Art of the Taco

Unless you grew up near the southern border of Texas, New Mexico or California, your first taco experiences as a kid were most likely the versions from Taco Bell, or those store-bought hard taco kits your parents used to make. Crispy shell, chili powder seasoned ground beef, shredded iceberg lettuce and yellow plastic-like cheese shreds. Let’s not talk about those atrocities and what the U.S. food processing industry did to something so beautiful as a true south of the border taco. Let’s talk about the authentic ones—their history, the varieties and what makes them so special.

First, we have to talk about the tortilla. When you think of real tacos, you think soft corn tortillas. The origin of the corn tortilla dates all the way back to Mayan times in the Mesoamerican region, which is modern day Mexico and Central America. In Mexico, the native plant was a staple to early civilization’s diet in the area. The Mayans learned that if you soak the corn in lime, it separates the skins and allows the kernel to be ground easily into a paste mixed with water. This process is called nixtamalization. The same process is used today using alkaline solutions, which is how we get masa, the building block of corn tortillas. In the 16th century, the Spanish arrived in the area and took note of the small flat corn cakes being made. In Spanish, torta is the name for a cake, so the Spanish called these “little cakes” and the name “tortilla” has stuck for centuries.

Now, this is where things start getting exciting for me. As an avid world traveler, a chef and lover of cultures and foods from around the world, I quickly learned that very few foods we think of today are purely authentic to the region we associate them to. There’s a lot of bad things that came from colonization and the influences of other cultures around the world, but food is one of the positives we can celebrate and embrace. The Spanish returned to Europe with this newfound tortilla, subsequently wheat flour was then introduced from Europe to Mesoamerica, and the flour tortilla was born. Around the same time, the Greeks used the same method with chickpea meal and made a tortilla with it. From there, the sharing of crops, ingredients and methods took off, and the worldwide culinary explosion began.

Fun fact: The tomato also originated from the Mexico region, and was introduced to Europe. Italy never even knew what a tomato was until the Spanish brought them from the Americas. Think about what you know about Italian food and ponder that for a moment! Also, almost every chili pepper in the world came from Mexico. Thai Bird's Eye Chili from Thailand? Nope. Mexico. This area was a culinary gold mine when it was discovered, and we can see how the rich complex flavors developed there and had such an influence on the rest of the world.

Let’s talk about the second big component of the taco—the meat! Although there are veggie taco options out there, meats steal the show when it comes to tacos, and their preparation has been more than perfected over time. This is where Mexican cooking stands out to me. We’re talking long marinades and fast cook time, or slow cooking and infusing mountains of flavor. My biggest lesson learning to cook proper Mexican meats was to realize that the meat was not the main star. You’re not grilling a fine cut of steak to enjoy the flavor and texture of it. The meat is a vessel for all the spices—the chilies, the onion and the citrus—to meld and deliver it to you. The main star is the love that’s put into the meat through a combination of all these other spices and vegetables. It’s about finding a rich balance and a proper cooking method to deliver a tender texture bursting with flavor. If you’re getting tacos with bland meats that require lots of salsa to give it flavor, you need to find another taco spot!

While there are seemingly endless types of fillings throughout Mexico’s many regions, let’s talk about the most common and well-known ones. We’ll start with my favorite, Al Pastor. Another gift of cultures trading ideas. Al Pastor’s origin began in the Middle East. Lebanese immigrants settling near Mexico City brought shawarma, which was lamb cooked on a vertical grill and served on pita bread. They adopted the name Tacos Arabes, and you can still find spots serving that style throughout Mexico City. Thin sliced pork replaced the lamb, marinated in an adobo blend of guajillo chilis, achiote, herbs, spices and vinegar. It was then layered on the vertical grill, which was named a trompo, and the best ones are topped with pineapple to let the juices drip down as it spins and cooks. My favorite Al Pastor in town has to be Taqueria El Asador. Although they don’t use a traditional trompo, the smokiness they impart into their al pastor is perfect, and they don’t hold back on the marinade. Tacos El Amigo also makes a good Al Pastor.

Next up is carnitas. This one was born in Mexico, and gets its glory from the slow cooking process of a fat marbled cut of pork simmered in lard until it’s tender and shredded. At its simplest form it is only seasoned with salt, but many spice variations are used. Bonus points go to the ones that get a quick fry to add some crispy bits in there after the slow cook. I love a good mojo style carnitas, with lots of orange and lime and a bit of spice. I usually have to make this one myself, but if I’m grabbing some on the go, I like the ones at Taco Mex, which is a great taqueria attached to the La Mexicana Supermarket.

Cochinita pibil is a less common pork method, but one of my favorites. It comes from the Yucatan, and uses orange juice and achiote (annatto seeds) in the marinade. It is traditionally wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in the ground until tender falling apart. We’ll learn more about this method later when we talk about barbacoa. Mama and Papa’s Tacos on Olive Road offers it, and while I doubt they’re burying it in the ground, they do a decent job.

