Mexico wouldn’t be the same without tacos, and these wouldn’t even exist if it wasn’t for our natural culinary creativity. Tacos possess such an incomparable, moreish flavor that you end up craving them as soon as you picture them.
They have a mouth-watering aroma that will hit your senses even if from across the street, and they are one of the only dishes that can be best enjoyed when standing up. Street food is a Mexican specialty, but tacos must surely take the crown for being our best-loved street food.
In addition, there are so many variations of the taco that we could eat a different one each day without getting fed up and, instead, finding ourselves flabbergasted by the infinite amount of flavor and texture combinations that fit perfectly well on top of a tortilla.
(You can experience something of the taco’s versatility on our Charming Colonia Roma Food Tour.)
Celebrating Taco Tuesday
Do you celebrate Taco Tuesday? Today, March 31st, is Mexico’s Taco Day (Día del taco), a celebration created in 2007 by a TV broadcast channel.
The event recognizes what this classic Mexican dish represents. According to Alberto Peralta de Legarreta, Mexican gastronomy researcher, and writer, a taco is a “packing made out of maize or wheat tortillas that is stuffed with meat, vegetables or a stew, seasoned with hot sauce, lime drops and a so-called garden, a mixture of chopped onion and cilantro.”
The origins of tacos
Tacos are one of Mexico’s iconic cultural items and a popular dish whose origin is stated during the prehispanic era. However, tacos were incorporated as a commercial product in Mexico City around 1906, when the tacos de guisado or stew tacos from the small local “Tacos Beatriz” became popular.
For many Mexicans, a tortilla is a blank canvas that can be decorated with multiple stews or meats. Every taquero (taco maker) has his/her talents, whether in the way of heating the tortillas, preparing the stews in clay casseroles, cutting the trompo de pastor correctly, placing the tacos inside a basket or tossing and catching the pineapple with a tortilla directly from the trompo de pastor.
However, the experience inside each taquería is unique and determined by the relationship you have with the place, the reason you ended up there, the cravings you have in mind, and the amount of alcohol in your system.
Culinary Mexican tradition, the special seasoning of our people, and our taqueros’ talents are some of the things that converge and are materialized in each taco. Admiring its process, craving its arrival, and giving a hot taco the first bite are daily activities for us Mexicans, who regretfully take them for granted.
However, it doesn’t matter if you eat a taco campechano outside school, a taco de canasta in front of your office building, some taquitos al pastor after partying hard, or some tacos dorados while sitting at a restaurant table, the experience is always unique.
Your mouth is probably watering by now, and you have an impulse to eat one or many tacos. Don’t worry because, as we mentioned before, today is Taco Day, and eating all the tacos you can is socially acceptable.
There are countless varieties of tacos
We recommend you taste more tacos than the classic tacos al pastor, tacos de carnitas, or tacos de canasta, remember, the variety of taco fillings in Mexico City is countless and tasting them is worth the try.
If you want to savor the best some of the best tacos in Mexico City, don’t miss our Taco Tour in Mexico City with Beer and Mezcal! where you’ll experiment with the flavor of the most delicious combinations of meat, vegetables, and salsa on top of tortillas. You’ll also learn much more about this iconic Mexican dish.
If you have any questions about our tours and service, get in touch.
Article by: María José Ordóñez Platas
