I had coffee recently with a former student to hear about her new family member – a baby girl. She said she enjoyed listening to my show and was wondering why I hadn’t talked about one of her, and the younger generations, favorite foods. I don’t know why I hadn’t, because it’s one of my favorites, too.
Tacos are on the menu.
Where were they born?
Jeffrey Pilcher, historian on the origin of the taco, suggests that Mexican silver miners likely invented the taco in the 18th century because in those mines the word “taco” referred to pieces of paper that they would wrap around gunpowder and insert into the holes they carved in the rock face. And there is a reference in an archive from the end of the 19th century where the first type of taco described is called tacos de minero—miner’s tacos. Of course, there is a claim that the name may come from the Spanish word for dowel, as in a plug to fill a hungry stomach. Taco’s do accomplish that.
Maize and Mexico
Either way, the corn tortilla is the taco’s wrapper. It starts with maize, known as corn in North American English, which arose from a single domestication in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago. Maize is also a word that means “sacred mother” or “giver of life”. Authentic tortillas, still made by hand in many households, are made with masa harina – the corn flour made from dried corn kernels that are soaked in a lime solution
Where did the taco first appear in the U.S.?
Americans likely became exposed to tacos through Mexican food carts in Los Angeles and San Antonio that were run by women called “chili queens.” They sold inexpensive Mexican food like soft corn tortilla tacos. They were also mentioned in U.S. newspaper in 1905, around the time Mexican migrants came to work the mines and railroads.
What’s inside your taco shell?
Carne Asada, Barbacoa, Carnitas, Pollo, Camarón, Chorizo, Potatoes? Is the shell filled with foods of South American origin such as tomatoes, beans, avocados, and chiles? It is believed that the Spanish introduced the cheese, lettuce, and cabbage. Of note: if the typical taco were to visit the origins of each of its ingredients, it would have to travel some 64,000 miles.
How did they become fast-food in America?
Glenn Bell, the founder of Taco Bell, is credited for making the fast-food taco possible. In 1962, he opened his first Taco Bell in Downey, CA. If you read Glen Bell’s biography, he says he invented the taco shell in the 1950s. He did not. In the 1940s, Mexican cookbooks were describing the way to make shells, by taking a tortilla, frying it, and bending it over to form that U-shape. Mexicans were cooking tacos to order—fresh—but Glen Bell, by making them ahead, was able to serve them faster. By the way, Bell sold Taco Bell to PepsiCo in 1978 for $125 million in stock.
Since I’ve been talking about corn, and it is corn season, can I leave you with a few fun facts about corn?
· The average ear of corn has 800 kernels in 16 rows.
· The world record for the tallest corn stalk is more than 35 feet.
· An ear of corn has one silk strand for every kernel.
· There are 125 calories in a cup of corn.
You may not have needed to know that last fact.
