You have to love Wikipedia:
“The origins of the taco are not precisely known, and etymologies for the culinary usage of the word are generally theoretical.”
Yum! And this:
“There is significant debate about the origins of the taco in Mexico, with some arguing that the taco predates the arrival of the Spanish in Mexico, since 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.”
Say all that in one breath…
What science does know with an absolute certainty is that tacos arrived in our Long Beach kitchen around five years ago, their prior development impeded by our living next door to a first-class taco chef. It was just too easy to wangle an invitation to one of her periodic feasts—until we moved and were forced to fend for ourselves.
Even today, it will come as a shock to some of our fellow gringos that there’s more to Mexican cooking than tacos, burritos, and enchiladas loaded down with cheese, guacamole, and bottled tomato sauce. For us, a week in Mexico City served as an eye-opener, followed by our discovery of Hugo’s in Houston, followed by another week wandering the Sonoran Desert.
Along the way, we befriended superb cooks from Oaxaca, Guadalajara, and the Baja, and none of them cooked anything like the others. It was quite intimidating—in a good way—the point being, that there are few limits on the variations you can introduce into Mexican cuisine without sacrificing its essential identity.
We love the traditional tacos—Pastor, Carne Asada, Carnitas, Barbacoa, and Camarones—but there’s a problem with preparing them in Los Angeles. A thousand grocery stores, restaurants, friends, and (yes!) taco trucks already serve them, often with delicious, house-made corn tortillas. Over the years, many of these chefs and entrepreneurs have built devoted followings by cooking their tacos to a standard of the highest quality. You’re never going to compete with that, so if you’re going into the home-grown taco biz around these parts, you need to bring your imagination.
As some of you know, we started issuing quick Substack Notes under the rubric of “Crazy Tacos” to report on some of our more promising experiments. Now that we’ve gone out and bought our first comal, tortilla press, and bags of Masa Harina, we’re pausing here to feature ten of our existing favorites in the newsletter. When you next hear from us (taco-wise), we’ll be on our way to mastering the fine art of the fresh corn tortilla in all of its exotic hues.
Hopefully, it won’t take years!
My mouth is watering. I am always searching for authentic Carnitas.
Those all look fabulous and very yummy!