Puffy tacos, taco kits, breakfast tacos and tacodillas
How long has the puffy taco been popular?
Taco
Since at least 1978, a variation called the "puffy taco" has been popular. "Henry's Puffy Tacos", opened by Henry Lopez in San Antonio, Texas, claims to have invented the variation, in which uncooked corn tortillas (flattened balls of masa dough) 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" in Whittier, not long after Henry's opened. Henry's continues to thrive, managed by the family's second generation. Kits are available at grocery and convenience stores and usually consist of taco shells (corn tortillas already fried in a U-shape), seasoning mix and taco sauce. Commercial vendors for the home market also market soft taco kits with tortillas instead of taco shells. The breakfast taco, found in Tex-Mex cuisine, is filled with meat, eggs, or cheese, with other ingredients. The tacodilla contains melted cheese in between the two folded tortillas, thus resembling a quesadilla.