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Picture this: it is the day before Spring Break of senior year starts, you have to be up for a flight to Nashville at 4:00am, and you’ve got tickets for an 8:00pm rock ‘n’ roll aerial burlesque show in the Lower East Side. You pick a Mexican fusion restaurant with $5 happy hour margaritas to grab dinner at before the show — but what are you ordering as your entree?

There’s many correct answers here but there’s only one I’m looking for: tostones!

I have seen tostones on a million menus at a million different restaurants throughout my life, but I never thought to order them. I’ll admit, before this class, I stuck to my tried-and-true Mexican order and seldom wandered off the beaten path. Now that I’m all inspired and adventurous, we gave these pork tostones a try.

And oh. My. God.

Tostones are twice-fried plantains that can be eaten alone like potato chips or topped with something even more delicious like the shredded pork this restaurant served them with. They are common in Latin American and Caribbean cuisines and believed to have originated in Puerto Rico. A quick Google search does not seem to indicate that tostones are a staple of Mexican cuisine or that they’re ever present in Mexican dishes at all — so what were they doing on a menu at a Mexican restaurant?

Well, I don’t know. I’m no food historian, I just eat whatever food is put in front of me and enjoy it. Nonetheless, they were amazing! I’m glad to have tried them and I will no doubt order them again next time I see them on a menu.

I have to say, in my Taco Literacy-inspired quest to try new things, I have yet to be even slightly disappointed. And this is exactly why we should be constantly expanding our food horizons!

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I’m not the kind of person that can just casually enjoy things — I throw myself entirely into everything I have ever liked. I dedicate hours to learning about it, researching, reading articles, watching videos, because I have to know everything about it. So, naturally, after I tried birria de res for the first time and it (not to sound dramatic) changed! my! life!, a decent amount of my free time has been consumed by birria.

A few nights ago, I had two cups of tea at 10:00pm which pretty much ruined my life and kept me up until 5:00am. Unlike any normal person who would have spent this time binging Netflix, I binged birria recipe videos on YouTube. There is something so indescribably satisfying about watching someone construct a perfect, deep red consome from scratch from the comfort of your own bed in the middle of the night… take my word for it.

What I couldn’t help but notice during my time in the birria rabbit hole, however, was how different all of the recipes I watched were. It seems to start with the same basic foundation — beef, an array of chiles, and some aromatics — but the spices and additions in the stew are as personal and family-oriented as I know gravy and meatball recipes are to us Italians.

And Lord knows I’m a sucker for a family recipe.

All my hours of watching birria videos just made me want to try it everywhere I can, in every different way it’s offered, to see if I can taste the differences in recipes, to identify whose birria in which form is my all-time favorite. Ugh, having enough knowledge of birria to actually have a definitive favorite would be my dream!

Anyway, I highly recommend watching the two recipe videos I attached. They’re great, their hosts are engaging, and they were the catalysts to my multi-hour, middle of the night birria spiraling. Sorry in advance when you fall down a similar rabbit hole.

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I’ve always been an adventurous eater. Since I was little, I was never afraid to try new things or to eat like a full-grown adult. One of my parents’ favorite stories to tell about me as a child is about a time that we were out to dinner with some family and someone asked if I was going to get chicken fingers, and I said, “No, I’m getting the lobster bisque.” Yes, I was a chunky child. Nonetheless! I’ve always been open to trying new things and this whole new world of Mexican food has presented me with many exciting opportunities to expand my horizons.

On my first visit to Taqueria Coatzingo, I ordered al pastor, chorizo, and carne asada tacos — three meats I’ve tried many times before and know that I love. I’m a firm believer in trying new things against something that I already enjoy to truly judge if it is good — this applies mainly for trying new makeup products but also, lately, for Mexican food.

So, yeah, Taqueria Coatzingo’s al pastor, chorizo, and carne asada were total bangers and I knew that it was time to try new things on my second visit.

