Taco

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search
For other uses, see Taco (disambiguation).

Taco

Three varieties of taco (clockwise from left): carnitas, carne

asada and al pastor. As is traditional, they are each garnished simply

with cilantro and chopped onion, and served with lime on the side for

seasoning to the taste of the consumer.

Type Finger food

Place of origin Mexico

Main ingredients Tortillas, meat, vegetables, cheese

  Cookbook: Taco

    Media: Taco

A taco (US: /ˈtɑːkoʊ/, UK: /ˈtækoʊ/, Spanish: [ˈtako]) is a traditional Mexican
dish consisting of a small hand-sized corn or wheat tortilla topped with a filling. The
tortilla is then folded around the filling and eaten by hand. A taco can be made with a
variety of fillings, including beef, pork, chicken, seafood, beans, vegetables, and
cheese, allowing for great versatility and variety. They are often garnished with
various condiments, such as salsa, guacamole, or sour cream, and vegetables, such
as lettuce, onion, tomatoes, and chiles. Tacos are a common form of antojitos,
or Mexican street food, which have spread around the world.
Tacos can be contrasted with similar foods such as burritos, which are often much
larger and rolled rather than folded; taquitos, which are rolled and fried;
or chalupas/tostadas, in which the tortilla is fried before filling.
 Contents

 1Etymology
 2History
 3Traditional variations
 4Non-traditional variations
o 4.1Hard-shell tacos
o 4.2Soft-shell tacos
o 4.3Breakfast taco
o 4.4Indian taco
o 4.5Puffy tacos, taco kits, and tacodillas
 5In popular culture
 6See also
 7References
 8Bibliography
 9External links

Etymology
The origins of the taco are not precisely known, and etymologies for the culinary
usage of the word are generally theoretical. [1][2] Taco in the sense of a typical Mexican
dish comprising a maize tortilla folded around food is just one of the meanings
connoted by the word, according to the Real Academia Española, publisher
of Diccionario de la Lengua Española.[3] This meaning of the Spanish word "taco" is a
Mexican innovation,[2] but the word "taco" is used in other contexts to mean "wedge;
wad, plug; billiard cue; blowpipe; ramrod; short, stocky person; [or] short, thick piece
of wood."[3] The etymological origin of this sense of the word is Germanic and has
cognates in other European languages, including the French word "tache" and the
English word "tack."[4]
In Spain, the word "taco" can also be used in the context of tacos de jamón [es]: these
are diced pieces of ham, or sometimes bits and shavings of ham leftover after a
larger piece is sliced.[5] They can be served on their own as tapas or street food, or
can be added to other dishes such as salmorejo, omelettes, stews, empanadas,
or melón con jamón [es].[6][7][8]
According to one etymological theory, the culinary origin of the term "taco" in Mexico
can be traced to its employment, among Mexican silver miners, as a term signifying
"plug." The miners used explosive charges in plug form, consisting of a paper
wrapper and gunpowder filling.[1]
Indigenous origins are also proposed. One possibility is that the word derives from
the Nahuatl word "tlahco", meaning "half" or "in the middle," [9] in the sense that food
would be placed in the middle of a tortilla.[10] Furthermore, dishes analogous to the
taco were known to have existed in Pre-Columbian society—for example, the
Nahuatl word "tlaxcalli" (a type of corn tortilla). [9]

History
The taco predates the arrival of the Spanish in Mexico. There is anthropological
evidence that the indigenous people living in the lake region of the Valley of
Mexico traditionally ate tacos filled with small fish[citation needed]. Writing at the time of the
Spanish conquistadors, Bernal Díaz del Castillo documented the first taco feast
enjoyed by Europeans, a meal which Hernán Cortés arranged for his captains
in Coyoacán.[11][12]

Traditional variations
There are many traditional varieties of tacos:

Tacos al pastor made with adobada meat.

