Talk:Taco

Missing

There should be mention of tacos sudados or de canasta (basket or sweaty tacos) which are also very common street food in Mexico City where they are pre filled in soft tortillas and then placed in a basket covered with rags which keep them warm but that also generate that "sweat" that makes them soft. People carry them around in a bicycle with a big container full of salsa and sell them on the streets. The fillings are normally shredded beef, refried beans and cooked chicharrón (pork rind). Also tacos de guisado which are simply soft warm tortillas filled with a variety of stews and cooked dishes including meats and vegetables such as tinga(chicken, onion, chipotle and tomato stew), poblano strips with cream, cooked chicharrón, picadillo, etc. These are very common too.

Added "tacos sudados" in the Types section.Glane23 (talk) 21:50, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

This article is missing information on the puffy taco. Since I apparently can't add it correctly, is this something some can add?Es330td (talk) 22:45, 13 July 2008 (UTC)

Added "puffy tacos" to the US & Canada section. Glane23 (talk) 02:13, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

Which kind of taco is "a gourmet affair"?

Tacos are the foods of very big killers in da world so go fuck ur moms BITCHES!! Does "it" in the last sentence refer to "authentic Mexican tacos" or "traditional California tacos"? Can someone fix this confusing phrasing? (I would, but I really don't know which kind of taco the it refers to.)

Also, I don't know what a "California taco" even is. Are you referring to a "taco salad" which is a fried tortilla bowl filled with spiced meat, etc.? If not, then I need a better explanation; as a taco loving native Californian, I've never heard of such a thing.

I tend to agree and I have removed the California section, placing it here for now, unless and until an editor can come up with a good source to distinguish a "California taco" from the traditional Mexican types or from the American hard shell versions. See, for example, the LA Times Magazine article cited at http://www.latimes.com/features/magazine/west/la-tm-tacobell12mar19,0,3787670.story Glane23 (talk) 22:26, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

====California====

Another style, also different from the original Mexican taco, is handed down by the Mexican population of old California. It is a gourmet affair, consisting of an over-sized fried corn tortilla (not a hard shell) with fillings as described above, with variations such as shredded pork, chicken or beef. Often, the taco itself is deep-fried so that the shell molds itself around the meat filling. Most California supermarkets sell large corn tortillas for this purpose. These tacos are rare outside of the Southwest U.S. More often, Mexican restaurateurs tend to serve Mexican tacos, or emulate the hard-shelled taco.

Somebody needs to put fried American tacos into the United States section. There is a picture at the top of the article of fried tacos (barbacoa) but there is no mention of this type of taco which most Mexican restaurants in the Western US serve. In fact, even Jack in the Box serves this type of taco, not the "hard shell" Taco Bell type that the editors seem to favor. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.180.213.11 (talk) 00:06, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

Is this too comercial?

Would it be ok to add tacotender.comas a link? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.219.199.75 (talk • contribs)

Thank you for asking before adding your external link to the Taco acticle.

The answer to your question is no. The website is a commercial website that is solely for selling a single product. It clearly does not fit under the Wikipedia's External links policies and would be quickly deleted if it was added to this article. ^BlankVerse 06:58, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

Terrible picture

The picture shown with the title "A plate of tacos" is awful and is misrepresenting what well-prepared and properly served tacos actually look like. It really needs to be replaced.

Best vandalism ever?

Placed at the end of the Mexico section: "Tacos have long been Mexico's third largest export behind only migrant workers and high grade Colombian cocaine."

I don't know how to revert it properly... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Three sixteen (talk • contribs) 13:22, 27 January 2007 (UTC).

Why would Colombian cocaine be exported from Mexico? 72.240.163.23 22:48, 3 November 2007 (UTC)

English

Could someone familiar with the topic fix this line?

As a side, taco stands offer red turnips whole to add salt and lemon, cucumber slices, and which are cambray onions placed on the grill.

I'd guess, but I'm not familiar enough with the topic to know for sure if the salt and lemon are separate things offered, or it's referring to pickled turnips, etc. 76.202.57.153 16:46, 30 April 2007 (UTC)

Also, the "turnips" are actually radishes, at least everywhere I've ever had them 74.72.216.115 07:15, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

American/Fast Food Tacos

This article seems to dismiss the American/fast food style hard shell taco. Is the implication that it is not a taco at all? -Should it be considered a taco?-

Is it really necessary to be listing every fast food taco shop under the sun?