In class, we have talked extensively about birria de res. I had never heard of it, never seen it on any menu at any Mexican restaurant I had ever been to before Taqueria Coatzingo, but really wanted to try it. There are very few foods I don’t like, so I was pretty positive I’d enjoy birria.

That birria taco was life changing. It reminded me of the texture of pot roast — what a white thing to say, I know — but pot roast is one of my favorite meals ever so I was instantly in love. I don’t even know how to really describe it other than so beefy and juicy and delicious, and my friend Sarah and I are now incredibly eager to go to Birria-Landia and try Queens’ most renowned birria de res.

My second Taqueria Coatzingo visit also included my first dabble into tamales. Another dish I had never tried but had watched so many recipe videos on Youtube about that I couldn’t go another moment without having one. I ordered a tamal con mole and I’m pretty sure there was also some chicken in there — honestly, I couldn’t really tell. All I knew is that it was ah-mazing.

While I’ve always been unafraid to try new foods, I’m guilty of falling victim to routine and ordering the same things that I love over and over again. Something that studying tacos and exploring the foods of “Puebla York” has taught me is that trying new and different things can often be even better than sticking to the tried-and-true. I liked my birria taco even more than I liked those al pastor and carne asada tacos — and I freaking love al pastor and carne asada.

Here’s some encouragement to always try new things even if you are not the most adventurous eater. Baby steps are still steps!

Lengua next perhaps?

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Alright, it’s about time. It was unavoidable and inevitable because, even though she’s far from Mexican, she’s without a doubt delicious.

I consider myself one of the luckier white people in this world who was actually exposed to real Mexican food before Taco Bell. I was never that big of a fast food gal and I always took the position that, if I was going to get that cheat meal, I would be getting a cheeseburger and not some sub-par, soggy taco filled with meat that comes out of an ice cream dispenser — which is my dad’s favorite thing to remind me any time I ever get Taco Bell, and likely the reason why I did not try it until I was in middle school.

Don’t get me wrong, like most people in America, I think Taco Bell is great. Maybe great is a strong word, but they offer some yummy options — delicious muck perhaps! Let’s be honest: I can mess up a Cheesy Gordita Crunch and a Crunchwrap Supreme (but the one pictured above was my friend’s, not mine, I swear) when I’m in the mood for a fast food meal that I know I’ll be mad at myself for having right after I finish.

However, I haven’t had Taco Bell in years. I can’t even remember the last time I took myself to a drive thru to get one of those soggy, gross, tasty tacos (still, I’ll always choose a cheeseburger). And I’m always shocked to see the long lines that are always outside of Taco Bells.

Where I come from in New Jersey, admittedly, there aren’t that many authentic Mexican restaurants. They are few and far between, but they exist nonetheless. If there are that many people going out of their way to get Taco Bell as their Tuesday night dinner — I personally couldn’t fathom a crunchwrap as a midweek meal, my Italian mom would not be happy — one would think those sparse authentic Mexican restaurants would be twice as packed.

Not surprisingly, they’re not. And it’s sad.

Taco Bell is, in my opinion, good in its own right, but I’ll always choose a meal from a hole-in-the-wall or food truck when I’m in the mood for tacos. If every Taco Bell customer felt that way, the status of authentic Mexican food in America would undoubtedly be in a better place.

Sigh.

Cheesy Gordita Crunches rock, though, can’t pretend they don’t!

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America is known as “the melting pot” — the country prides itself on encouraging and appreciating many different cultures that all mingle and combine into one larger identity of “American.” Although this ideology has proven to be incredibly problematic and politically hypocritical throughout history and, unfortunately, still today, the food choices we are exposed to in this country prove that it is truly possible for that mingling and coexistence to occur positively.

If only that could be true for everything!

Cultural fusion across different cuisines is, in my opinion, one of the great innovations in food history. One of my favorite restaurants of all time is Japanese-Italian fusion — two cultures that do not seem alike at all on the surface, but whose food somehow complements each other perfectly. I never thought I would want to eat a spicy tuna roll as an appetizer to a pasta dish, but after doing so for the first time, boy do I want to.

