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Originally hailing from Mexico, the taco is a hand-sized food that usually combines seasoned meat, vegetables, and other tasty fillings in a rolled corn or flour tortilla. Tacos are cheap, filling, and easy to make. But the real beauty of the taco is its variety. A taco for all seasons. So to speak. So today we're going to take a look at every style of taco we could find.
After that, please leave a comment and let us know what other foods you would like to hear about now. As far as we're concerned, every day is Taco Tuesday, October. Ever wonder who first came up with the taco? Well, we don't know the name. Sorry, but they were probably a Mexican cowboy, and what they made was like a carne asada taco. Dating back to the 1500s. Carne Asada is believed to be the very first taco.
Carne asada means grilled meat in Spanish, and the original version would have been steak, sliced thin, cooked over hot coals,, and placed in a corn tortilla with goodies like onions, chili peppers, guacamole, and lime. Now one of the most common types of street-style tacos. The recipe hasn't really changed all that much over the years, because if it ain't broken since the dawn of human civilization, people have loved fish.
The food, not the jam band. We're talking about the kind of fish you'll find in tacos de pescado. The first tacos de pescado were made in Baja California, which is actually in Mexico and the commonly found in coastal regions where fish are plentiful, which is why you shouldn't order them in, say, Kansas.
These bad boys are usually made from a fried or grilled whitefish fillet with pico de gallo, salsa, lettuce, and sour cream. Or, for those who like to live a little citrusy mayo. As a bonus, the same recipe works just as well, with tacos de Cameron, aka shrimp, so places that sell one usually sell the other. The Caribbean has contributed a lot more to the world than the setting for a series of pirate movies.
For example, the style of meat preparation known as barbacoa. Barbacoa involves prepping beef, lamb, mutton, or goat in leaves and then burying it in a hot stone pit. The technique eventually made its way to Mexico, where folks did the cutting of the meat in local sauces known as Malay, as well as things like ancho chili peppers, dried guajillo, and Mexican oregano.
Speaking of taco-related intercultural cooperation, tacos are a base are what you might get if Mexican food joined forces with Lebanese food. They're made from spit-roasted meat stuffed into a flour tortilla, as opposed to the more typical corn tortilla, and they trace their origin to an influx of Lebanese immigrants to the Pueblo region back in the 1930s.
Not surprisingly, it's similar to the Lebanese dish of roast lamb, and shwarma served on pita bread. These days, they're often made with marinated pork and flavored with Mexican lime juice and spicy chipotle salsa. Frybread was developed by the indigenous people of the American Southwest in the early 19th century. After having their traditional lands seized by the US government.
From Navajo Frybread Tacos to Tacos de Cabeza
Many wound up imprisoned in military forts, where they invented frybread to make the best of their meager supplies of lard, flour, and cheese for their creators. Navajo tacos, also known as frybread tacos, are a moving symbol of perseverance through adversity, and they're also pretty tasty. Commonly found in the southwestern U.S., they're usually topped with ground beef, chili beans, lettuce, tomatoes, and shredded cheese.
Tacos. Our pastor is basically the rambunctious son of tacos arabes. Although it's managed to step out of its pappy's shadow to become its own taco like their ancestor, Tacos El Pastor uses a filling made from thin shavings of spit-roasted pork seasoned with things like salt, human garlic, chipotle powder,, and oregano.
But in a bold stroke of genius, chopped pineapple was thrown into the mix. The pineapple adds a bit of tanginess to the whole affair and balances out the spiciness of the pork. Today, it is one of the most common types of taco you'll find in Mexico City. Cabeza means head, and tacos de cabeza are, just, as the name implies, made from the heads of animals, usually pigs or cows.
Basically, you steam the head overnight, then shred it into salad, meat,, or masa, and soft meat or offal, which admittedly is not the most appetizing word. These dishes can be prepared in many ways, depending on the cut of meat, but one could start by simmering the meat with ingredients like peppercorns, achiote, and or avocado leaves, then putting it in a tortilla with toppings like onion and cilantro.
Take our word for it. This one is head and shoulders above the rest. Well, maybe not shoulders. Nobody's out here eating shoulders. One of the reasons the first tacos emerged in the 1500s is that, before Spanish colonialism, the inhabitants of the Americas didn't really have livestock to make meat fillings.
