About Tacos
Tacos are as American as apple pie despite being considered Mexican food. Fast-food franchises, such as Taco Bell and Del Taco, have made a fortune peddling a quick and inexpensive version of the taco. After the 1960s fish tacos became popular; since that time America has embraced a wide variety of taco recipes. They are served in Mexican restaurants, fast-food franchises, in homes and offered as incentives by restaurants to lure in customers to happy hour. Does this Spark an idea?
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Identification
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In Mexico, taco is a word similar to sandwich. With a sandwich there is typically two pieces of bread and some sort of filling, which might be meat and or vegetables. Instead of bread, the taco uses a corn or flour tortilla. The tortilla might be served soft or warmed, or it can be fried in oil and folded to create an envelope for the filling. Sometimes the taco is filled and then fried.
Features
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Taco meats include shredded beef, ground beef, pork, chicken and fish. Popular toppings include avocados, guacamole, sour cream, cilantro, hot peppers, shredded lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, onions, salsa and taco sauce. Corn tortillas can be purchased soft or hard. Store-bought hard corn shells are pre-shaped in a U and are dry and brittle. Frying your own corn tortilla, to make a hard shell, produces a crispy, slightly greasy and pliable shell with a fresher, more desirable flavor.
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History
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Wrap sandwiches have become trendy lunch items in American eateries. Sandwich ingredients are spread over a flavored tortilla and rolled up to make the wrap. In Mexico the tortilla has been used as a wrap for centuries. It has long been a staple in Mexico and was a primary feature of the Aztec diet. It wasn't until around 1914 that recipes for tacos appeared in an English language cookbook in California.
Types
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The stereotypical taco in the United States is seen as a corn tortilla that has been fried crisp in oil and bent into a U shape to hold a filling of ground beef, shredded iceberg lettuce, grated cheddar cheese, diced tomatoes, diced onions and taco sauce. In Mexico the taco is often nothing more than a warm tortilla that has been wrapped around shredded meat or refried beans and seasoned with sauce.
Considerations
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In the 1970s a salad version of the taco evolved. The taco salad began as a green salad, tossed with ground beef, diced tomatoes, shredded cheese and tortilla chips. Over time the taco salad recipe transformed into many versions, including a salad served in a giant fried bowl-shaped flour tortilla. Some restaurants offer salad bars where customers can fill their tortillas from a wide selection of ingredients.
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Resources
- Photo Credit A. Johnson