 Tacos al pastor ("shepherd style") or tacos

de adobada are made of thin pork steaks
seasoned with adobo seasoning, then skewered
and overlapped on one another on a vertical
rotisserie cooked and flame-broiled as it spins. [13][14]
 Tacos de asador ("spit" or "grill" tacos) may be
composed of any of the following: carne
asada tacos; tacos de tripita ("tripe tacos"),
grilled until crisp; and, chorizo asado (traditional
Spanish-style sausage). Each type is served on
two overlapped small tortillas and sometimes
garnished with guacamole, salsa, onions, and
cilantro (coriander leaf). Also, prepared on the
grill is a sandwiched taco called mulita ("little
mule") made with meat served between two
tortillas and garnished with Oaxaca style
cheese. "Mulita" is used to describe these types
of sandwiched tacos in the Northern States of
Mexico while they are known as Gringa in the
Mexican south and are prepared
using wheat flour tortillas. Tacos may also be
served with salsa.[13][14]
 Tacos de cabeza ("head tacos"), in which there
is a flat punctured metal plate from which steam
emerges to cook the head of the cow. These
include: Cabeza, a serving of the muscles of the
head; Sesos ("brains"); Lengua ("tongue"); Cach
ete ("cheeks"); Trompa ("lips"); and, Ojo ("eye").
Tortillas for these tacos are warmed on the same
steaming plate for a different consistency. These
tacos are typically served in pairs, and also
include salsa, onion, and cilantro (coriander leaf)
with occasional use of guacamole.[13][14]
  Tacos de camarones ("shrimp tacos") also
originated in Baja California in Mexico. Grilled or
fried shrimp are used, usually with the same
accompaniments as fish tacos: lettuce or
cabbage, pico de gallo, avocado and a sour
cream or citrus/mayonnaise sauce, all placed on
top of a corn or flour tortilla.[13][14][15]
 Tacos de cazo (literally "bucket tacos") for which
a metal bowl filled with lard is typically used as a
deep-fryer. Meats for these types of tacos
typically include Tripa ("tripe", usually from a pig
instead of a cow, and can also refer to the
intestines); Suadero (tender beef
cuts), Carnitas and Buche (Literally, "crop", as
in bird's crop; or the esophagus of any animal.[16])
[13][14]

 Tacos de lengua (beef tongue tacos),[17] which

are cooked in water with onions, garlic, and bay
leaves for several hours until tender and soft,
then sliced and sautéed in a small amount of oil.
"It is said that unless a taqueria offers tacos de
lengua, it is not a real taqueria."[18]

Two fish tacos in Bonita, California

 Tacos de pescado ("fish tacos") originated

in Baja California in Mexico, where they consist
of grilled or fried fish, lettuce or cabbage, pico de
gallo, and a sour cream or citrus/mayonnaise
sauce, all placed on top of a corn or flour tortilla.
In the United States, they were first popularized
by the Rubio's fast-food chain, and remain most
popular in California, Colorado, and Washington.
In California, they are often found at street
vendors, and a regional variation is to serve them
with cabbage and coleslaw dressing on top.[13][14]
 Tacos dorados (fried tacos; literally, "golden
tacos") called flautas ("flute", because of the
shape), or taquitos, for which the tortillas are
filled with pre-cooked shredded chicken, beef
or barbacoa, rolled into an elongated cylinder and
 deep-fried until crisp. They are sometimes
cooked in a microwave oven or broiled.[13][14]
 Tacos sudados ("sweaty tacos") are made by
filling soft tortillas with a spicy meat mixture, then
placing them in a basket covered with cloth. The
covering keeps the tacos warm and traps steam
("sweat") which softens them.[13][19]
As an accompaniment to tacos, many taco stands will serve whole or sliced
red radishes, lime slices, salt, pickled or grilled chilis (hot peppers), and
occasionally cucumber slices, or grilled cambray onions.

Tacos made with a carnitas filling

 

