos over wings. They’re that popular.”
“Nachos are just like an easy grab-and-share item. I think that that’s what’s appealing to people,” said Elissa Drift, owner of Local Street Eats in Nashua. “Nachos are endless; you can put whatever you want on them and just really customize them to make them unique or different, colorful, and flavorful. And I think that is what the big appeal is. I’m a sucker for a nacho. I love a good cheesy nacho. But I just think it’s honestly just that a fun little grab and bite and you can put a little bit more on, a little bit less on, and it’s … just the versatility that it has to offer.”
For Jaime Metzger, manager of Granite State Candy in Manchester, it’s that versatility that makes nachos great.
“There are just endless options,” Metzger said. “You know, you have a chip and then you just, you have, there’s so many ways to, there’s so many ways to nacho. You can do sweet, you can do savory, you can add whatever toppings you want. It’s a group thing, but it can be individual — no judgments. Nachos aren’t judgy.”
The Chips
Nacho professionals agree that good nachos have to start with a base of good chips.
“We make our own chips with our own spices on them,” Andy Sanborn said. “I think that’s important. It keeps them fresh. It keeps them new. It gives them an individual taste.”
The tortilla chips at Shorty’s are made in-house, too. “Yeah, you’ve got to cook those every day,” said owner Jon Carnevale. “Those are done in-house again, seasoned by us.” While Carnevale and his staff don’t make tortillas from scratch, he emphasized that they make chips from them every day.
This focus on freshly made chips can extend beyond tortilla chips. Jeff DiAntonio, chef at The Peddler’s Daughter in Nashua, makes fresh potato chips for the base of his Irish nachos. “We cut our own chips,” he said. “We use 90-count russet Idaho potatoes, and then we fry those off to order.”
Other nacho-makers are less invested in making chips in-house but have high standards for the qualities of the chips they use.
“I get these really excellent corn chips from my vendor,” said Stanley Tremblay, owner, chef and head brewer of Liquid Therapy in Nashua. “They’re nice and thick with just enough salt to be tasty, with a good crunch, and they’re fairly thick so they withstand the toppings without getting soggy. So it’s really a primo chip that I love. It’s a real nice, crunchy, good yellow corn.”
The Cheese
Sharing equal billing as the most important element of an order of nachos is the cheese.
Jon Carnevale said the best cheese for nachos requires extra effort.
“You absolutely have to grate your own cheese,” Carnevale said. “You don’t want to use pre-bagged cheese that you’d find in the supermarkets, because it’s dry. It doesn’t have the moisture content that it would if you grated your own. That’s one of the big points. You don’t get the cheese pull, you don’t get that kind of luxurious cheesiness that you get if you grate your own.” The stretchy, melty cheese feels better in a person’s mouth, he said, and gives a plate of nachos important visual appeal.
“We use cotija cheese,” said Camaron Carter, co-owner of Sunstone Brewing in Londonderry. Cotija, pronounced “co-tee-hah,” is a dry, crumbly, Mexican cheese, a little like feta. “It just adds a little bit more saltiness to it. We like nachos that are more of the dip version of a nacho instead of your classic melted cheese on top. With melted cheese, you peel it off and you end up with that nucleus in the middle that everyone’s fighting over. This way, we kind of like this version of a nacho where it’s a lot easier to eat, easier to share.”
Andy Sanborn likes to have cheese options. “We use a tri-blend mix of cheese,” he said. ”But within our restaurant, we have something like seven different cheeses. So our ability to utilize different cheeses to hit differently on the taste palette is important.”
“We use a blend, a 50-50 blend of cheddar and jack,” said Jeffrey Spencer, a prep leader and shift supervisor at Margaritas Mexican Restaurant in Manchester. The cheddar gives the nachos a deeper cheesy flavor, he said, and the jack gives them a gooey, melty quality. “We have it shredded for us. It’s a specific brand that’s made for us specifically. They send us the blend; it has a box labeled Margaritas, mixed cheese.” This provides a consistency to the cheese; it is reliably the same every time.
The Build
We’ve all been disappointed at one time or another by finishing off delicious toppings only to be left with half an order of dry, broken chips. All our nacho experts agreed on the importance of making certain that all the chips are paired with toppings.
“We start with a skillet,” said Jeffrey Spencer, “and we put beans down on the skillet. Then we put a layer of chips and then we cover them with queso sauce. Then we do another layer of chips, add the protein, and then our mix of cheeses on top. And then when it comes out of the oven, it gets pico [pico de gallo, a fresh salsa], pickled jalapeños, guacamole and sour cream to add some brightness to set off all the stodge. We make our own queso. It’s not like from a can.”
“A key point is that you’ve got to do two layers,” advised Jon Carnevale. “You have to have one layer of cheese, more than whatever toppings you’re looking to add. You’ve got to have the right chip-to-cheese ratio. That’s very important, so you don’t have a little cheese on top and then a bunch of dry chips on the bottom. We do it in two layers here and we have a method that we stick to to make sure we preserve that ratio.”