When asked what my favorite food is, I always say “sushi and Mexican.” They are perfectly tied for first and, no, I will never choose one over the other. If you think about it logically, since I love both so much, wouldn’t it make sense for them to work well together?

They do.

Pictured above is a poke bowl — this dish is Hawaiian in origins and is one of my absolute favorite and regularly-eaten lunches. This is my own creation consisting of white rice, salmon sushi, spicy mayo, edamame, seaweed salad, cucumber, and guacamole.

Now that seems out of place, doesn’t it? While it might turn some noses up at first glance, I promise that the second anyone tries it, they’ll be in love. The spice and acidity in the guacamole is an amazing addition to the rich yet fresh poke bowl. Regular avocado just wouldn’t be as good.

If it weren’t for food fusion, I don’t think anyone would have ever added guacamole to sushi fish or any other traditionally-Asian dishes like seaweed salad. And, truly, the world would be a worse place.

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Here’s the whitest thing I will ever say: I thoroughly enjoy supermarket, plastic-bagged Mission brand flour tortillas. A sin, I know… but I am who I am.

I can probably count on one hand (okay, that’s an exaggeration, I’d need at least two) the amount of times that I have had corn tortillas in my life. At Mexican restaurants, I always request flour instead if I can. So when I walked into class and there were real, handmade corn tortillas from a legit tortilleria, I was slightly nervous.

And there she is, in all her glory.

I was the only person in my class who was less than enthusiastic about these tortillas. The best way that I can describe this tortilla was so corn-heavy that it smelled like raw earth — my friend and I deemed it most accurately like the wood section at Michael’s. It had an extremely durable yet spongy texture that was for sure not my favorite. And the taste… again, so earthy it reminded me of eating flowers.

I know I’m talking crazy here — trust me, I know. As a huge fan of every Mexican meal I have ever had — from the most authentic to the least — I’m even mad at myself for my dislike of corn tortillas.

However, I’m giving it my all to expand my palate. My first step to training myself to enjoy corn tortillas is no longer requesting flour tortillas at restaurants. Thus far, I’ve enjoyed every single taco I have had on a corn tortilla. And hopefully soon I’ll prefer them! (But I don’t think I will ever totally disregard my beloved mass-produced flour tortillas.)

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First and foremost, happy Valentine’s Day! I hope you were able to show your loved ones how much you love them today in one way or another. Personally, I got myself Chipotle for lunch — self love is the most important kind of love after all!

Now onto more important things. It is quite a well-known fact that cultural appropriation is rampant in pop culture and often used for comedic purposes. I think that we as people in general rely on and have faith in adults to notice when this happens and hope we can learn from it, or at least not repeat it and behave in that way ourselves. Unfortunately, content for young kids is no exception to the utilization of cultural appropriation for laughs.

Above is the type of valentine card that’s popular on social media — these funny valentines are my favorite part of Valentine’s Day — from an episode of Drake and Josh. A banger of a show, no question about it, but the episode in which this was taken from includes a gag about Drake buying a “Mexican robot” that only says “Por favor.” Yikes! Doesn’t really get more culturally appropriated than that.

It is things like this joke, and this valentine that came from it, that allow cultural appropriation to continue. We are okay with it because it’s funny… and that isn’t okay. Kids are being exposed to such “comedy” at a young age which, in my opinion, can open a path towards racism, whether overt or covert. Offensive jokes are often thought of as the funniest kinds of jokes — but why?

Let today remind us that love isn’t just romantic: love is appreciation, love is respect.

(Love is also tacos!)

