History, The Kitchen

Mexican Taco Laws

1. It is acceptable to eat tacos for any meal but only certain kinds of tacos may be eaten for certain meals.

2. Seafood tacos can only be eaten at lunch time.

The most important meal of the day is lunch (comida) and normally served between 1 and 3 p.m. (2-4pm, it’s adjustable)

Tacos de camaron (prawn – or shrimp for you Americanos on el otro lado)
Tacos de pescado (fish) Ensenada style

3. Tacos al pastor are only for dinner time.

Tacos al pastor (in the style of the shepherd) cooking on the trompo
One of the key factors of an al pastor taco is the pineapple

The last meal of the day, la cena, is usually taken between 7 and 9 p.m. (though there is some variation by region).

My local taqueria
Located in the port city of Fremantle in Western Australia
A fairly simple menu
(but you don’t need to screw around with a good thing)

4. If you want tacos for breakfast the only acceptable options are tacos de canasta or tacos de guisos. Unless it’s the weekend, then barbacoa and birria tacos are also allowed.

Guisos (or guisados) “stewed” tacos

Tacos de canasta
The basket that gives them (one of) their name(s)

Barbacoa (preferably pit cooked)
Tacos de barbacoa and their consommé or broth

Birria. Note the double tortillas being used to prevent the whole thing from falling apart
Similar in some ways to barbacoa (I’m really only talking about the broth here)
Tacos dorados de birria ahogados en su consommé
(Golden (fried) tacos “drowned” in their consomme)

5. Tacos de canasta may not be eaten at dinner time. This might actually just be a safety measure so as to not contract turista (travellers diarrhoea). The best and freshest tacos de canasta can be found in the morning. If they have been sitting past lunch time then bacteria has had plenty of time to breed in the canasta. No es bueno. Tacos de canasta (basket tacos) might also be called tacos al vapor or tacos sudados (“sweaty” tacos). The tacos are brushed with hot lard before being stacked in an insulated basket. This allows the taco vendor to carry all his/her wares on their bicycle as they trundle off to their assigned area.

A taquero and his mobile tacos de canasta “stand”

6. Tacos de guisos can be for any meal of the day.

Guisados can take a multiple of forms; clockwise from top left: tortita de bacalao, rajas con crema, huevo en salsa, salchichas, tortita de brocoli, mole verde, chile relleno, mollejas de pollo

7. Tacos de bistec, suadero, chorizo, lengua, and tripa are only for dinner.

Tacos suadero
Suadero involves cooking beef in its own fat on a convex-concave comal. The meat cooks in the concave section and the tortillas are warmed on the convex section.

Suadero tacos are named for the special cut of beef used to make them. The suadero cut is taken from the middle of the cow, between the lower flank and the sirloin.

The comal in question. One day I shall own one of these (not real easy to come by in Australia)

Tacos de chorizo. Mexican chorizo is not like Spanish chorizo (which is more like a salami). Mexican chorizo is more like a sausage skin stuffed with well spiced and minced meat.

Tacos de lengua
They are made from the cows tongue
(don’t be put off by this though)

Tripa (and the trusty convex-concave comal)
Again, don’t be put off

Tripas are the small intestines of farm animals that have been cleaned, boiled and grilled. Specifically, tripas are the small intestines of a cow, a pig or a goat, although beef small intestines are most commonly used. Tripas — also known as tripitas — are cut from the small intestine, which has a smooth lining and no honeycomb texture often associated with tripe.

Honeycomb tripe (from a cow) for comparison
This kind of tripe is commonly used in a dish called menudo

8. A taco with cheese is no longer a taco.

Grated (or shredded) cheese. Not a typical Mexican ingredient.
Eh? Perfect Mexican or Perfect Italiano?

9. A quesadilla without cheese is a taco. Unless you’re from the CDMX, then you can call it a quesadilla, but the rest of us know you’re wrong.

Quesadilla sin queso in the CDMX
Quesadilla con queso (same place)

10. Tacos de carnitas can’t be eaten for dinner. Carnitas means “little meats” in Spanish and is said to have originated in the state of Michoacán. Carnitas are made by braising or simmering pork (typically taken from the shoulder part of the pig) in (preferably) lard until tender. The meat is then re-cooked until crispy before being chopped and taco’ed

11. Hard shell tacos don’t exist. They’re called tostadas and they’re flat.

This was my initial introduction into the “cuisine of Mexico” in Australia. Not Mexican at all but Tex-Mex. Now don’t bag on the Tex-Mex too much as it is simply another aspect (and a legitimate one at that) of Mexican food. Tejas is technically part of México (fuck La Linea (the border).
Tostada. No.
Tostada. Si.

