Taco

Ataco(US:/ˈtɑːkoʊ/,UK:/ˈtækoʊ/,Spanish:[ˈtako]) is a traditionalMexican dishconsisting of a small hand-sizedcorn-orwheat-based tortillatopped with afilling. The tortilla is then folded around the filling andeaten by hand. A taco can be made with a variety of fillings, including beef, pork, chicken, seafood, beans, vegetables, andcheese, and garnished with various condiments, such assalsa,guacamole, orsour cream, and vegetables, such as lettuce, coriander, onion, tomatoes, andchiles.Tacos are a common form of antojitos, orMexican street food, which have spread around the world.
Tacos can be contrasted with similar foods such asburritos, which are often much larger and rolled rather than folded;taquitos, which are rolled and fried; orchalupas/tostadas, in which the tortilla is fried before filling.
The origins of the taco are not precisely known, and etymologies for the culinary usage of the word are generally theoretical.Tacoin the sense of a typical Mexican dish comprising amaizetortillafolded around food is just one of the meanings connoted by the word, according to theReal Academia Española, publisher ofDiccionario de la Lengua Española.This meaning of the Spanish word "taco" is a Mexican innovation,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."The etymological origin of this sense of the word is Germanic and has cognates in other European languages, including the French wordtacheand the English word "tack".
In Spain, the word "taco" can also be used in the context oftacos de jamón[es]:  these are diced pieces of ham, or sometimes bits and shavings of ham leftover after a larger piece is sliced.They can be served on their own astapasor street food, or can be added to other dishes such assalmorejo,omelettes,stews,empanadas, ormelón con jamón[es].
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.
Indigenous origins are also proposed. One possibility is that the word derives from theNahuatlwordtlahco, meaning "half" or "in the middle",in the sense that food would be placed in the middle of a tortilla.Furthermore, dishes analogous to the taco were known to have existed inPre-Columbiansociety—for example, the Nahuatl wordtlaxcalli(a type of corn tortilla).
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 theValley of Mexicotraditionally ate tacos filled with small fish.Writing at the time of the Spanish conquistadors,Bernal Díaz del Castillodocumented the first taco feast enjoyed by Europeans, a meal whichHernán Cortésarranged for his captains inCoyoacán.Others argue that the advent of the taco is much more recent, with one of the more popular theories being that the taco was invented by silver miners in the 18th century.
One of the oldest mentions of the termtacocomes from an 1836 cookbook —Nuevo y sencillo arte de cocina, reposteria y refrescos— by Antonia Carrillo; in a recipe for a rolled pork loin (lomo de cerdo enrollado), she instructs the readers to roll the loin like they would a “taco de tortilla” or tortilla taco.
Another mention of the word taco comes from the novel —El hombre de la situación(1861)— by Mexican writerManuel Payno:
These instances disprove the theory that the first mention of the word "taco" in Mexico was in the 1891 novel Los bandidos de Río Frío byManuel Payno.
It should also be noted that termtacowas regional, specifically from Mexico City and surrounding areas, and that other regional names existed. InGuanajuato,Guerrero,Michoacán, andSan Luis Potosí, the terms used wereburritoandburro; while inYucatánandQuintana Roothe term used wascodzito(coçito).Due to the cultural influence of Mexico City, the termtacobecame the default, and terms likeburritoandcodzito, either became forgotten or evolved to mean something different in modern times.
In 2024, El Califa de León in Mexico City became the first taco stand to win aMichelin star.
As an accompaniment to tacos, manytaco standswill serve whole or sliced redradishes,limeslices, salt, pickled or grilled chilis (hot peppers), and occasionallycucumberslices, or grilled cambray onions.
The hard-shell or crispy taco is a tradition that developed in the United States. 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.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 astacos dorados("golden tacos") in Spanish,a name that they share withtaquitos.
Various sources credit different individuals with the invention of the hard-shell taco, but some form of the dish likely predates all of them.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.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.The first cookbook to provide a recipe for the hard-shell taco wasThe Good Life: New Mexican food, written byFabiola Cabeza de Baca Gilbertand published inSanta Fe,New Mexico, in 1949.
In the mid-1950s,Glen Bellopened Taco Tia, and began selling a simplified version of the tacos being sold by Mexican restaurants inSan Bernardino, particularly thetacos doradosbeing sold at the Mitla Cafe, owned by Lucia and Salvador Rodriguez across the street from another of Bell's restaurants.Over the next few years, Bell owned and operated a number of restaurants in southern California including four called El Taco.The tacos sold at Bell's restaurants were many Anglo Americans' first introduction to Mexican food.Bell sold the El Tacos to his partner and built the firstTaco BellinDowneyin 1962. Kermit Becky, a formerLos Angelespoliceofficer, bought the first Taco Bell franchise from Glen Bell in 1964,and located it inTorrance. The company grew rapidly, and by 1967, the 100th restaurant opened at 400 South Brookhurst inAnaheim. In 1968, its first franchise location east of theMississippi Riveropened inSpringfield, Ohio.
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 tacosare tacos made withwheatflour tortillas and filled with the same ingredients as a hard taco.
The breakfast taco, found inTex-Mex cuisine, is a soft corn or flour tortilla filled with meat, eggs, or cheese, which can also contain other ingredients.Some have claimed thatAustin, Texas, is the home of the breakfast taco.However, food writer andOC Weeklyeditor Gustavo Arellano responded that such a statement reflects a common trend of "whitewashed" foodways reporting, noting that predominantly HispanicSan Antonio, Texas, "never had to brag about its breakfast taco love—folks there just call it 'breakfast'".
Indian tacos, orNavajotacos, are made usingfrybreadinstead of tortillas. They are commonly eaten atpow-wows,festivals, and other gatherings by and for indigenous people in theUnited StatesandCanada.
This kind of taco is not known to have been present before the arrival of Europeans in what is now theSouthwestern United States.Navajotradition indicates that frybread came into use in the 1860s when the government forced the tribe to relocate from their homeland inArizonain a journey known as theLong 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.
Since at least 1978, a variation called the "puffy taco" has been popular. Henry's Puffy Tacos, opened by Henry Lopez inSan Antonio,Texas, claims to have invented the variation, in which uncooked corn tortillas (flattened balls ofmasadough) are quickly fried in hot oil until they expand and become "puffy".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 inWhittier, not long after Henry's opened.Henry's continues to thrive, managed by the family's second generation.
Kits are available at grocery andconvenience storesand usually consist of taco shells (corn tortillas already fried in a U-shape), seasoning mix andtaco sauce. Commercial vendors for the home market also market soft taco kits with tortillas instead of taco shells.
The tacodilla contains melted cheese in between the two folded tortillas, thus resembling aquesadilla.