The popular Mexican dish has arrived to stay. In addition to the classic taquerías, their versions succeed in traditional and avant-garde tables
In Mexico they are clear: everything can be done taco. The tortillas - corn in most cases and served in wicker baskets wrapped in cloths to conserve heat and humidity - accompany almost any dish that is put on the table, also in the public, because today there is no corner in the Aztec territory where tacos are not served to take away or to eat on the spot .
And it is that the culture of this dish shows the culture of the country, because not only does each region have its own, it is that even "having a taco" is synonymous with eating.
Tortilla, content and sauce. That is the holy trinity of the taco, which can go from the simplest to the most complex . However, the Taquera religion gives special attention to that cake that holds the magic, because it is the basis of the dish and also of the Mexican diet .
Its elaboration is not as easy as it seems. The corn must undergo a nixtamalization process - it is cooked in water and lime - which is the key to later achieve an elastic and delicate mass , in addition to converting the cereal into a more nutritious food. Interestingly, this treatment did not extend beyond Mesoamerica and is dated between 1000 and 800 BC.
Where exactly is the taco born? In the memoirs of Bernal Díaz del Castillo (one of the Spanish conquerors of Mexico) a feast is told with Emperor Moctezuma . During the agape tortillas were offered that were filled -or rather used as a spoon- with a host of stews , presented on the main table, including nopales, escamoles (precious ant eggs), snails or fish.
symbol and cult
Since then, the taco has become a national emblem and the taquero, almost a guru who elaborates his specialties knowing that there is no equal snack. Doradito, "with copy", pure solid ... Always to the taste of the diner, it is dispatched at the moment and very hot on plastic plates and at street level, but also in the great restaurants, turning the Aztec tradition into a full cult of elegance and delicacy .
If the tortilla is a magical element, it is no less the juiciness of its filling ( "taco that does not drip, it is not," they say in Aztec lands ). Although we must not forget that spicy touch that bring the sauces (green, red, chipotlera) and toppings (rajas, lime) that are added at the last moment.
The writer Julieta Montelongo accurately described in her story Judgment to a taco what this religion represents in her country: «It was a common taco, that is, delicious! Its corn skin gave off that characteristic smell that enchants any Mexican . Inside, some well-distributed pieces of meat were mixed with chopped onion, some coriander and enough sauce, ”although in truth many with a good tortilla and a rich sauce are enough.
This elaboration has long been launched to conquer the world, however, it has not been easy to adapt it to international cuisine without losing the essence and seasoning that so many admire. Luckily, in Spain there are good directions to enjoy tacos de cochinita pibil, pastor, governess, language, carnitas, campechanos, basket, soft ...
Spanish territory
In street code, authentic and cheap are dispatched in the different Madrid locations of Takos al Pastor . Thus, the one that gives name to the establishment stands out; the gringas (tortillas with melted cheese and meat to the shepherd inside) and the one made with the juicy cut of arrachera . Similar proposals are offered at Taquería Mi Ciudad, where almost entirely stewed specialties are served .
After a rethinking of its gastronomic concept (Mexican cuisine with Spanish avant-garde techniques), Cantina Roo has taken a turn to become a reference taqueria in the capital, with essential as an excellent taco al pastor -prepared from roasted Iberian pork with oak charcoal - and some succulent carnitas , both bites on tortillas that they themselves make. We continue in the capital with La Tomata and its three hits dishes : the cochinita pibil and x'nipec (spicy pickled onion); Veal tongue with morita pepper and low-temperature brisket with toasted onion. A good option is the cochinita that is served in Mrs. Chela and that can be accompanied with some rich green chilaquiles.
Two tasty versions of the trompo shepherd (the meat, inserted vertically on an iron rod, slowly roasts) , a symbol of Mexico City and with clear inspiration from the Middle East, are made in the Rosa Negra house in Barcelona and -a wink for the most travelers- in Daughter of Sanchez (Copenhagen) .
Authenticity
Absolute references and flavors that transfer the diner to the popular taquerías in Mexico City are those that the Chilean chef Roberto Ruiz has designed for his varied Madrid gastronomic formats . In Tacos, Margaritas and Punto we may find the most stray (of pastor and steak on a good tortilla); in the Cascabel Hall antojeria he praises them a little more (of smoked brisket with sweet onion, jalapeño sauce tamed and mashed with fresh herbs, and of an imposing machete - veal rib - lacquered to the three peppers, accompanied by corn tortillas ready for the client to mount their own tacos); They reach a high level in Mezcal Lab (a must for piglet carnitas with meat cooked at low temperature and green tomatillo sauce from their organic gardens) and sophistication comes with Punto MX . The considered best Mexican restaurant in Europe offers in its menu one of duck confit with an exceptional black mole of Juana Amaya (sauce with wide chili and mulatto, male banana toasted on charcoal, tortilla tatemada, nuts and chocolate).
True to the street tradition, in the extensive proposal of Seville's Mano de Santo there is no shortage of sausage, chicken pipian or nopales. The same happens in Twelve Chiles , in Madrid's Mercado de la Paz, where you can see the whole taco process , from tortillas to sauces, and taste some tasty shepherds cooked in a real comal (bowl to make cakes).
