I can feel summer thinking about leaving us. It’s still hot, yes, but the signs are here - leaves starting to fall, sun’s setting sooner, and the squirrels are burying acorns. Experts say our circadian rhythm, and appetites, will change as we head into fall. So, we’re going to need to start our day with something substantial. I have the perfect food—and it was born in the 1970s in New Mexico.
A breakfast burrito will get you started. Burrito means “little donkey” in Spanish, and legend has it a 19th century Mexican street vendor named Juan Mendez rode a donkey while selling food wrapped in tortillas, where it got the name burrito.
And I love the story about New Mexican vaqueros—mostly Mesoamerican men trained to wrangle cattle on horseback, serving as the original model of the American cowboy—who ate bacon and eggs wrapped in a tortilla.
By 1975, the term "breakfast burrito" appeared on the menu at Tia Sophia's diner in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which is considered where it got its official identity. They’re still open, and apparently the line is out the door on Saturday where the breakfast burrito is served Christmas style—covered in red and green sauce. I don’t know what the first Tia Sophia’s breakfast burrito cost, but it will set you back $17.50 today. Well worth it, I’m sure.
It all starts with a warm flour tortilla. Even though corn was preferred, the climate and soil in what was then Northern Mexico was better suited for wheat, so wheat dough was used to create the flour tortilla.
Then there’s eggs because it’s breakfast. Scrambled or fried, your choice. You’ll need cheese, and you can even scramble the cheese with the egg. Talk about efficient!
Add meat of your choice. Bacon or chorizo is the real deal, but sausage, or even tofu, is acceptable.
It needs a potato, so hashbrowns are next. You can use Tater Tots, but Tia Sophia uses hashbrowns. And since they created it, so should you.
Beans or no beans? If you go with beans, refried works best. Onions, peppers, chiles, avocados—all are yummy and befitting options to add.
Sauce rounds it out, and the original New Mexico version uses green Chile sauce, but red is good, inside or smothered, you know, Christmas style!
Of course, California does its own thing. Their breakfast burrito is a high demand, culinary and cultural staple right now, stuffed with Carne asada, French fries, shredded Monterey Jack or cheddar, smashed avocado, sour cream, and pico de gallo. They may have indeed found eureka!
Whatever you choose to stuff your flour tortilla with, it will for sure need amalgamation. You know, the act of combining separate elements to form a single, unified whole. All of your ingredients need to work together, merged and smashed to delicious perfection.
So, welcome fall’s cool, crisp air with a warm salute to unity—a breakfast burrito.
Join me next time, to find out, what’s On the Menu.
Sources:
https://www.kcrw.com/shows/good-food/stories/bill-addison-breakfast-burrito-roundup
https://www.kcrw.com/shows/good-food/stories/cultural-appropriation-in-breakfast-burritos
https://newmexicocultural.com/lexicon/breakfast-burritos/