The tostada is not just the tortilla. Its also the name of a dish in which all manner of goodies are stacked atop it.
In Oaxaca the tostada is called a tlayuda.

In the CDMX (Mexico City) though a tlayuda is something else entirely.

12. The use of yellow lemons on tacos is strictly forbidden. This kind of pisses me off. Not the fact that lemons should not be used (and they shouldn’t) but that the word limón is regularly translated as lemon.

Limón. No
Limón. Si.

13. Tacos must be eaten using only your hands, no matter how greasy they are.

There is a method to it though.

14. It is forbidden to put sour cream, cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes on tacos. Those toppings are reserved for tostadas.

Also, don’t used ground (minced) beef you freakin barbarian

Sour cream – the Australian version
Crema Mexicana
Note the texture of the crema
(slightly pourable)

Tacos dorados con crema
Chilaquiles verdes con crema

15. Tortillas are not reversible. They have a top side and a bottom side. The meat must be placed on the correct side.

These tortillas do not look well enough cooked to me.

Good corn tortillas have two sides. (The stomach and the back). The back is a thicker and softer layer, and the stomach is a thin and smoother layer. The rugged/thinner side has more imperfections and it is the correct side to put your fillings and get the most resistance out of your tortillas.

To make a tortilla you make a small ball of masa and then press it into the desired thickness and size using your tortilla press. The raw tortilla is then placed carefully onto a very hot comal and begin its cooking process. This is when you create the “back” of the tortilla. The temperature shock between the fresh masa and the hot surface creates the strongest layer of the tortilla. While cooking this side, the steam rises to the top creating a “weaker” more porous layer. When the tortilla is flipped, it’s this weaker side that becomes the “front” side of the tortilla. It’s upon this weaker side that the fillings should be placed because the back of the tortilla, the other side, is the strong layer that will hold everything together without breaking. It doesn’t matter how many times we flip the tortilla, there will always be the front and the back of the tortilla.

Also, don’t kick the street dogs

Long regarded as guardians and protectors, the Xoloitzcuintli (a hairless dog from Mesoamerica) was believed to safeguard the home from evil spirits as well as intruders. In ancient times these dogs were often sacrificed and then buried with their owners to act as guide to the soul on its journey to the underworld. The faithful guardians task was to guide the soul of his or her master through the nine levels of “Hell” to reach Mictlan or heaven, by helping him cross the Apanohuacalhuia river that was a major obstacle in getting to Mictlan.
Mictlan was only reached after four years of wandering, accompanied by this dog that had been cremated with the deceased. The first level of Mictlan (the house of Xóloth) was called Apanoayan (where one crosses the river), this place was also known as Itzcuintlan (the Place of Dogs) because of the many dogs that roamed the near shore. A dog that recognised its former owner would carry him across the river on its back.
The dog had to swim across the river with the soul of the person on their back. A red dog was preferred because black ones were too “dirty,” and lighter coloured dogs were too “pure”; nonetheless the dog would get dirty with the contact from the water meanwhile, crossing the river with the soul of his or her master on the back. In some accounts, the dogs on the shore act differently according to their colour, yellow dogs would carry the soul of the deceased across the river, while white dogs refuse because they have just washed themselves and black dogs refuse because either they have just swum the river or because they are dirty.
After arriving in Mictlan, they met Mictlantecuhtli, (the Lord of the underworld). Mictlantecuhtli would then ask of the dog if they wanted to stay in heaven or return to earth. In order to return to earth however they had to cross the river one more time. In crossing the river (back to Earth) this time they got cleansed. They would return with white marks on their legs, chests, tail, (and sometimes face) due to being splashed by the water of the river. Back on earth, everybody knew that a Xoloitzcuintle with these birth marks had returned to earth from the underworld.

Street dogs are everywhere in Mexico
Jump on boss. I’ll take you over.
Dog and man meet Mictlantecuhtli  in Mictlan

Don’t kick the dogs because they’ll tell you to sod off, won’t carry you anywhere and now you’re stuck.

No Heaven for you, you dog kicking jackass.

The xoloitzcuintle (looks like one of these puppers has made the journey back to Earth).
These dogs were also eaten and used medicinally.

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