Very authentic but elaborated under the prism of the Adrià, the proposal of Paco Méndez in Holy Leaf (Barcelona) brings the Mexican seasoning and flavors to the City of Barcelona. The flour base, prepared in a special container, picks up morsels like beef brisket and pot mole; the glazed barbecue gulesca that hides an eggplant lacquered in lamb juice or the amazing steamed hare.
Adaptations
In Ameyal (Valencia) they reinterpret, with great refinement, that of a shepherd with his pineapple and coriander - as tradition dictates - and another somewhat less classic, but also notable, shrimp with red sauce, cheese, onion and peppers. In the national culinary showcase there are proposals between the authentic and the coupled to our product . Proof of this are the Madrid taco of fried squid with lemon mayonnaise and its ink or the De Donosti a Sinaloa , chicken lumagorri stew and carabinero acevichado, which are offered in Regañosientes . Current that also follow in the two Mawey stores: ear and cuttlefish with habanero chili sauce ; of governor with oaxaca cheese and kikos powder and taco sirloin tacos with hollandaise sauce and vegetables.
With fish, in the style of Baja California - taquera adoption territory -, Sara Herrera in Tepic with the main fried ingredient, Lombard, avocado and chipotle mayonnaise are juicy; those of Gracias Padre, with cod bathed in a beer orly and seasoned with chipotle mayonnaise, and those in Entre Suspiro and Suspiro - one of the most classic Mexicans of the Forum - pose on purple corn tortillas , with fish, grated carrots and a touch of lime (another of his hits, more Mexican, of course, is the northern one with finely chopped beef tongue and stewed in pasilla and garlic chili sauce, accompanied by pork rind, onion and cilantro).
Castles
In our country, the elaboration has become popular in traditional and avant-garde kitchens, and thus come recipes such as the taco de gallinjas that Javier Aparicio offers in Salino . The chef reviews the popular dish of lamb or kid's intestines and in a cake place avocado, mango, chili sauce, coriander, lime and fried chicken (crispy on the outside and milky inside to convince the most apprehensive). The same philosophy they share in Astrolabius, where they marinate in ají panca some gizzards of veal that later roast and complete with pickles , avocado cream and lime. A very special adaptation proposes Fran Vicente in El Sainete: on the cake, a classic beef tail stew with pico de gallo, guacamole cream, slices of pickled jalapeños, coriander and fried onion rings with cornmeal on top.
More modernity. In La Bistroteca they bet on a grilled sirloin tataki with mustard and honey sauce and smoked mayonnaise, all covered by fried panko with butter and thyme to provide the crispy touch that, according to the most purists, should have a taco.
And we close with two interpretations in vegetarian code, one salty and one sweet . The first, the taco al pastor with jackfruit (kind of vegetable meat), pico de gallo, spicy sauce, pineapple and guacamole, from Flax & Kale , the successful Barcelona project that has recently landed in Madrid. The second, the sweet potato and butternut squash tacos with Greek sauce that Cynthia Pariente runs in La Gastro Salvaje .
What does a taco have to know?
Edgar Núñez, chef of the Sud777 restaurant (Mexico City), one of the great Mexican chefs of the moment, explains what are the essential characteristics that a taco should have : good corn flavor , thanks to an elastic tortilla but able to withstand the content ; a touch of acidity ; a marked spicy passage and a suitable texture . His favorite, as a good Chilean worth his salt, is that of the pastor , although of those offered daily in his most popular restaurant, Jacinta Dining (Mexico City), he opts for the governor, which is made with tortillas Flour (wheat), chipotle cheese sauce, shrimp and pot beans. In this place, the "most common" tacos give way to specialties such as water chili filled with fish and shrimp and also to all those toasts that are nothing more than a fried and crispy tortilla tasted differently.
What's yours?
In addition to the well-known tacos al pastor or cochinita pibil, there are, in fact, a host of specialties according to each region . Among them is not the burrito, that tex-mex version that is not seen practically in Mexico and that is far from our dish in which its tortilla is made of wheat flour (although in certain cases it is also used to block), its fillings are copious and also in how it bends to eat.
Among those that are "authentic" are, for example, a basket, which with different fillings travel in a wicker basket and water with butter to keep them warm and sell them in the streets. Dorados are fried in pockets and finished with cream, cheese, lettuce and some sauce on top. The soft taco is made with fatty beef that is attached to the inside of the skin. The barbecue are linked to the region of Hidalgo and carry a unique cooking liturgy of the sheep or the goat underground.
In Morelos the battleships are famous, in which the rice, the eggs and the chiles cannot be lacking and they finish with some stew, all on two tortillas. The drowned come from Guadalajara, fry and then bathe in a sauce; in the chilorio , of Sinaloa, shredded pork meat and seasoned with pasilla pepper is used; the lagoons are the only ones traditionally vegetarian and those of arrachera are made with a cut that comes from the diaphragm of the cow. And the miners, the chapulines, the potosinos, the papadzules, the tikinxic, the coetlas ... The variety is infinite because in Mexico ... everything is blocked.
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