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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsIt's National Taco Day...I've never had a taco - what are they like?
Any good? Am I missing out?
OriginalGeek
(12,132 posts)Callmecrazy
(3,065 posts)I'm very suspicious of people who've never had a taco.
Yes. You're missing out on one of life's great concoctions. Try one with fish in it.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)If you have a Mexican Restaurant in your area try one there. No. Taco Bell is not a restaurant.
Major Nikon
(36,818 posts)pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)Off-menu now, so they're 'secret menu' items you can get only if you ask for them.
DawgHouse
(4,019 posts)Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)In_The_Wind
(72,300 posts)But Do Not Eat At Taco Bell!
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)yellowdogintexas
(22,216 posts)Meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, yum
lillypaddle
(9,580 posts)Pictures, which I can't post because I am picture challenged.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/taco-recipes-the-best_us_560eb3a3e4b076812701baac
Skittles
(153,111 posts)CrawlingChaos
(1,893 posts)You win the internets today Skittles
Skittles
(153,111 posts)I was a HUGE fan of tacos a Hispanic family sold from a truck - yeah OK we called it the "roach coach" but the truth was I never saw any roaches and the food was decent
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)Chips from the Mexican restaurant around the corner, salsa from the supermarket.
But the chips just ran out, so I grabbed some crackers. Keebler Club goes great with everything.
Now the crackers are running out. I may have to make some toast...
For some strange reason, the beer is running out, too. I suspect evaporation.
DFW
(54,269 posts)In the States, they seem to be whatever you want served in an open hard shell. In Mexico, they were served with whatever was in them rolled up inside a soft corn pancake, sort of a mini dürüm or mini Burrito. I don't which, if either, is "correct." What matters, really, is the filling. If the filling is good, the taco will be good. If not, then it doesn't matter whether the shell was hard or soft.
underahedgerow
(1,232 posts)topped with REAL salsa, small chunks of tomatoes, finely diced onions, seasoned with lime juice and salt and pepper and a huge handful of fine and coarsely chopped fresh cilantro.
On top of that layer in your roasted, shredded chicken, well seasoned of course, or some gorgeous slow roasted pork, all seasoned up, again, with lots of cumin, salt and pepper and some cayenne. Beef is ok too, but it all has to be really, really tender and or finely sliced for ease of eating.
Throw on LOADS of guacamolé, a little more salsa and a dash of sour cream, and you're ready to rock n roll. Another dash of lime juice won't hurt either!
And don't be putting no mayonnaise in that guacamolé. Saw someone doing that once at a party and nearly fainted from the tragedy. I literally shouted. It was rude, I apologized.
Roll it up a bit, fold the bottomy part up so it doesn't drip too much, hold it over a plate while you're eating it, let the stuff fall out, it's fine... especially if you let it fall into some tortilla chips, it's all good.
OriginalGeek
(12,132 posts)but I love Mexican and Tex-Mex so much that I eat it anyway. When ordering out, I don't direct the chefs to skip the cilantro but I do tend to gravitate to the places that don't use it quite as heavily as others. I don't use it at home but it's in some of the salsas I buy.
I figure as filthy as my mouth is in real life, I could use a little soap every now and then. If it's wrapped up in tacos we all win.
TexasBushwhacker
(20,131 posts)I hate beer as well. I'm just really sensitive to bitter tastes.
mnhtnbb
(31,372 posts)I had long time girl friends--we all grew up in Jersey, but I moved to California in high school--visiting me several years ago. I was making guacamole to go with our drinks
on the porch. One of them volunteered to take over and asked me to get the mayo out of the fridge. I did yell at her, too! No way!
Marc2010
(117 posts)whistler162
(11,155 posts)but if they have peppers in them then forget about it!
Wounded Bear
(58,584 posts)lunatica
(53,410 posts)All the taco trucks will return to Mexico...
UTUSN
(70,641 posts)Things on a plate, eaten with utensils, are not a taco.
I mean, a taco, or multiple tacos, may be SERVED on a plate, but from that point on, you eat it with your fingers, well, that needs a qualification.
First, it's eaten with one hand, fed into your chomping orifice for a bite, still holding in one hand, then aimed at the orifice again for another bite, until it's all gone.
O.K., so think of some potential things that fit this method of aiming food into the orifice:
1) Sandwich: Consists of an edible "holder" with edible/tasty/"entree" type FILLER inside the holder. 2 slices of bread on the outside (the holder) with WHATEVER filler you like - meat, poultry, cheese, whatever. Some type of lubricant (like semi-liquid condiment).
2) Pizza slice: One side of holder (bread on the bottom) with no holder on top, with the fillers/ingredients on the TOP. Protein and semi-condiments all on top. But the fingers hold on to a corner of the bread.
So the concept is: An edible HOLDER containing edible FILLER/INGREDIENTS either between or somehow on top, held almost always by one hand, although sometimes by both hands at least for a period of time.
********O.K., so a *TACO* has an edible HOLDER. The holder is a TORTILLA, a round, flat item, often about 6" in diameter although sometimes 12" or who-knows, made of mashed up corn or (wheat?). You will almost always be asked whether you want "corn" or "flour" tortillas.
The tortilla holder is cooked fresh or heated up on a flat iron thing or a grill or even in a toaster or microwave. If it's flour, the outside might swell up with hot air inside the surface. Both types of tortillas might be soft or crackly/crunchy. Some might be heated in oil, therefore dripping on your hand.
Once the tortilla(s) is ready (a serving might be multiples of 3 or 6), it's held open on your hand or the plate and the FILLER is loaded on it. Enough to fill one side of the circle/tortilla, then the other half of the tortilla is folded over to make a half-moon, which you pinch both sides together with your middle finger and thumb as you guide it into your chomping orifice.
So, the INGREDIENTS/FILLER can be meat, chicken, pork, fish, whatever, usually with some kind of chunks of tomato/onion/chiles, plus some liquid chile sauce. Everything is: AS YOU LIKE IT, as desired. You pinch together the belly of the half-moon as you semi-shove it in the direction of your chomping orifice, bite the part closest and chew-chew, then repeat the motion working your way down the half-moon until it's all gone.
I'm sure somebody will make corrections here.
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)yellowdogintexas
(22,216 posts)especially if you know the song
http://lyrics.wikia.com/wiki/Trout_Fishing_In_America ico_De_Gallo
I love Trout Fishing in America !
TexasBushwhacker
(20,131 posts)Thete will be a taco truck on every corner.
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)yellowdogintexas
(22,216 posts)and food trucks of all kinds.
There is discussion among my other friends who are election judges re: menu for our workers on election day. I may just take tacos, or at least a taco salad. Or a taco casserole. My co workers will enjoy it and the Republicans can kiss off.
I have also heard rumors that some of the local trucks may mosey on over to the larger polling places, such as the sub courthouses.
Early voting begins here on Oct 24 so the taco trucks may roam around the whole county. I may follow them!
TexasBushwhacker
(20,131 posts)Major Nikon
(36,818 posts)red dog 1
(27,757 posts)Have you ever had a chalupa?
OriginalGeek
(12,132 posts)That's my birthday. I've had chalupas for my birthday every year for as long as I can remember having birthdays. I have them all throughout the year but my birthday chalupas are special and different. I make birthday chalupas the way my dad made them for me when I was a kid using American cheese and Van Camps Pork and Beans (because I didn't like cheddar cheese and refried beans back then). The rest of the year I make them like a normal person but birthdays are all about me bringing out my inner 4 year old.