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Americans as a whole are inherently xenophobic. This generalization has remained an unfortunate yet accurate stereotype since the nation’s beginnings and becomes more prominent each time a wave of immigration hits. Even the most liberal, accepting citizens of the land of the free fall victim to a subconscious, omnipresent fear of the other from time to time. In Taco USA, Gustavo Arellano touches upon America’s xenophobic tendencies as it relates to (and always has related to) Mexican people and Mexican food. Arellano tells a story about the meal he shared with conservative, immigration-opposed Tom Tancredo, who “may not like Mexicans, but … sure loves his Mexican food” (7). Tancredo’s xenophobia — perhaps a euphemism for his intrinsic racism — fails to penetrate his taste buds no matter how heavily it weights on his feelings towards foreign people. It is this type of attitude that allows cultural appropriation to proceed and go unnoticed in popular culture. Mexican food is trendy, especially inauthentic Mexican food — every influencer with a modest following stayed at and promoted the Taco Bell Hotel this summer. Arellano asks readers to recognize this phenomenon, to resist the way in which “Mexican food has entranced Americans even while Mexicans have perplexed Americans” (7). Mexican food is not ours, no matter how much we love it. However, this does not mean that it cannot be enjoyed, it just must be understood; Americans must abandon their deep-seated xenophobia and be willing to know the culture as well as we know the taste of guacamole. The issue of cultural appropriation stands precisely with Tancredo’s and those with similar ideologies’ cognitive dissonance when it comes to Mexican toleration — or, often, lack thereof.

Bibliography:

Arellano, Gustavo. Taco USA. Scribner, 2012.

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Bon Appetit is one of the most — if not the most — prestigious food publications in the United States. Like all successful businesses nowadays, they have extended their traditional magazine-based content to Youtube.

The video above is one of chef Rick Martinez’s recipes. Rick is amazing in and of himself, but it’s his authentic Mexican recipes that I love to watch the most. More than any of the other Bon Appetit chefs, when I see a Rick recipe, I watch and salivate and pretend I’ll one day make those recipes (but, let’s be honest, probably won’t).

Like the tamale video by Eater that I previously posted about, Rick gives almost all of the credit for his recipes to his mom — these are family recipes that he grew up enjoying. And that’s what I love and respect so much about Rick and about Bon Appetit in general: this magazine is as prestigious as prestigious gets, and it promotes authentic Mexican recipes made by a man who was raised by Mexican immigrants in a way that not many other highly-regarded food publications do.

I embedded Chili Colorado here because I had personally never heard of it before watching this video but, afterwards, I recommend you watch his Pupusas, Pozole Verde, and Tamales recipe videos. And then watch his Thanksgiving stuffing video — he shows fellow chef Chris Morocco that Mexican-style stuffing is the superior. Catch me making cornbread and jalapeno stuffing when I host Thanksgiving in ten years.

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Have you ever seen such a gorgeous picture? I sure haven’t.

Guacamole is one of God’s greatest creations, don’t @ me. Side note: does anyone even say the full word “guacamole” anymore? Let’s just refer to it as guac here.

So, I love guac — all kinds of guac: store-bought guac, restaurant guac, homemade guac. Give me a tortilla chip and some mushy avocado and I’m a happy girl.

I would like to use this post as a discussion about what should be in guac and what simply does not belong. I know, I know — there aren’t any real rules to making guac, but everyone has their own ideal recipe.

Here’s a hot take: onion can go. Sure, it adds flavor in theory, but getting a bite of not-diced-small-enough red onion is just upsetting. When I make my own guac at home, I add barely any — just enough to appease my sister who will complain if it just tastes like avocado and lime. Oh yeah, that’s another thing: the lime should be heavy.

Don’t get me wrong, if I’m at a Mexican restaurant and their guac is overwhelmingly oniony or underwhelmingly limey, I’m still gonna eat it — all of it — and be more than happy. There’s no such thing as bad guac.

Guac as a dish could be an interesting topic of research as it’s undoubtably undergone many iterations throughout time and especially as it became incredibly popular in America. Eating guac all the time for research purposes? Sounds like a job for me if there ever was one.