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Taco

A taco (US: /ˈtɑːkoʊ/, UK: /ˈtækoʊ/, Spanish: [ˈtako]) is a traditional Mexican food consisting of a small hand-sized corn- or wheat-based 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, and 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.

For other uses, see Taco (disambiguation).

Type

Finger food

Mexico

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.

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: 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.[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]

Tacos ("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.[21][22]

al pastor

Tacos de asador ("spit" or "grill" tacos) may be composed of any of the following: 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 gringas in the Mexican south and are prepared using wheat flour tortillas. Tacos may also be served with salsa.[21][22]

carne asada

Tacos de ("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"); Cachete ("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.[21][22]

cabeza

Tacos de camarones ("shrimp tacos") also originated in 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.[21][22][23]

Baja California

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 ("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[24]).[21][22]

Tripa

Tacos de lengua (beef tongue tacos), 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 taquería offers tacos de lengua, it is not a real taquería."[26]

[25]

There are many traditional varieties of tacos:


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.

A hard-shell taco, made with a prefabricated shell

A hard-shell taco, made with a prefabricated shell

Common ingredients for North American hard-shell tacos

Common ingredients for North American hard-shell tacos

A crispy taco from a Sacramento, California, taquería

A crispy taco from a Sacramento, California, taquería

Arellano, Gustavo (2012). Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America. New York: Scribner.  978-1-4391-4861-7.

ISBN

Holtz, Déborah; Mena, Juan Carlos (2012). La Tacopedia: Enciclopedia del Taco (in Spanish). Trilce Ediciones.  978-607-7663-35-5.

ISBN

Pilcher, Jeffrey M. (2012). . New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-974006-2.

Planet Taco: A Global History of Mexican Food