Grilled shrimp taco
 

Tacos de suadero (grey) and chorizo (red) being prepared

at a taco stand
  

Barbacoa tacos
 

Taco al pastor with guacamole

Non-traditional variations
Hard-shell tacos
Main article: Hard-shell taco
The hard-shell or crispy taco is a tradition that developed in the United States. The
most common type of taco in the US is the hard-shell, U-shaped version, first
described in a cookbook in 1949.[20] This type of taco is typically served as a crisp-
fried corn tortilla filled with seasoned ground beef, cheese, lettuce, and sometimes
tomato, onion, salsa, sour cream, and avocado or guacamole. [21] Such tacos are sold
by restaurants and by fast food chains, while kits are readily available in most
supermarkets. Hard shell tacos are sometimes known as tacos dorados ("golden
tacos") in Spanish,[22] a name that they share with taquitos.
Various sources credit different individuals with the invention of the hard-shell taco,
but some form of the dish likely predates all of them. [22] Beginning from the early part
of the twentieth century, various types of tacos became popular in the country,
especially in Texas and California but also elsewhere. [23] By the late 1930s,
companies like Ashley Mexican Food and Absolute Mexican Foods were selling
appliances and ingredients for cooking hard shell tacos, and the first patents for
hard-shell taco cooking appliances were filed in the 1940s. [22]
In the mid-1950s, Glen Bell opened Taco Tia, and began selling a simplified version
of the tacos being sold by Mexican restaurants in San Bernardino, particularly
the tacos dorados being sold at the Mitla Cafe, owned by Lucia and Salvador
Rodriguez across the street from another of Bell's restaurants. [22] Over the next few
years, Bell owned and operated a number of restaurants in southern California
including four called El Taco.[24] At this time, Los Angeles was racially-segregated,
and the tacos sold at Bell's restaurants were many white Americans' first introduction
to Mexican food.[22] Bell sold the El Tacos to his partner and built the first Taco
Bell in Downey in 1962. Kermit Becky, a former Los Angeles police officer, bought
the first Taco Bell franchise from Glen Bell in 1964, [24] and located it in Torrance. The
company grew rapidly, and by 1967, the 100th restaurant opened at 400 South
Brookhurst in Anaheim. In 1968, its first franchise location east of the Mississippi
River opened in Springfield, Ohio.[25]

A hard-shell taco, made with a prefabricated shell

 

Common ingredients for North American hard shell tacos

 

A crispy taco from a Sacramento, California taqueria

Soft-shell tacos
Three soft-shell tacos with beef filling at a restaurant in Helsinki, Finland.

Traditionally, soft-shelled tacos referred to corn tortillas that were cooked to a softer
state than a hard taco - usually by grilling or steaming. More recently, the term has
come to include flour-tortilla-based tacos mostly from large manufacturers and
restaurant chains. In this context, soft tacos are tacos made with wheat flour tortillas
and filled with the same ingredients as a hard taco. [26]
Breakfast taco

Breakfast tacos

The breakfast taco, found in Tex-Mex cuisine, is a soft corn or flour tortilla filled with
meat, eggs, or cheese, and can also contain other ingredients. [27] Some have claimed
that Austin, Texas is the home of the breakfast taco.[28] However, food writer and OC
Weekly editor Gustavo Arellano responded that such a statement reflects a common
trend of "whitewashed" foodways reporting, noting that predominantly Hispanic San
Antonio, Texas "never had to brag about its breakfast taco love—folks there just call
it 'breakfast'".[29]
Indian taco
Indian tacos, or Navajo tacos, are made using frybread instead of tortillas. They are
commonly eaten at pow-wows, festivals, and other gatherings by and for indigenous
people in the United States and Canada.[30][31]
This kind of taco is not known to have been present before the arrival of Europeans
in what is now the Southwestern United States. Navajo tradition indicates that
frybread came into use in the 1860s when the government forced the tribe to
relocate from their homeland in Arizona in a journey known as the Long Walk of the
Navajo. It was made from ingredients given to them by the government to
supplement their diet since the region could not support growing the agricultural
commodities that had been previously used.[32]
 

A puffy taco
 

A frybread taco
 

A fish taco on frybread

Puffy tacos, taco kits, and tacodillas

Since at least 1978, a variation called the "puffy taco" has been popular. Henry's
Puffy Tacos, opened by Henry Lopez in San Antonio, Texas, claims to have invented
the variation, in which uncooked corn tortillas (flattened balls of masa dough[33]) are
quickly fried in hot oil until they expand and become "puffy". [34][35] Fillings are similar to
hard-shell versions. Restaurants offering this style of taco have since appeared in
other Texas cities, as well as in California, where Henry's brother, Arturo Lopez,
opened Arturo's Puffy Taco in Whittier, not long after Henry's opened.[36][37] Henry's
continues to thrive, managed by the family's second generation. [34]
Kits are available at grocery and convenience stores and usually consist of taco
shells (corn tortillas already fried in a U-shape), seasoning mix and taco sauce.
Commercial vendors for the home market also market soft taco kits with tortillas
instead of taco shells.[38][39]
The tacodilla contains melted cheese in between the two folded tortillas, thus
resembling a quesadilla.[40]

In popular culture
In the United States, National Taco Day is celebrated annually on October 4.[41][42]

See also
 Food portal
 Mexico portal

 Arepa
 Burrito
 Choco Taco
 Fajita
 French tacos
 Gyro (food)
 Korean taco
 Pupusas
 Shawarma/Doner kebab
 Taco rice
 Taco salad
 Taco soup
 Tacos de canasta
 Tlayuda
 Tostada
 Tunnbröd

References
1. ^ Jump up to:    "Where Did the Taco Come
a b

From?".  Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved  2012-05-16.