Korean Nachos at Liquid Therapy. Courtesy photo.
Jeff DiAntonio is also a proponent of equal chip coverage, also in layers. “We [cook nachos] on a sheet pan in the oven,” he said. “We have a nice layer of chips and a little bit of cheese, and then a little bit more chips, cheese, and then the toppings go on top of that.”
For Stanley Tremblay at Liquid Therapy, though, the whole concept of layers of nachos seems fraught with danger. “Ours are cooked in the oven,” he said, “not under a broiler. The most important thing though is that everything is all on one layer, so you never get a bad chip.’
Andy Sanborn said that contrary to popular opinion putting together a really good plate of nachos can actually be fairly labor-intensive.
“I think you have to put in the work to make great nachos,” he said. “Look, you know, someone can just throw some tortilla chips out of a bag onto a pizza tin and throw some cheese on it, throw it in the oven and add some tomatoes, jalapeños and onions and call it a day. There are plenty of people that do that, and it works for them. We make everything from scratch at our restaurant; we want to make [our nachos] memorable.”
CLASSIC INGREDIENTS
Most people have a baseline image of nachos: tortilla chips, cheese and some fresh ingredients.
“The biggest thing for nachos is that you have to make a lot of them,” said Jon Carnevale. “That’s the key. And that’s what we do here at Shorty’s. I think sour cream has to be in there. Pickled jalapeños will go on them. Because you have all the richness from the cheese and all those other ingredients, you have the pickled jalapeños to kind of keep it in focus. It’s a good balance to that richness. It adds a little heat too. But it should be a little sprinkle. It’s not to overpower the plate, but just a little accent. We add a scoop of guac on each order of our nachos; that adds something. If you’re looking for meat, I’d pick good old-fashioned gringo ground beef, or even our chili. We make our Jailhouse chili in-house every day. And that on nachos is fantastic, especially this time of year.”
INNOVATIONS
What if you want to be a little more adventurous and experimental with your nachos? Nachos provide a great canvas to showcase special ingredients.
Short rib nachos
According to Michael Martin, chef at Miller’s Tavern in Manchester, highlighting a special ingredient on an order of nachos means the ingredient has to be of the highest quality. “We make our short ribs from scratch,” he said. “We have a house recipe that we use. Our short rib is slow-roasted for four hours so it’s tender and full of flavor. It’s so good. To top it off you can get it with our … barbecue sauce. We make nachos with pork or with the short rib. Most people go with the short rib. And then we top that with melted cheddar cheese, our house-made pico de gallo, along with our house-made barbecue sauce. You can add sour cream or diced jalapeños.”
Irish nachos
One increasingly popular form of nachos substitutes potato chips for tortilla chips. Jeff DiAntonio at the Peddler’s Daughter said potato chips support an even larger number of directions to take nachos in.
“These are something different. It’s not your typical corn tortilla. … The potatoes are a different spin on the ordinary nacho you get. We fry the chips to order, and we’ll top them with cheddar jack cheese, onion, tomato, sour cream and scallion for a basic one. But then we also have options to add barbecue pork, grilled chicken and bacon to them,” he said.
Street corn nachos
The nachos at Sunstone Brewing take their inspiration from Mexican street corn, which as its name suggests, is sold on the streets of Mexico, roasted and topped with lime juice, crema, and salty cheese.
“The base [of our street corn nachos] is a cream and cream cheese based street corn dip,” said Camaron Carter, “with corn, peppers and jalapeños. Obviously there’s the corn, which is fire roasted. And then you have some green and red peppers in there as well. Then on top you have the grilled chicken with some pickled jalapeños on top, some cotija cheese. And then chopped green onions to finish it. It was on our very first menu when we opened and people have loved it so much that it’s been there ever since.”
“I think our classic Sunstone Golden Ale goes perfectly with nachos,” Carter said. “It’s nice and light and not too hoppy. It has a breadiness to it that kind of helps deal with all the saltiness of the chips and all of that. I think it’s kind of perfect, especially if you’re watching a football game or any sports and having some nachos and some beers. You kind of want something light like that, that won’t overtake some of the flavors that you get from the nachos.”
Korean nachos
One very adventurous variation on traditional nachos is Liquid Therapy’s Korean-inspired Seoul-ful nachos.
“It’s a nice easy base of 100 percent corn chips,” Stanley Tremblay said, “with some cheddar jack on top. And then I have my shredded pork and my shredded chicken that I make in-house. That goes over the top. Then I’ll add some red onion, some mushrooms and some peppers. I add a little more cheese on top and a gochujang drizzle. If you’ve ever had Korean barbecue — it’s sweet, it’s tangy, it’s got a little heat. It’s got everything you want to have in something that’s super delicious and stick-to-your-ribs and comfort food.
