BajaNomad - Where Did the Taco Come From?

Where Did the Taco Come From?

elgatoloco - 5-15-2012 at 10:11 AM

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Where-Did-the-Tac...

"The origins of the taco are really unknown. My theory is that it dates from the 18th century and the silver mines in Mexico, because in those mines the word “taco” referred to the little charges they would use to excavate the ore. These were pieces of paper that they would wrap around gunpowder and insert into the holes they carved in the rock face. When you think about it, a chicken taquito with a good hot sauce is really a lot like a stick of dynamite"

DENNIS - 5-15-2012 at 10:13 AM

Everybody knows where the Taco came from:

http://cdn3.hark.com/images/000/004/389/4389/original.gif

Mula - 5-15-2012 at 10:35 AM

And I have always wondered about the tradition of olives in tamales. . .

Any one have a theory?

elgatoloco - 5-15-2012 at 10:40 AM

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_is_a_olive_put_into_a_tamale

DavidE - 5-15-2012 at 10:52 AM

Nice answers all, but la aceituna dentro un tamal is a purely regional quirk. In fact almost nowhere on the mainland, even where the devout crawl on their news for dozens of miles to the Shrine of Guadalupe, can you find a tamale with an olive inside. I guess the practice is gaining favor along the border with the US and maybe in gringoslandias like San Miguel de Allende and Ajijic, but overall, muy poco tiene an olive. Shame too, I begged Brenda to do this in Michoacan and she thought I was nuts.

DavidE - 5-15-2012 at 10:55 AM

As far as the origin of the taco, here is a parallel...

Man sitting at table in 10th century England laden with a loaf of bread and plate of venison roast.

"Oh, what to do...what to do..."

sancho - 5-15-2012 at 11:04 AM

For a Fish Taco, the story has it that it came from
San Felipe? However the stalls in the Ensenada
Harbor was where I ran into them, maybe '78.
I do get a kick out of these Calif eateries that
trip all over themselves to somehow label their
items Baja this or that. Get the Yuppies to feel
like they are 'back down there' at their Cabo
Timeshare

The (real) Fish Taco story?????

bajaguy - 5-15-2012 at 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by sancho
For a Fish Taco, the story has it that it came from
San Felipe? However the stalls in the Ensenada
Harbor was where I ran into them, maybe '78.
I do get a kick out of these Calif eateries that
trip all over themselves to somehow label their
items Baja this or that. Get the Yuppies to feel
like they are 'back down there' at their Cabo
Timeshare

Somebody should tell the Ensenada fish taco stands...... :lol:

http://www.rubios.com/company/

DENNIS - 5-15-2012 at 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mula
And I have always wondered about the tradition of olives in tamales. . .

Any one have a theory?

That was started by the Guadalajara School Of Dentistry. Biting into one is just like biting on a rock.

Taco

J.P. - 5-15-2012 at 11:48 AM

As far back as I can rember JACK IN THE BOX sold them I loved those greasey things with the cement like shell they sold them 3 for a Dollar YUM YUMMMMMMMMMMMMM
Didnt they invent them???? :lol:

Olives????

bajaguy - 5-15-2012 at 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mula
And I have always wondered about the tradition of olives in tamales. . .

Any one have a theory?

They didn't invent the martini yet and they needed a place to put the olives........

woody with a view - 5-15-2012 at 11:55 AM

traditional Peruvian tamales have olives. maybe the Incas were onto something....

as for the burrito's humble beginnings. imagine a poor burro walking into town loaded down with all of its owners possessions. you know, a burrito comes with everything!

Skipjack Joe - 5-15-2012 at 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by woody with a view
traditional Peruvian tamales have olives. maybe the Incas were onto something....

as for the burrito's humble beginnings. imagine a poor burro walking into town loaded down with all of its owners possessions. you know, a burrito comes with everything!

I don't think so Woody. The olive tree's origin, as I recall, is the middle east. There were no olive's in the new world at the time of the incas.

As for who invented the taco: the earl of taco, of course. He was inspired by the sandwich.

rts551 - 5-15-2012 at 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Skipjack Joe

Quote:

no no no. it was Toyota. Just ask DK.

wessongroup - 5-15-2012 at 12:25 PM

The Earl of Taco ... that is a good one... thanks.. :lol:

woody with a view - 5-15-2012 at 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Skipjack Joe

Quote:

then it must have been that Marco Polo cat.....

DanO - 5-15-2012 at 01:23 PM

According to Wikipedia at least, Prof. Pilcher is wrong. Tacos (which is just a name the Spanish gave them) predated the European colonization of Mexico. However, the mass produced hard shell taco was apparently invented in 1949, in NEW YORK CITY!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taco

This has already been the subject of a thread or twelve around here, BTW. E.g.:

http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=43609

Every couple of years this San Felipe-as-the-home-of-fish-tacos story flares up again, apparently fanned by the fact that Ralph Rubio had his first fish taco there. Big whoop, I second the thumbs down on Rubio's, and add a double thumbs down for Wahoo's.