Fish tacos

Fish tacos are not mentioned here and should be, as they do not have their own article. Badagnani 02:49, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

Vandalized Pope Photo

Someone has vandalized the page with an MS Paint chop of the Pope —Preceding unsigned comment added by Oblivionbp (talk • contribs) 14:46, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

Pronunciation

Could I ask that someone knowledgeable adds the IPA pronunciation of the word "taco" please? (Is it tarco, tayco, or tacko?) I guess this might need separate pronunciations for the Mexican original and the common US usage. John259 07:14, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

  its "tacko" in sound ;)  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.142.240.106 (talk) 05:15, 27 February 2008 (UTC) 

Thanks. I've had a go at adding the IPA pronunciation based on "tacko" but experts may well need to correct my effort. John259 (talk) 13:49, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Maybe this is a regional thing, but on the northeast it's pronounced more tah-ko than tacko. Not so unlike the spanish pronunciation, really. --Ericjs (talk) 21:15, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Where is the History of it's Origin?

I find this article quite lacking. From my research into such foods it would be accurate to state the history of it's origin. I find articles like these quite bias and honestly ignorant. Tacos are presented as if they originated from Mexico by Mexican people which is incorrect! Tacos first started out from Pita bread which were primarily used by Greeks in Greece. It was renounced as the poor mans sandwich. Instead of 2 parts of Pita bread they would use 1 and throw whatever meat and/or vegetables in the middle. They would then wrap it up in a Taco like shell. This trendy style caught on to many other countries and cultures such as Spain and Italy. When Spain came to-at the time-the New World they brought those same cultural aspects with them. I understand that most people would have always expected that it came from Mexico because that's all we see on television or in our Americanized Mexican Restaurants, but it's incorrect! Please make adjustments. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.255.236.105 (talk) 06:31, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

History section added. Turns out the taco predates the arrival of Europeans, as the Spanish conquistadores found the indigenous people eating them when they arrived. Many human cultures independently developed flat breads and used them to make "sandwiches" with meats, fish and/or vegetables.Glane23 (talk) 21:39, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

I'm sorry, but this is just blatent cultural bias on your part. Seeing as ancient Mexicans independently developed agriculture, writing, mathematics, astronomy, and many other civilized advances without any help from old world civilizations, is it really so difficult to believe that they also independently came up with the "bread wrapped around filling" concept? --86.135.176.189 (talk) 23:09, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

Encyclopedic wording?

Love that first sentence. A food dish that is "filled with an edible substance". —Preceding unsigned comment added by MarsRover (talk • contribs) 21:30, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Fixed. Looks like it might have been a translation issue, as the Real Academia Española cite appears in Spanish on their website. Glane23 (talk) 20:45, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

The end of the first sentence is now "that can be filled with a wide variety of edible substances." This still sounds rather peculiar (and indeed hilarious). Elcalen (talk) 19:37, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

Agree. I tried another shot at the first sentence. See how it works now, especially with the second sentence. Geoff (talk) 01:42, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

Xenophobia

More mild anti-American sentiment that seems to pervade Wikipedia lately. I understand pride, but I seriously doubt that hardshelled tacos are "unknown" in Mexico. Maybe "did not originally exist in Mexico" or "are not commonly eaten in Mexico" would be better. Fade (talk) 17:51, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm curious also about the origin of the hard-shell taco, whether it was really a U.S. adaption or perhaps a variation from some very particular region of Mexico. I wonder too about the likelihood of it being a U.S. adaption since a hard taco shell isn't something commonly found or easy to produce. Usually adaptions of foods borrowed from another culture substitute some more common or readily available ingredients. --Ericjs (talk) 21:20, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

I added a reference to a journal article from Gastronomica, Winter, 2008, called Was the Taco Invented in Southern California? The article has some good research and references to support the author's conclusion that the hard shell taco was invented in the US, including its first known appearance in print, from a 1949 New Mexican cookbook and a copy of a patent application from a New York restauranteur from 1947, for an apparatus to hold torillas in the U-shape for deep-frying. Glane23 (talk) 01:06, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

