Tacos in America
Author Ralat takes broad look at beloved food’s history and evolution
José R. Ralat is no Will Rogers of Tacolandia.
Never met a taco he didn’t like? Think again. As the nation’s only taco editor, one might assume that Ralat is eager to shower taco nation with unconditional love.
But as he writes in “American Tacos: A History and Guide,” the country’s taco landscape can be as innovative and delicious as it is fraught with politics, dubious claims of ownership, sketchy history, racism and cultural misappropriation. Don’t get him started on the notion of cauliflower tacos or lettuce-wrap tacos. The tortilla, as it must be, is the only legitimate foundation for a taco.
If you learn anything from Ralat’s coast-to-cost canvasing of taco evolu
tion, it is that the taco is distinctly Mexican, not American. That onus is fundamental no matter how much quinoa, sea urchin roe or charred octopus you stuff into a tortilla and call it a taco. “Mexicans and Mexican Americans deserve to have control over their cultural heritage,” Ralat writes.
But that they always don’t — the taco’s birthright is often ignored as it is remade and reimagined in often thrilling ways throughout the country — is what propels Ralat’s fascinating look at America’s many regional tacos. From California’s locavore tacos to Korean “K-Mex” tacos to Jewish “deli-Mex” to Southern-drawl “SurMex” tacos to AmericanIndian-inspired fry bread tacos to chef-driven “moderno” tacos, Ralat lays out a captivating landscape. In between, we are fed a heaping history of barbacoa and barbecue tacos, breakfast tacos and the puffy tacos of San Antonio — all ubiquitous in Texas’ passionate allegiance to tacos.
“American Tacos” arrives at an unprecedented time in food culture. The coronavirus pandemic has prevented Ralat, the taco editor at Texas Monthly and founder of the Taco Trail blog, from enjoying the traditional book-tour trappings that accompany such a publication. But like a true taco zealot, he brings it all back to the food he loves best.
“At first, I was pissed off because I have worked so hard and put so much of myself and my own funds into finishing this book,” he said. “But like the taco itself, I’m not giving up. The taco is unstoppable, and so is this book, damn it.”
The current stay-athome measures also might be doing the taco some good, he suggested.
“Alongside all of the sourdough baking and all the beans, there have been plenty of housemade tortillas,” he said. “It’s been wonderful to see people make and botch tortillas. It helps them appreciate how difficult a craft it is. It’s not easy to make them.”
Ah, the tortilla. Flour or corn, the framework for the taco is acknowledged in all its justified glory in “American Tacos.” Ralat decries those who see the tortilla as a “blank slate” for taco propagation in an anything-goes path toward taco creativity.
“You need to have some sort of acknowledgment. It’s different when you’re at home throwing whatever you’ve got into your tortilla. The way we eat at home is not the way we eat when we go out,” he said. “If I’m going to pay for tacos that I can’t make at home or are seemingly unique, I want them to taste good. But I also want them to come from a place of knowledge. Anyone can put something in a tortilla, but it doesn’t make it a taco.”
Still, that “putting in” a tortilla is what has given the American taco license. Regional variations of tacos that come from what Ralat observes as “two populations living side by side and trading ingredients and using what’s available to them” is what gives his narrative juice.
It’s that fusion of cultures that birthed the likes of Korean barbecue tacos, Jewish-hewn pastrami tacos, Southern-spirited Cajun tacos filled with gumbo, West Indian jerkmeat tacos and even the border-born Tex-Mex taco variants.
It has even given us a taco few would guess Ralat would appreciate — the crispy taco that Burger King rolled out last year. Although he doesn’t touch on it in “American Tacos” (and perhaps it’s best), Ralat admits he’s keen on the BK crispy taco.
“They are a classic example of the Midwestern crunchy taco,” he said. “It hits every note. It has everything I want from that style. When I first tasted them, I was with a friend and we laughed for like half an hour. There’s no way that taco should have been as good as it was. It was ridiculous that it was so great.”
That said, the American taco continues to evolve and still has much to teach us, Ralat said.
“As long as there are people living side by side, as long as there are tortillas available, we’re going to see a lot of development,” Ralat said, adding that more regional variants such as “Indo-Mex” will gain favor. “The taco is a living, breathing, dynamic food.”
He closes his book with hope and promise for the future of the taco.
“Although the streetstyle, classic taco fillings and crunchy tacos will always be with us, modern tacos continue to evolve and press ahead, always reaching for a horizon defined by quality and availability,” he writes. “Taquerias and restaurants … are continually tweaking and fiddling with tortillas and their potential fillings, hopefully surprising and delighting customers without pompous disregard for history and flavor profiles. The future of the taco is now.”