But what they did have was lots and lots of corn. And from corn you make wheat. La Kochi, also known as Mexican truffled, corn smut,, and corn mushroom. That is a lot of aliases for corn. What is it hiding? Technically speaking, we look okay. Is a rare fungus sometimes found growing on organic corn. It tastes similar to a mushroom, but a little sweeter. They're usually served in a corn tortilla with sauteed onions, chopped garlic, salt, and occasionally a few soda leaves. Thanks to Opera for sponsoring this video.
Culinary Crossroads: From Chorizo to Korean Tacos
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But make no mistake, Mexican chorizo is very different from Spanish Teresa, for example, where Spanish chorizo is seasoned with paprika so cooked and cured. Its Mexican counterpart is usually seasoned with chili peppers, and so fresh, uncured,, and uncooked, whereas Spanish chorizo was eaten on charcuterie boards. Mexican chorizo is great for tacos.
To prepare it, the chorizo is removed from its casing, cooked,, and put in a tortilla with seasonings like garlic, paprika, cloves, cinnamon, bright red pepper, guajillo, chili vinegar,, and Mexican oregano to describe its taste. Will borrow a phrase as muy bueno. Given that Korean tacos are a blend of Korean and Mexican cuisine, you'd figure they'd probably come from one of those two places. But you would be wrong. Korean tacos actually come from California, particularly the Los Angeles communities where Korean and Mexican families have long lived side by side.
Fusion and Flavor: Exploring Korean Tacos and Breakfast Varieties
True to their name, Korean tacos are usually filled with Korean ingredients like kimchi and bulgogi beef, as well as things like purple cabbage, fresh cilantro, and diced marcado. These culinary cultural mash-ups first became popular among patrons of Los Angeles taco trucks, like the famous Kogi barbecue trucks founded by Chemex taco godfather Roy Choi in 2008. Behold the breakfast taco eggs and yellow cheese in a soft taco shell. But that's just the base.
Depending on how you order it. These morning treats can also come with the kind of ingredients you might find in an omelet. So who do we thank for stuffing an entire day's meal into a soft shell? Although they do technically trace their origins across the Rio Grande to Mexico, the breakfast taco as we know it today was largely invented by exactly who you'd think. Texans. Everything's bigger there. Even breakfast. What if you like tacos? But you're not so much into beef or pork or go. Or lamb. Well, we won't call you chicken, but we might serve you some in the form of tinga tacos, also known as tacos de Puyo.
Puyo, of course, is chicken, and the shredded chicken thighs and a tinga taco are usually prepared in a stew of smoky chipotle chilies, oregano, onion, garlic, tomatoes, bay leaf, raw cane sugar, and time. The tacos, which come from the Pueblo region of Mexico, are usually served in a tortilla with chopped onion, lime, and avocado slices or sour cream.
Just be careful serving one to Marty McFly. Nobody gives him chicken. Birria is chilled, braised with pulled goat or beef as its primary ingredient, stewed in adobo, onions, tomatoes, and peppers. Take that meat and stuff it in a corn tortilla with some onion, cilantro, and maybe some cheese.
Exploring Tacos: From Gobernador to Chapulines
And you've got yourself tacos. Berea. The best part? It's served with its own braising liquid, which can then be used as a dipping sauce. How's that for ingenuity? We like to imagine that tacos gobernador, which translates to the governor's tacos, are named after Arnold Schwarzenegger.
But they are not. They're named after Sinaloan governor Francisco Love Estela Ochoa, whom we're pretty sure has never been in a Terminator movie. But don't let the lack of connection to Planet Hollywood stop you from trying them. Tacos gobernador our shrimp, onions, tomatoes, coriander,, and grated cheese in a warm tortilla folded in half and griddled with a butter glaze. Popular in Baja, they're usually served with hot chili sauce and lime wedges.
And if you were trying to get us to vote you into the Gobernador mansion, bribing us with a few of these, is it the bad place to start? If you're a more adventurous eater, you could try your hand at some tacos, too. Chapo leanness swaps more traditional fillings like steak or pork with grasshoppers. Roasted grasshoppers, to be precise.