Asador description

The first bullet item under the Types section, with the Asador description, needs a rewrite. This is good information, but the grammar is not right (for example no verb in the first sentence). It sounds like a non-native speaker using some grammar constructs from their native language (sophisticated constructs, I might add, but not English ones). I'd tackle the rewrite myself, but I'm not confident I know the subject well enough not to lose something. --Ericjs (talk) 21:28, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Gave it a shot, adding citations to the whole article while I was at it.Glane23 (talk) 21:41, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

Etymology of "Taco" Discussion

I'm not completely happy with the etymology, although the two sources cited in the article correctly reflect what is listed in those sources. Random House's Unabridged Dictionary, 2008 online version, lists the definition and etymology for "taco" as: "Mexican Cookery. an often crisply fried tortilla folded over and filled, as with seasoned chopped meat, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese." [Origin: 1930–35; < MexSp; Sp: wadding, plug, prob. of expressive origin]. Definition: taco. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved July 11, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: [[1]]. I can't get beyond that briefly cited reference from "wadding" or "plug" to "taco" and I don't know how the authors got there from wherever they started. Can anyone take it further? Glane23 (talk) 21:05, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

Since then, I did find an article citing earlier references to explain the "plug" or "wadding" reference: "Was the Taco Invented in Southern California?" (Winter 2008). Gastronomica 20 (1): 26 & 28. The specific reference in that article is to the wadding or plug used to hold a ball in the barrel of an arquebus (and now included in the main Taco article) is to Joan Corominas, Diccionario critico etimologico castellano e hispanico, 6 vols. (Madrid: Editorial Gredos, 1991) 5:368. Glane23 (talk) 01:13, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

Incorrect information

The "History" portion of the Taco page is incorrect. To begin with, the "Mexicans" mentioned were not actually "Mexicans" in 1669. They were still indiginous peoples ruled by the Spanish. Second, it is unlikely that indiginous peoples of the Americas would have any contact with Asians. Yes, they did originate from Asia, but that was centuries before 1669. Third, small pox came from the Europeans. Finally, the punctuation and spelling of the "History" portion leads me to believe that the information is not trustworthy, anyway. Asians and Mexicans should be capitalized, and small pox does not include an 's'. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.118.147.167 (talk) 01:20, 14 September 2008 (UTC)

Puffy tacos (again)

The link to the recipe for puffy tacos does not call the dough "masa" and the original editor was within Wikipedia policy of verifiability to remove unsourced material from the article. It should not be re-instated to the article without proper sourcing. -- The Red Pen of Doom 18:30, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

Well, the references cited are from an electronic version of Saveur magazine, published 9X per year with a rate base of 325,000, according to its parent company's (Bonnier) website: [[2]]. The magazine has an editorial board, listed here: [[3]]. Wouldn't that qualify as an RS? Geoff (talk) 18:44, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

So the source is reliable, but the current reference makes no mention that the dough used is "masa". -- The Red Pen of Doom 18:47, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

• • I added a second link to another Saveur article from the same issue which is itself cited in the first reference. The cite, to a recipe for making the raw corn tortillas used to make the puffy tacos, describes making the tortillas from flattened balls of masa. Geoff (talk) 18:50, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

Thank you! - I am going to move that reference to the identification of dough as "masa". -- The Red Pen of Doom 18:53, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

An honor and a privilege it is to be working with you. Geoff (talk) 18:56, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

And of course, they were invented in Texas. -- MISTER ALCOHOL ^{T C} 14:09, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

In Popular Culture

We should have a section for popular culture. There are so any references and jokes about them, like in invader zim, and many other shows. They are on par with stuff like... piggies, subjects not inherently humorous, though through over-usage and such, now funny. Y/N? 68.39.16.71 (talk) 09:06, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

If there are reliably sourced materials commenting about the overusage and now humorous effect of tacos, then add away. Starting a section that lists every time tacos appear as a gag prop in a sitcom, nope. -- The Red Pen of Doom 15:33, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Spam From Brandimax

Edited out long spam from Brandimax. The Torchbearer (talk) 18:42, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

humain remains?

Somewhere in the 1st paragraph, it states that taco's can be filled with human remains. WTF? Someone please change this! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.123.178.18 (talk) 15:32, 17 February 2009 (UTC)

Changed. 193.198.17.121 (talk) 19:33, 17 February 2009 (UTC)