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newbie

May 9, 2012, 9:44 PM

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bournemouth

May 10, 2012, 6:45 AM

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Re: [unknown person] tacos.

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I suspect you're thinking of pasties, which the Cornish miners brought with them from England.

esperanza

May 10, 2012, 7:29 AM

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Re: [unknown person] tacos.

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The literal translation of taco is 'wad'--it's a wad tortilla filled with something that you put in your mouth. So anything that fills a tortilla--leftovers from today's comida or anything else--is a taco.

The other word in your question that needs some definition is 'indigenous'. In Mexico, that word translates to 'native people'--the ones who were here before the Spanish arrived. This means that before the arrival of the Spanish, a taco--made of a nixtamalized corn tortilla--would have held any foodstuff native to this part of the New World. For example, the filling could have been a bit of chile, some calabaza or quelites, beans, roast javalí or other wild game, certain kinds of insects, etc. No beef, pork, chicken, lamb--those were brought by the Spanish. Nothing fried in manteca de cerdo--pork lard. No cheese.

The study of pre-Hispanic foods in the New World could take a lifetime.

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newbie

May 10, 2012, 7:55 AM

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bournemouth

May 10, 2012, 8:02 AM

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Re: [unknown person] tacos.

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Cornish pasties originated with the tin miners in Cornwall, many of who immigrated to Mexico during the 1800's to work in silver mines - mainly in the Pachuca/Real de Monte areas.

La Isla

May 10, 2012, 8:24 AM

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Re: [unknown person] tacos.

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Here's what the Academia Mexicana de la Lengua has to say:

taco. (De taco 'pedazo de queso o jamón que se come como aperitivo', de taco 'pedazo de madera que se encaja en un hueco'.) m. 1. Tortilla de maíz enrollada que lleva dentro carnitas o chicharrones, queso, aguacate, o una mezcla de varios alimentos. || 2. Bocado o comida ligera. || taco compuesto. m. Taco (tortilla enrollada) con queso u otro alimento, pero sin chile. || taco con sal. m. Tortilla de maíz, enrollada, con un poco de sal adentro. Nota: existe la expresión "a cualquier cosa llaman cena, aunque sea un taco con sal". || taco placero. (De plaza 'mercado'.) Taco (rollo de tortilla de maíz) con barbacoa o chicharrón, chile verde, cilantro y romeritos. || taco sudado, o taco de canasta. m. Taco preparado en el domicilio del fabricante; se envuelve en trapos en una canasta, lo cual hace que "sude". | echarse un taco. loc. Tomar un pequeño refrigerio.

http://www.academia.org.mx/dicmex.php

Bennie García

May 10, 2012, 8:50 AM

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Re: [La Isla] tacos.

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Taco also means the heal of a shoe.

I'm pretty sure Bernal Dìaz del Castillo described the taco in his chronicles.

newbie

May 10, 2012, 9:12 AM

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cbviajero

May 10, 2012, 10:05 AM

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Re: [unknown person] tacos.

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I like tacos de ojo,plenty of those in Guadalajara.

newbie

May 10, 2012, 10:17 AM

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cbviajero

May 10, 2012, 10:27 AM

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Re: [unknown person] tacos.

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No problem.
Btw tacos de ojo:eye candy,pretty girls,there are real tacos de ojo but I haven't tried those.
Taco can also mean pool cue.

(This post was edited by cbviajero on May 10, 2012, 10:29 AM)

Bennie García

May 10, 2012, 10:51 AM

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Re: [unknown person] tacos.

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In Reply To

I wonder if the indigenous people had heels on their shoes. i read that the first reference to tacos, again by the smithsonian, was in the 19th century where they were called tacos de mineros.

I am sorry, but language and food are my topics that i spend a lot of time on lately. I read somewhere that enchilada suiza was created in sanbournes.

No they didn't have wooden heels but the word taco is from the Spanish language and has several different meanings. Tortilla is also a Spanish word that existed before the conquest. It was also assign to native food that predated its modern name.

Its nice that you spend a lot of time on both subjects. I happen to be fluent in Spanish and am married to a woman who comes from a family that is extremely knowledgeable about food, especially traditional Mexican fare.

richmx2

May 10, 2012, 8:19 PM

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Re: [unknown person] tacos.

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The Smithsonian might have been thinking of the ubiquitous "taco al pastor", which is similar to the Greek gyros and the middle-eastern donerke... one theory being that the inventor of the "taco al pastor" was an Iraqi immigrant named Jorge Tarabi, who started selling "tacos arabes" in Puebla back in the 1930s.

Mexican cuisine is more than just indigenous cuisine with a Spanish overlay. Besides the French influenced pastries (and Mexico and France actually got into a war over pastries back in 1838) and English "pasties" maybe we need to add Arabic-style tacos and... if they catch on... empanadas a la russia.

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