While roasted grasshoppers are an unusual menu item in the U.S., they have long been a protein staple in Oaxaca, Mexico, the grasshoppers can be cooked in lemon, lime, chili, and other spices, and common toppings include guacamole and pepper, a sauce made from chili, tomato, and pumpkin seeds. Japanese are low in fat, and sprinkling a few of them into a taco will ensure it remains crunchy until the last bite.
And of course, if grasshoppers aren't in your diet, there is at least one other way to get a crunchy taco. If you ask your average American to picture a taco, it'll probably be in a hard shell. That's because, thanks greatly to the almost frightening success of Taco Bell, hard shell tacos have long since replaced soft tacos as the standard in the United States.
Closer to Mexican tacos dorados than traditional Mexican tacos, hard shell tacos are deep fried or baked into a permanent, you-like pocket shape. Ingredients like meat, lettuce, and cheese are then piled into a relatively brittle container, and the consumer then tries to eat it without cracking it in a way that spills everything all over the place. It's deliciously inefficient, but nothing beats that satisfying crunch. So what do you think? What's your favorite style of Taco? Let us know in the comments below!
| Style of Taco | Description |
|---|---|
| Carne Asada Taco | Originated in the 1500s, features grilled steak sliced thin, and placed in a corn tortilla with onions, chili peppers, guacamole, and lime. |
| Tacos de Pescado | Baja California creation, typically made with fried or grilled whitefish fillet, pico de gallo, salsa, lettuce, sour cream, and sometimes citrusy mayo. |
| Barbacoa Taco | Meat (beef, lamb, mutton, or goat) prepared in leaves, slow-cooked in a pit with local sauces and spices like ancho chili peppers and Mexican oregano. |
| Tacos Árabes | Originated from Lebanese immigrants in Puebla, made with spit-roasted pork, flavored with Mexican lime juice and chipotle salsa, often with marinated pork. |
| Navajo Taco (Frybread Taco) | Developed by Southwest Native Americans, frybread topped with ground beef, chili beans, lettuce, tomatoes, and shredded cheese. |
| Tacos al Pastor | Spit-roasted pork seasoned with garlic, chipotle powder, and oregano, with added chopped pineapple for a tangy twist, commonly found in Mexico City. |
| Tacos de Cabeza | Made from steamed and shredded meat (usually from pigs or cows' heads) in a tortilla with toppings like onion and cilantro. |
| Huitlacoche (Corn Smut) Taco | Rare fungus found on organic corn, served in a corn tortilla with sautéed onions, chopped garlic, salt, and sometimes epazote leaves. |
| Chorizo Taco | Mexican version of chorizo, fresh and uncured, removed from casing, cooked with seasonings like garlic, paprika, cloves, and Mexican oregano, ideal for tacos. |
| Korean Taco | Fusion of Korean and Mexican cuisines, filled with ingredients like kimchi, bulgogi beef, purple cabbage, cilantro, and diced mango, popularized in Los Angeles. |
| Breakfast Taco | A soft taco filled with eggs, yellow cheese, and optionally, omelet-style ingredients, originating from Texas with Mexican influences. |
| Tinga Taco (Tacos de Pollo) | Shredded chicken thighs prepared in a stew of chipotle chilies, oregano, onion, garlic, tomatoes, and bay leaf, served with onion, lime, avocado, or sour cream. |
| Birria Taco | Goat or beef stewed in adobo, onions, tomatoes, and peppers, stuffed in a tortilla with onion, cilantro, and sometimes cheese, served with braising liquid for dipping. |
| Tacos Gobernador | Shrimp, onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and grated cheese in a warm tortilla, folded and griddled with a butter glaze, popular in Baja California. |
| Chapulines Taco | Adventurous option with roasted grasshoppers, cooked in lemon, lime, chili, and spices, typically served with guacamole and salsa made from chili, tomato, and seeds. |
| Hard Shell Taco | Deep-fried or baked shells filled with ingredients like meat, lettuce, and cheese, famously crunchy and often associated with Americanized Mexican cuisine. |
FAQS about Tacos: A Culinary Journey
1. What is a taco?
A taco is a hand-sized food originating from Mexico, typically consisting of seasoned meat, vegetables, and other fillings wrapped in a rolled corn or flour tortilla. It's known for being affordable, filling, and easy to make.