2. ^ Jump up to:a b Tatum, Charles M., ed. (2013).
"Tacos". Encyclopedia of Latino Culture: From Calaveras
to Quinceaneras [3 Volumes]. Cultures of the American
Mosaic. 1. Greenwood / ABC-CLIO. p.  495-497. enc-lat-
cult.
3. ^ Jump up to:a b "Definition: Taco". Real Academia Española.
Retrieved 2008-06-13. Tortilla de maíz enrollada con
algún alimento dentro, típica de México.
4. ^ de Echegaray, Eduardo (1887).  "Taco"  [Etymological
Dictionary of the Spanish Language].  Diccionario general
etimológico de la lengua española (Scanned book) (in
Spanish). 5. Madrid. p. 481.
5. ^ Jesús Ventanas, El jamón Ibérico. De la dehesa al
paladar., Ediciones Mundi-Prensa, 2006, p. 102.
6. ^ Julio César, (2011), El gran libro de las tapas, Ed.
Grupo Salsa, 2011, p. 45.
7. ^ Jesús Ventanas, Tecnología del jamón Ibérico: de los
sistemas tradicionales a la explotación del aroma y del
sabor, 1st ed., Ediciones Mundi-Prensa, 2001, p. 193.
8. ^ José Bello Gutiérrez, Jamón curado: Aspectos
científicos y tecnológicos, Editorial Díaz de Santos, 2012,
p. 239.
9. ^ Jump up to:a b Frances E. Karttunen (1983). An Analytical
Dictionary of Nahuatl. University of Oklahoma
Press. ISBN 9780806124216. Retrieved 14 March  2016.
10. ^ Florilegio Verbal Náhuatl, Nexos, Mar. 12, 2016
11. ^ "History of Mexican Cuisine". Margaret Parker. Archived
from  the original on 2 May 2008. Retrieved  30
January  2015.
12. ^ "A Thumbnail History of Mexican Food". Jim Conrad.
Archived from  the original on 11 August 2007.
Retrieved 30 January  2015.
13. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h Graber, Karen Hursh. "Wrap It Up: A
Guide to Mexican Street Tacos (Part One of Two)".
Mexico Connect. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
14. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g Graber, Karen Hursh. "Wrap It Up: A
Guide to Mexican Street Tacos Part II: Nighttime Tacos".
Mexico Connect. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
15. ^ Graber, Karen Hursh. "Tacos de camaron y nopalitos".
Mexico Connect. Retrieved 2009-08-14.
16. ^ Feld, Jonah (2006).  "The Burrito Blog  — Buche".
Retrieved 2008-07-26.
17. ^ Bourdain, Anthony (7 June 2010).  Medium Raw: A
Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People
Who Cook. A&C Black. p. 85.  ISBN  978-1-4088-0914-3.
18. ^ Herrera-Sobek, Maria (16 July 2012). Celebrating
Latino Folklore: An Encyclopedia of Cultural Traditions [3
volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 697.  ISBN  978-0-313-34340-7.
19. ^ "Tacos Sudados (Mexican recipe)". Mexican Cuisine.
Retrieved 2008-07-09.
20. ^ Freedman, Robert L. (1981).  Human food uses: a
cross-cultural, comprehensive annotated bibliography.
Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. p.  152. ISBN 0-313-
22901-5. Retrieved  27 December  2011.
21. ^ Gilb, Dagoberto (2006-03-19). "Taco Bell Nation".  Los
Angeles Times. Retrieved  2008-07-24.
22. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e "An Oral History of Hard-Shell
Tacos".  MEL Magazine. 2019-10-10. Retrieved 2019-10-
16.
23. ^ "Tacos, Enchilidas and Refried Beans: The Invention of
Mexican-American Cookery". Oregon State University.
Archived from  the original on 2007-07-18.
Retrieved 2008-07-14.
24. ^ Jump up to:a b "Company Information". Taco Bell. August 9,
2011.  Archivedfrom the original on August 12, 2011.
Retrieved August 16, 2011.
25. ^ Wedell, Katie (August 3, 2015).  "Local restaurateur
remembered as 'Mayor of Main Street'". Springfield
News-Sun. Cox Media Group.  Archived  from the original
on August 17, 2016. Retrieved August 2,2016.
26. ^ "Homemade Chorizo Soft Tacos (recipe)".
BigOven.com. Retrieved 2008-07-09.
 27. ^ Stradley, Linda.  "Breakfast Tacos". What's Cooking
America. Retrieved  2008-07-09.
28. ^ How Austin Became the Home of the Crucial Breakfast
Taco, Eater Austin, Feb. 19, 2016,
29. ^ Arrellano, Gustavo (23 February 2016),  "Who Invented
Breakfast Tacos? Not Austin - and People Should STFU
About It",  OC Weekly, retrieved 14 March  2016
30. ^ "Navajo Fry Bread and Indian Tacos: History and
Recipes of Navajo Fry Bread and Indian Tacos". Linda
Stradley. Retrieved  3 January2014.
31. ^ "Hundreds attend powwow". Louisiana Broadcasting
LLC and Capital City Press LLC. Archived from  the
original on 4 March 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
32. ^ Miller, Jen. "Frybread".  Smithsonian.com.
Retrieved 2012-01-20.
33. ^ "Homemade Corn Tortillas (recipe
from  Saveur)". Saveur. 2003. Archived from  the
original on 2008-08-29. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
34. ^ Jump up to:a b Lankford, Randy. "Henry's Puffy Tacos - San
Antonio". TexasCooking.com. Mesquite Management,
Inc. Retrieved  26 December  2011.
35. ^ "Puffy Tacos (recipe from  Saveur)".  Saveur. 2003.
Archived from  the original on 2008-09-07.
Retrieved 2008-07-26.
36. ^ Gold, Jonathan (2008-07-23). "Getting Stuffed at
Arturo's Puffy Taco".  LA Weekly. LA Weekly LP.
Retrieved 2011-08-14.
37. ^ Chisholm, Barbara (2004-04-30).  "The Puffy Taco
Invasion".  The Austin Chronicle.  23  (35). Austin
Chronicle Corp. Retrieved  2011-08-14.
38. ^ "Old El Paso Taco Dinner Kit". Ciao! Shopping
Intelligence — UK (blog). Archived from the original  on
2008-06-14. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
39. ^ "Ortega Taco Kits". B&G Foods. Retrieved  2014-03-04.
40. ^ "Green tomato and corn tacodillas". Honest Fare. June
1, 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
41. ^ "National Taco Day - Oct 4". Retrieved  4 October  2017.
42. ^ King, Bart (2004). The Big Book of Boy Stuff. Gibbs
Smith. p.  151. ISBN 9781423611189. Retrieved 4
October  2017.