The Ensenada origin story makes more sense to me because of the presence there of Japanese who helped the Mexicans build a commercial fishing fleet. But hey, I wasn't there at the time, so what do I know?

Bajatripper - 5-15-2012 at 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajaguy

Somebody should tell the Ensenada fish taco stands...... :lol:

http://www.rubios.com/company/

Actually, your post supports the contention that the fish taco was brought back from Mexico's beaches in the first paragraph. Could have been Ensenada.

I ate my first fish tacos in the 1960s in La Paz. Back then, there was one location that sold them in the city, a cart on Belisario Dominguez in front of the then-cine Juarez (it is now teatro Juarez once more), but they were slightly different than today's common fish tacos. Back then, the fish was placed inside a tortilla which was then folded in half, held shut by a toothpick and then the whole thing was deepfried. They sold for 50 centavos when the regular beef tacos sold for a peso (the town joke back then was that many taco sellers killed dogs for their meat).

You can still find this taco stand, now operated by grandsons of the original proprietor. But the product inside the tortilla is no longer freshly-caught fish, but rather, shreaded dry fish (which they describe as "tacos de aserrin" which means saw-dust). This taco stand has been in operation at the same location since 1951 (according to a local history book), although in the sixties they were located at the bottom of the hill under the shade of trees.

My translation of the stand's history (from Crónicas III, La Paz y sus historias by Leonardo Reyes Silva):

The original proprietor, don Samuel Martinez Hernandez, arrived in La Paz in 1941 as a member of the 5th Infantry Batallion. When he retired from active duty he tried various occupations to support his large family consisting of a wife and 14 kids. One night, he had a dream (before Martin Luther King's Dream). In the dream an unknown person appeared who told him to have a cart made of wood--even providing don Samuel the details of how to build it--and said don Samuel should sell fish tacos in the streets of the city.

The next day, he discussed his dream with his family. Since the family was from Zacatecas, they didn't even know fish from paintings, much less how to make a living from them. Even so, don Samuel had the cart built as specified and, in 1948, began plying the streets of La Paz with his new product (after three years of pushing the cart about the city's streets, he settled at the present location).

Obviously, it was a hit.

[Edited on 5-17-2012 by Bajatripper]

Bajatripper - 5-15-2012 at 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by woody with a view
traditional Peruvian tamales have olives. maybe the Incas were onto something....

Must have been a tradition that started after 1492, since the olive was introduced from Europe.

mtgoat666 - 5-15-2012 at 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by elgatoloco
Where Did the Taco Come From?

tortillas (and other similar flat breads) have been around since dawn of time. i suspect that on the same day the tortilla was invented someone had the idea to fold it around another food,... probably over 10,000 years ago,...
skeet probably remembers, ask him :lol:

woody with a view - 5-15-2012 at 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajatripper

Quote:

Originally posted by woody with a view
traditional Peruvian tamales have olives. maybe the Incas were onto something....

Must have been a tradition that started after 1492, since the olive was introduced from Europe.

from this site (backing up my in-laws accounts that Marco Polo was the first gringo to set hoof on Peru) http://www.marcopolovoyages.com/LibCongressPapers/GunnarThom...

image019.jpg - 44kB

Skipjack Joe - 5-15-2012 at 03:17 PM

I don't know. Tacos, burritos, enchiladas, tostadas.

It's all the same. You fold the tortilla one way it's one thing. Don't fold it and it's another. Tacos were probably 'invented' a thousand times before someone called them that.

Put cheese in a taco, heat it, and it's a quesadilla.

I think I'll put cooked cherries in a tortilla and give it a name.

The invention of a tortilla is probably the only thing that's significant.

Bajatripper - 5-15-2012 at 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by woody with a view

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajatripper

Quote:

Originally posted by woody with a view
traditional Peruvian tamales have olives. maybe the Incas were onto something....

Must have been a tradition that started after 1492, since the olive was introduced from Europe.

from this site (backing up my in-laws accounts that Marco Polo was the first gringo to set hoof on Peru) http://www.marcopolovoyages.com/LibCongressPapers/GunnarThom...

Uh hu.

Slimjim - 5-15-2012 at 03:33 PM

hey did anyone check with one peso man in cavatina???

capt. mike - 5-15-2012 at 03:45 PM

what about the Sancho? it was supposed to have been invented by Sancho Panza?
yummmy.
think i'll make some manana.

DENNIS - 5-15-2012 at 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Slimjim
hey did anyone check with one peso man in cavatina???

GottaPeso.....he knows everything....and then some.

David K - 5-15-2012 at 05:51 PM

I like BajaTripper's answer, because there is less BS and more fish in his taco story!

My first fish taco was in San Felipe at the walk up stands along the main street by the curio stores in 1978 or so... Same time as Ralph Rubio 'discovered them'. I turned my friends onto them (who all gave me the face... a FISH taco??? at first), but eneded up eating several more before we returned to our camp at Shell Island. They were 20 cents then.