Rounding out our pork talk, chorizo is another of my go to options anywhere I see it on a menu. Chorizo came from the Iberian Peninsula of Spain and Portugal. It’s a ground pork sausage, originally linked in casings, and gets its distinct flavor from healthy doses of smoked paprika. There are many variations using sweet or spicy paprika, and even cured versions used in charcuterie. The Mexican version we find in tacos is usually made with fresh ground pork and is cooked without casings so we end up with a loose ground seasoned meat to toss into tortillas. Chorizo goes heavy with salt and spices, as it was originally meant to be a cured meat, but that’s what makes it amazing. Once again, a proper quick fry giving it some crispy bits is a bonus! Tacos El Fluffy does a great breakfast chorizo taco, and they also make their own corn and flour tortillas in house, which is very hard to find here in Pensacola.

Moving on to beef—and there’s some magic here. Once again, if you're looking for some secret info on ground beef taco meat, you’re better off asking someone at your local drive thru. Let’s talk about Barbacoa instead. Barbacoa actually refers to a cooking method. That’s right, you guessed it, barbecue. In fact, modern day BBQ as we know it started in the Caribbean, by an indigenous people called Taino. They dug pits and wrapped meats in large fig leaves, then used the fire pits to slow cook the meats and preserve them. The method eventually made it to Mexico, most probably by the Spanish, and evolved to use heavily marinated lamb or beef, wrapped in agave leaves, then slow cooked with fire and hot stones until tender and shredded. You can still find it done this way in Mexico, but unfortunately, to my knowledge, no one is digging holes and using giant leaves in Pensacola. Tacos El Fluffy has my favorite barbacoa in town, with a close second at Taco Mex.

Most are no stranger to carne asada—that tender marinated cut of steak that we are lucky to have grace a tortilla. As the beef and ranching industry grew in northern Mexico, carne asada became more prevalent. Usually made from skirt or flank steak, with a long marinade including spices, aromatics, lime or other acids to break down the tougher cut of meat, then a quick grill over high heat for some char. Some thin slicing against the grain and it’s taco time. If there’s a taqueria that has mastered the grilling of meats in town, it’s El Asador, and that’s my pick for carne asada!

Now let’s talk about one that’s become all the trend in the last few years, birria. As most know it, it’s a heavily seasoned and slow cooked beef, served with a broth or consomme left over from the pot. It was originally made with goat. Goats were introduced to Mexico by the Spanish and soon became a problem as they took over, destroying crops and wreaking havoc. As we all know, the best thing to do with your problems is to eat them, and so birria was born. The heavy seasoning and long cook times helped remove the gaminess out of the goat. Other meats such as lamb and beef were eventually used, and beef being the most available here it became the most common. While it’s not on their regular menu, if you see birria pop up as a feature at Misu Street Food, get in line!

Lengua. Many are afraid of this one, but prepared properly, it’s amazing. Cooking cow tongue utilizes the thought of not wasting any part of the animal. I compare it to a slightly gamey roast beef. There’s two ways you’ll find it, cooked until tender and cut into cubes, or cooked until it shreds. I prefer the shredded version, and if made right, it’s like a tender roast beef cooked to the point of falling apart, but with a unique and different flavor. Lengua fans swear by it, and my go-to in Pensacola is El Asador once again and Tacos El Fluffy.

When looking for pollo, chicken tinga is the one that gets me excited. Another one that’s hard to find, but Mama and Papa’s Tacos have it on their menu. A nice aromatic stew of chicken with tomato, chipotle peppers, and adobe seasonings, cooked until it shreds. There are other chicken tacos out there, but if you want an authentic original, look for tinga on the menu.

We can’t talk about tacos and not mention the iconic Baja style fish taco. Brought into the mainstream by Southern California surfers refueling at their local taco stand after hours in the water and on the beach. There’s no better feeling. It’s rumored that Japanese immigrants that populated the northern Mexico fishing industry in the 1930s influenced this taco’s creation. They brought the tempura method of frying fish, using a batter instead of breading or grilling. You will find these with grilled fish, too, but the battered version is superior in my opinion. The classic version adds shredded cabbage or slaw, a crema, and sometimes an avocado salsa. Although there are a million versions out there, the classic Baja-style fish taco deserves its iconic reputation. To my knowledge the only place in town making this style is Gaby’s Taqueria. If there are others near us, please let me know.

Toppings and salsa—the final touch! At its simplest, all a taco needs is onion, cilantro, and lime. This is if the meats have been done with love, and they are bursting with flavor. Now, we’re not going to drown them in salsa are we? Yes we are. Let’s be clear that salsa in this application is not the chunky stuff you dip your tortillas in sitting on the couch. Salsa means sauce, there’s endless varieties, and no two are the same at any given taco stand. The two staples are salsa roja and salsa verde. Roja being tomato or red chili based, and verde being green chili and tomatillo based. We can go on and on about habanero and mango, avocado verde, jalapeño crema, pico de gallo, morita chilis, chile de arbol, serrano… the varieties and creations are endless. In its essence, a good salsa combines a heat element (chili or pepper) with acid (lime or vinegar), along with other vegetables and aromatics. They bring pop and brightness to the fatty meats and tortilla, and balance to the world.

Enjoy your tacos Pensacola.