Bibliography
 Arellano, Gustavo (2012). Taco USA: How
Mexican Food Conquered America. New York:
Scribner. ISBN 978-1-4391-4861-7.
 Holtz, Déborah; Mena, Juan Carlos (2012). La
Tacopedia: Enciclopedia del Taco (in Spanish).
Trilce Ediciones. ISBN 978-607-7663-35-5.
 Pilcher, Jeffrey M. (2012). Planet Taco: A Global
History of Mexican Food. New York: Oxford
University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-974006-2.
External links
Tacoat Wikipedia's sister projects

 Definitions from Wiktionary
 News from Wikinews

 Quotations from Wikiquote

 Texts from Wikisource

 Resources from Wikiversity

show

Mexican cuisine

show

Street food

show
Authority control 
Categories: 
 Tortilla-based dishes
 Mexican cuisine
 Mesoamerican cuisine
 Cuisine of the Southwestern United States
 Pre-Columbian Native American cuisine
 Post-Columbian Native American cuisine
 Fast food
 New Mexican cuisine
 Spanish words and phrases
 Street food
 Tex-Mex cuisine
 Mexican-American cuisine
 Street food in Mexico
 Taco
Navigation menu
 Not logged in
  Talk
 Contributions
 Create account
 Log in
 Article
 Talk
 Read
 View source
 View history
Search
Search Go

 Main page
 Contents
 Current events
 Random article
 About Wikipedia
 Contact us
 Donate
Contribute
 Help
 Learn to edit
 Community portal
 Recent changes
 Upload file
Tools
 What links here
 Related changes
 Special pages
 Permanent link
 Page information
 Cite this page
 Wikidata item
Print/export
 Download as PDF
 Printable version
In other projects
 Wikimedia Commons
Languages
 ‫العربية‬
 Español
 Français
 Bahasa Indonesia
 Italiano
 Bahasa Melayu
 Português
 Русский
 中文
44 more
Edit links
 This page was last edited on 23 August 2021, at 11:50 (UTC).
 Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By
using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of
the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
 Privacy policy

 About Wikipedia

 Disclaimers

 Contact Wikipedia

 Mobile view

 Developers

 Statistics

 Cookie statement