2. What is the history of tacos?
Tacos trace their origins back to the 16th century, believed to have started with the Mexican cowboys known as vaqueros. The first taco, carne asada, featured grilled meat in a corn tortilla with onions, chili peppers, guacamole, and lime.
3. What are some popular types of tacos?
There are numerous styles of tacos, including:
- Tacos de Pescado: Originating from Baja California, these tacos feature fried or grilled whitefish fillet with toppings like pico de gallo, lettuce, and citrusy mayo.
- Barbacoa Tacos: Prepared by burying meat (beef, lamb, or goat) in a pit with hot stones, then served with savory sauces and chili peppers.
- Tacos al Pastor: Adapted from Lebanese shawarma, these tacos use spit-roasted pork seasoned with pineapple, garlic, and chipotle salsa.
- Navajo Tacos: Also known as frybread tacos, these feature frybread topped with ground beef, chili beans, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese.
4. What are some unique variations of tacos?
- Tacos Gobernador: Popular in Baja, these tacos are filled with shrimp, onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and grated cheese, griddled with a butter glaze.
- Tacos de Chapulines: Found in Oaxaca, these adventurous tacos swap traditional meats for roasted grasshoppers seasoned with lime, chili, and spices.
5. What is the difference between hard-shell and soft-shell tacos?
- Hard Shell Tacos: Popularized in the United States, these tacos are deep-fried or baked into a crispy shell and typically filled with ingredients like meat, lettuce, and cheese.
- Soft Shell Tacos: More traditional, these tacos use a soft, pliable tortilla made from either corn or flour and can be filled with a wide variety of ingredients.
6. How can I make my tacos at home?
To make tacos at home, start with your choice of tortilla (corn or flour), add your preferred filling (meat, seafood, or vegetarian options), then top with vegetables, sauces, and garnishes like salsa, guacamole, onions, cilantro, and lime juice.
7. Are there any vegetarian or vegan options for tacos?
Absolutely! Tacos can be easily adapted for vegetarians and vegans by using ingredients like grilled vegetables, tofu, black beans, refried beans, or jackfruit as fillings. These can be complemented with fresh vegetables and flavorful sauces.
8. Where can I find the best tacos?
While Mexico is renowned for its authentic taco offerings, tacos have also gained popularity worldwide. Look for local Mexican restaurants, and food trucks, or explore recipes to make your unique taco creations at home.
9. What beverages pair well with tacos?
Tacos pair well with a variety of beverages such as Mexican beer, margaritas, aguas frescas (fresh fruit drinks), or even just a refreshing glass of horchata (rice milk beverage).
10. How can I explore more about Mexican cuisine beyond tacos?
If you're interested in exploring more about Mexican cuisine, consider trying other traditional dishes like enchiladas, tamales, pozole, mole, and chiles rellenos. Each dish offers a unique taste of Mexican culture and culinary heritage.
11. What's the best way to eat a taco without making a mess?
Eating a taco can be a bit messy, especially with fillings that tend to spill out. One tip is to hold the taco with both hands, tilting your head slightly to bite from the side where the tortilla is sealed. This helps prevent fillings from falling out.
12. Can tacos be healthy?
Tacos can be part of a balanced diet when prepared with lean proteins, fresh vegetables, and whole-grain tortillas. Opting for grilled or roasted fillings, using less cheese and creamy sauces, and adding plenty of vegetables can make tacos a nutritious meal choice.
13. What are some regional variations of tacos in Mexico?
In Mexico, each region has its unique taco styles and specialties. For example, tacos de birria from Jalisco, tacos de cabeza from Sonora, or tacos de carnitas from Michoacán. Exploring regional variations can offer a deeper appreciation of Mexican culinary diversity.
14. Can I make tacos ahead of time for a party?
Yes, tacos can be prepped ahead for parties. Prepare the fillings and toppings separately, then assemble tacos just before serving to keep tortillas from getting soggy. Offer a variety of fillings so guests can customize their tacos to their liking.
15. What is the best way to reheat leftover tacos?
To reheat tacos, place them in a skillet over medium heat until warm and crispy, or microwave them for a short time. Garnish with fresh toppings just before serving to maintain flavor and texture.