“I also created an Asian-style pickle, with rice wine vinegar, a little apple cider vinegar, some ginger, some soy sauce, some heat from red pepper flakes, some garlic, and I fine-chopped some radishes, carrots and napa cabbage, with more red onion and garlic. I do a quick pickle to kind of create this kind of kimchi-meets-pickle salsa. A little cup of that goes out so people can put that on at their leisure on top of the nacho to get that, you know, little bit of continued Asian feel and warmth and deliciousness,” Tremblay said.
“My vendor had this awesome gochujang sauce that I was able to plug and play with, and it all just kind of came together. I even made chili out of it as well. I did a chicken pork chili with some peppers and onions and beans and then put a little gochujang with that pickle medley as well and people ate it up. So I think this year it really seems like that spicy-sweet setup is getting traction in the restaurant industry. I’ve noticed that a lot with my, you know, my Buffalo and I’ve got some other things that I made with a ghost pepper aioli with some honey and some other stuff. It has this full mouth feel, full tongue effect, bringing in all those different senses,” Tremblay said.
Carnitas and Buffalo chicken nachos
“For our Buff [Buffalo] chicken nachos,” Andy Sanborn said, “we fry chicken tenders that we dice, then we wet batter them again with our own wet batter. We fry the chicken off and then we have our own Buffalo sauce that we toss the chicken tenders in before we put them on the nachos. So you’re getting good, fresh, uniquely battered and uniquely Buffalo-y Buffalo sauce chicken on top.”
“For our carnitas nachos, we make pork carnitas [shredded roast pork] the old-fashioned way,” he said, “and then we have a southwestern cowboy queso dip that we include with the cheese. It actually kind of goes on top of the cheese near the end to give it yet another flavor profile, so it’s not just tortilla chips, cheese, tomatoes, onions and jalapeños. It’s more involved than that as something to eat.”
“We actually do our own smoking here,” Sanborn noted. “We smoke the pork off first. When we make our carnitas, it’s pork that’s smoked in-house. It’s dry rubbed in-house with our own special sauce and with our own special spices, which is secret. And then we smoke it until it’s finger soft. People talk about ribs falling off the bone, but you want your pork shoulder to break up easily because it’s easy for people to chew on. We kind of pride ourselves in our taste palate on our smoked pork.”
Ice cream nachos
Nachos are flexible enough to support sweet versions as well as savory ones.
Jaime Metzger invented ice cream-based nachos for Granite State Candy.
Ice Cream Nachos from Granite State Candy. Photo by Jaime Metzger.
“Ice cream nachos are a lot of fun, actually,” she said. “Basically, it’s pieces of waffle cone in the shape of round nacho chips. You can pick two different ice creams or two of the same ice creams. And you get your choice of two sauces. Again, you could do the same sauces or you could do different ones. Hot fudge, caramel, peanut butter, marshmallow, strawberry, the list goes on. And then you get to pick two toppings. So you can pick a candy topping, you can do sprinkles, you can do whipped cream, you can do any of those. And then there you are.”
“My only complaint,” Metzger said, “is, we have hard ice cream — versus soft serve — so sometimes the chips break when you try to dip them in the ice cream and that bothers me. We give spoons with it, though, so you could take the spoon and use it to load the chips.” Ice cream nachos are really good to order on a date, she said. “I’ve definitely seen couples get it. Like he picks and then she picks and they do their thing, because it’s two of everything. For an additional fee you can get an extra bag of the waffle chips if you don’t think there’s enough that comes with it. You can buy another bag of waffle chips. Any additional toppings or anything are available upon request, for an additional cost. I mean, you can go crazy and put tons and tons of things.”
Where to find these nachos
Traditional nachos: Shorty’s Mexican Roadhouse 1050 Bicentennial Drive, Manchester, 625-1730, shortysmex.com, Nachos – starting at $12.99 Margaritas Mexican Restaurant Manchester 1037 Elm St., Manchester, 647-7717, margs.com, Loaded Skillet Nachos – $16.99
Short rib nachos: The Miller’s Tavern 1087 Elm St, Manchester, 854-8442, themillerstavern.com, $18.95
Irish nachos: Peddler’s Daughter 48 Main St., Nashua, 821-7535, thepeddlersdaughter.com, starting at $13
Korean nachos: Liquid Therapy Brewery and Grill 14 Court St., Nashua, 402-9391, liquidtherapynh.com, Seoul-ful Nachos, $16
Carnitas and Buffalo chicken nachos: The Draft Sports Bar and Grill Concord Casino, 67 S. Main St., Concord, 227-1175, draftsportsbar.com
Ice cream nachos: Granite State Candy Shoppe 832 Elm St., Manchester, 218-3885, granitestatecandyshoppe.com, $8.95
Featured photo: Korean Nachos at Liquid Therapy. Courtesy photo.
