7 ms·
A taco is a small, to be held in the hand, street food predating the Spanish empire in southern Mexico and central america (Parker, 2006). It is composed of a s
by RosanaAnaDana 4y ago
A taco is a small, to be held in the hand, street food predating the Spanish empire in southern Mexico and central america (Parker, 2006). It is composed of a small amount of meat or fish on a corn flatbread, usually with some amount of pico de gallo or salsa, and often with lime over it. Some key elements is that its a 'single ingredient' dish, it be hand held, and it be served fresh (traditionally as street food). Carne asada, al pastor, fried fish, etc. represent reasonable taco fillings and are not 'combined' with other, filler type ingredients, like beans or rice. There is another mexican dish, the tostada which incorporates those ingredients. A tostada is not a taco. A taco needs to be able to be picked up and eaten with one hand. That means it can not be over filled and it shouldn't be. If you want more food, order more tacos.
A burrito is as well a single ingredient food (read: no fillers like beans and rice unless that is specifically the single ingredient in the burrito). The primary difference is that a burrito is usually on flour tortillas and is wrapped to be held with two hands, often having substantially more content than a taco, which is specifically intended to be eaten with one hand.
The biggest criticism I'm raising is the American (outside of border states like CA, AZ, NM, and TX where they don't put up with that shit) tendency to accept cheaper, filler ingredients as primary to the contents of a burrito. This is a serious departure, where in border states and mexico, burritos might come with rice and beans on the side, they are never substituted as primary ingredients.
The broadest point is that there are many many ways of combining some filling, tortillas, and other ingredients. Just because it has those components does not a taco or burrito make.
Parker, 2006, https://web.archive.org/web/20080502160526/http://www.iccjournal.biz/StudentScholars/Undergraduate/history_of_mexican_cuisine.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20080502160526/http://www.iccjou...
- systemvoltage 4y agoHolyshit, I concede! This is peak HN :-). Thanks for the lesson honestly.
- bbkane 4y agoThis is a great description for the original, most pure definition of taco. However, people interpret foods differently over time and space (just look at what "pizza" has meant for different areas over time), and, in my opinion, this evolution is natural and shouldn't be looked down upon.
- mvid 4y agoThe pure definition, though, is still the common definition in most of Central America and in Latino communities. Feels odd to erase that correct, active definition because it was used for marketing unrelated things in unrelated places
- jhgb 4y agoLet me know once people in the US stop referring to meat-filled pastry as "koláče". I was horrified to find out about that. But I wouldn't hold my breath on that one either.
- cleansingfire 4y agoThe only place I've seen kolatches (sp.) was fifty years ago in the little town of West, TX (and it's not really in West Texas, but more in between Fort Worth and Austin.) Those were pastries filled with various delicious things, including sausage and fruit.) I don't think I've ever seen kolatches anywhere else. I'd love to find more, and learn the difference. They are far from common in the USA sadly.
- jhgb 4y agoI'm not sure I could tell you anything more than Wikipedia can already tell you in my stead. Sausages simply have nothing to do with koláče; koláče are basically sweets. You wouldn't put a sausage in a cake either, I'm sure.
- buildsjets 4y agoI sure as heck would put a sausage in a cake, and I do so frequently. It’s delicious, and it’s called “Pigs in a Blanket.” https://reluctantentertainer.com/buttermilk-pancake-pigs-in-a-blanket/ https://reluctantentertainer.com/buttermilk-pancake-pigs-in-...
- 4y ago
- canjobear 4y agoYour argument is based on a prescriptive definition of “burrito” which does not match how the vast majority of English speakers use it. I can make any arbitrary taxonomy work by simply redefining the terms in a restrictive way, but in doing so, nothing is accomplished. It’s a form of the “no true Scotsman” fallacy, in this case no true burrito.
- pryce 4y agoThen we must decide whether it is the English-speaking or Mexican Spanish meaning of the word 'burrito' that we are even discussing. If we want to be accurate, we should define our goals in a specific way, which hasn't been done here. There are borrowed words in English where the meaning in the borrowing language is different than in the original (source) language. There are even terms, such as this one in Te Ao Maori, 'Takatāpui', where the meaning is intentionally different depending on whether the speaker is speaking Te Ao Maori or English, because of careful and intentional distinctions about preserving the meanings of words[1]. Things can get even more complicated when we attempt to remove our native language as a default frame-of-reference, such as attempting to determine what exactly is correct (or not, and if not, how) in the following conversation: > Q: "What does 'sushi' mean?" > A: "It's Japanese for 'burrito'. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takatāpui https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takatāpui
- uoaei 4y ago"Burrito" is not a word of English origin...
