Taco Hunting

I’ll admit it, I have a thing for the Taco.

One of the main appeals is that are so many different variations on the taco: tortilla, stuffing, preparation et cetera. All can be varied, mix-and-matched.

One can get an entirely different kinda taco at stand in Mexico City than New York City.

One can even go to a Jack In The Box and get something they call a taco: meat paste and american cheese. It too has it’s place.

My favorite (and I’m convinced it’s entirely for biological-survival-of-the-fattest-because-winter-was-long-in-the-Ice-Age reasons) is the double-fried shredded beef taco with a particular kind of salsa (my god, I just drooled as if someone rang a Taco Bell).

Hello Crispy Taco

See, they lightly fry the shell, stuff it full, then fry it again with the stuffing before jamming cheese and lettuce into it.

One could go on about the metaphor of The Taco in life, love and business, but I have to go: the stand is open 24 hours, 7 days a week and it’s busy on Friday nights.

What’s your favorite kind of taco? Is there a reason?

·:· Posted 2 July 2005, 07:55 by Jason Hoffman to Stuff  |  

  1. Correctly constructed Taco Pizza. To die for and such.

    — Bob Aman    2 July 2005, 15:36    #
  2. Tacos al carbon at El Cholo

    With a margarita and followed by flan.

    — Lisa Spangenberg    2 July 2005, 16:12    #
  3. Tacos al pastor or fish tacos anywhere near the Mexico/California border. Served plain on soft corn tortillas so you can fix them up yourself at the little salsa bar.

    — Andrew    2 July 2005, 16:40    #
  4. I like the ones where you boil incredibly cheap and fatty pork for like an hour in way way too salty water, then pull it apart with a fork, and cram it into a soft tortilla with a life-threatening quantity of cheese and tabasco.

    — Dean Allen    2 July 2005, 16:47    #
  5. Chorizo. Because ground beef isn’t nearly lethal enough…

    — Larry    2 July 2005, 18:57    #
  6. Chorizo is awesome. Take a chorizo and squeeze it out in a pan and break a couple of eggs in it and stir it up. While it cooks put maseca tortillas on top so they are essentially steamed, then fill them up. Nothing else… well maybe some potato sometimes.

    Diced pork, beaucoup cilantro and fresh, uncooked onions make a good taco, too.

    The key to a great taco for me is the tortilla. Soft fried or grilled or prepared like above. I can’t stand cripsy taco shells.

    Hatch green chile salsa is an excellent compliment.

    — dm    3 July 2005, 03:44    #
  7. Oh, forgot, the awesomeness of beer with your taco is inversely proportional to how long it’s been since you woke up, i.e Chorizo tacos with a Shiner Bock as soon as you wake up is hard to beat.

    — dm    3 July 2005, 03:51    #
  8. The tortillla really is important. I once tried making my own . . . if we’re invaded by hostile aliens, I know just what to feed them; my home made tortillas are the perfect secret weapon.

    But there are a couple of places locally where they do make their own tortillas, right in front of you, and then serve them with a green chile – home made cheese – avocado sauce that’s, well fabulous. It’s meant to be an appetizer, but I’m with with a stack of hot tortillas, and the sauce.

    — Lisa Spangenberg    4 July 2005, 16:27    #
  9. You guys are making me homesick. Germany is not known for its tacos, though I have finally managed to make a pretty good tortilla after 8 years. No one has mentioned the potato tacos you can get in the markets in southern Mexico. Those are quite fabulous.

    — Keith Bingman    5 July 2005, 15:01    #
  10. I love those potato tacos. You can get the same exact ones at the place that serves that fried thing above.

    — jason Hoffman    6 July 2005, 21:24    #
  11. Nothing like a greasy hard shell taco with fried stringy beef, lettuce, tomato, a touch of avocado, and lots of cheddar topped with a good hot red hot sauce like La Victoria salsa brava – although there are much better sauces. Chase that down with a good cold lager – not too heavy.

    Worse thing for you, best thing tasting.

    My favorite was the taco plate at El Tepeyac in East L.A.

    — jondo    9 July 2005, 17:55    #