Let’s be serious, let’s talk about tacos.

What is a taco? This is an easy answer, a taco is a meal of any food served over a corn or wheat flour tortilla that can be softly bent and closed to eat with one hand and presented on a regular flat plate.

Some history

The history shows that the Nahuatl (1) word “tlahco” means in the middle, and the word “tlaxcalli” means tortilla, from there we can assume those words are the origin of this traditional meal called TACO: food placed in the middle of a tortilla. There are some historical records showing Aztecs heating and cooking smashed corn over stone pans and putting beans and other ingredients over, the first tacos ever observed.

From there the tacos were always considered a food of the poor or indigenous people of Mexico, either for its basic preparation and their versatility. The taco evolved and as the pork, chicken, and pork meat was introduced to the diet of the colonized Mexicans also appeared on the traditional tacos.

By the XIX century, there are records showing the different preparation of tacos in different regions of Mexico, and with the introduction of the wheat also the flour tortilla appeared mostly in the regions where the wheat was produced instead of the corn.

Now we can say that a taco is as versatile as the imagination, you can put anything over a soft warm tortilla, bend it and eat it with the hand, that is a taco. So, you can have tacos de carne asada (grilled beef), tacos de carnitas (fried pork), tacos de nopales con jitomate (cactus with tomato), tacos de papa (potato), or most anything.

What is NOT a taco

Hardshell. No, a taco is NOT a hard shell thing, I do not know what is that but definitely is not a taco, NO WAY!
Quesadillas. Other very popular meals in central Mexico are the quesadillas, and there is a thin line dividing a quesadilla from a taco, but a quesadilla is a bent tortilla sometimes fried or grilled, that takes away the concept of the soft open tortilla.
Empanadas. A variety of patty, yes you can stuff with food that you can find also in a taco, but, c’mon, a patty is not a taco.
Burritos. A burrito is NOT a taco because it is not open and has to be manually closed to stuff ingredients inside the tortilla. Also, it is not presented in a flat open plate and most of the time are wrapped in foil or paper. We can say it is a derivation of the taco but is NOT a taco.
Wraps. No, a wrap is just a burrito cut in half sometimes with fancy ingredients, NOT a taco.

Different kind of tacos

There are a variety of tacos, mainly separated by the ingredients or the preparation, lets see some of them:

Ingredients:

As mentioned before, you can find tacos of a wide range of ingredients and preparations but some of the most popular would be:

Taco al pastor (shepherd style). Sliced pork steak seasoned with adobo, often served at the moment from a vertical rotisserie flame-broiled as it spins. Served with cilantro, onion, and pineapple.
Taco de bisteck o asada (grilled beef steak). As simple as that, a slice of good meat often with guacamole or some fresh vegetables as onion and tomato.
Tacos de carnitas (fried pork). Medium size pieces of pork meat deep fried in a saucepan and then sliced at the moment to serve a taco. With cilantro and onion.

Preparation:

We can also find variations in the way to prepare a taco that defines that taco, here you have two examples:

Taco de canasta o sudados (basket or sweaty). Usually, in a smaller tortilla filled with different ingredients and packed in a basket and covered with clothes, the cover keeps the tacos warm and the steam makes them sweat.
Taco placero (from the plaza). Made with cold ingredients like cheese, pork rind, and nopales, this taco is a classic among the construction workers for the lunch break due to its ease of preparation.

Breakfast tacos?

Yes, any taco you eat at breakfast is a breakfast taco. Any taco you eat at dinner is, well, a dinner taco.

You can find breakfast tacos of scrambled eggs with bacon and also beef tacos for breakfast. There are no limitations of the kind of tacos you can have for breakfast, or is it?

Cultural appropriation?

As 100% chilangos (2) we can say that cook a taco in other country or with non-Mexican ingredients is not a cultural appropriation, just for one simple reason, the taco is so versatile and easy to do a meal that you cannot put any boundaries to the taco, nor geographical or in recipes besides the one and only rule: the taco has to be on a soft warm corn tortilla, the taco is a Mexican legacy to the world.