- ramesh31 4y agoFrom one taco elitist to another, thank you.
- hbarka 4y agoWho else survived from starving in college thanks to Taco Tuesdays? The trick was to make two tacos from one because it was always served with two layers of the flatbread. The flatbread was sometimes corn, sometimes flour, but it was always generously served double layers. Curious which is the traditional, the soft taco or the hard shell we know of from that franchise with a bell?
- 7speter 4y agoIts not supposed to be flatbread though, its a tortilla
- dekhn 4y agoWouldn't you place tortilla in the general flatbread category? Every culture has a flatbread.
- Dylan16807 4y ago> A burrito is as well a single ingredient food No they're not.
- grayclhn 4y ago> The biggest criticism I'm raising is the American (outside of border states like CA, AZ, NM, and TX where they don't put up with that shit) tendency to accept cheaper, filler ingredients as primary to the contents of a burrito. Having lived in San Diego and SF… they do indeed put up with that shit in many parts of those border states. Fantastic comment, though. :)
- jhgb 4y agoWhat exactly is a "single ingredient dish" to you? This "Pico de gallo" thing already consists of multiple ingredients -- or so Wikipedia tells me. So does salsa, if I understand it correctly. Your notion of "single ingredient" must be different from mine.
- ghaff 4y agoI assume they mean typically a single protein.
- wl 4y agoThat burrito definition excludes the Mission burrito, a grievous error.
- dekhn 4y agoThink of it like a feature in machine learning- there are many burritos, some of which have the "rice inside" bit and the "beans inside" bits set to one. Burritos themselves exist within wrappspace (https://worldwrapps.com/ https://worldwrapps.com/) which themselves are within the "self-contained food manifold".
- serenitylater 4y ago
- dekhn 4y agoI generally agree with most of your assessments and classifications, but: I can definitely eat a tostada with one hand (if it's crispy). To me, a taco is a folded tostada (when I worked at a mexican restaurant, we also had a bowl-shaped tostada ("salad in a bread bowl"). To me, that is a continuum. The ingredients are a bit less important (my preference is al pastor on a steamed soft corn tortilla). The moment you "wrap" (fully enclose in a tubular way), I think it moves to a different part of the embedded space which includes all wraps (https://worldwrapps.com/ https://worldwrapps.com/). The mission-style burrito definitely has the "rice and beans inside" in addition to the primary (meat, veggie, whatever), this sounds very much like the "in Texas, chili doesn't have beans" argument.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- lostlogin 4y agoThe ‘No true burrito’ argument. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman
- ghaff 4y agoI've enjoyed many good breakfast burritos in Austin but won't oder them most places because, as you say, they tend to be stuffed with filler. Tacos can suffer from this too--I'm sure there must be some pork under all this cabbage--but you can usually get rid of some of the filler and there's not as much room to stuff a lot of it in anyway.
- robonerd 4y ago> The biggest criticism I'm raising is the American (outside of border states like CA, AZ, NM, and TX where they don't put up with that shit) tendency to accept cheaper, filler ingredients as primary to the contents of a burrito. But rice and beans taste good. Even rice and beans alone is really tasty. Wrap it up in a tortilla with hot sauce and sour cream.. delicious! The meat sweetens the deal, but I can easily enjoy a burrito with no meat. Whether you call that a burrito or make up some other word for it makes little difference, it is what it is, and it tastes damn good. It tastes great whether you call it a burrito or a 'rice-and-beans wrap with pork'.
- moron4hire 4y agoBy this definition, eating a slice of New York Style pizza topped with pepperoni in the traditional way (folded in half, standing outside) is a taco. Which is patently absurd. How 'bout this definition: I'll eat whatever I want, call it whatever I want, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it, because this isn't France and you're never gonna get a law passed on it. As they say in various kink communities, "don't yuck my yum".
- felipemnoa 4y agoHeretic! To the fires with you! A taco uses tortillas...
- moron4hire 4y agoI actually hate New York Style pizza, and one of the reasons is the crust is so thin and flat. The other reason being you have to subject yourself to going to New York to get it, and nobody should have to do that to themselves.
- heleninboodler 4y ago> As they say in various kink communities, "don't yuck my yum". This is a disturbing way to put it, because I learned that phrase from my kids' preschool. :D
- anamax 4y agoWhat is the grain of that burrito wrapper? If it's wheat, that's from German immigrants into what became Texas.