Speaker 1: This is Latino USA, the radio journal of news and
Speaker 1: Kurturre Latino USC Le Latino USA. I'm Maria Inojosa. We
Speaker 1: bring you stories that are underreported but that mattered to you,
Speaker 1: overlooked by the rest of the media, and while the
Speaker 1: country is struggling to deal with these, we listen to
Speaker 1: the stories of black and Latino studios United, Latino Front,
Speaker 1: a cultural renaissance organizing at the forefront of the movement.
Speaker 1: I'm Maria ino Jossa.
Speaker 2: No Hi listener, I am Patricia Subran and as a
Speaker 2: producer for Latino USA, I gather tape and write the
Speaker 2: scripts that later turn into the stories you listen to
Speaker 2: on air. Thank you for your support and happy thirtieth
Speaker 2: anniversary Latino USA.
Speaker 1: Hey Latino USA listener. Here's a show from our archives.
Speaker 1: How many taco editors are there in the United States
Speaker 1: of America.
Speaker 3: Technically just me.
Speaker 1: From Vuduromedia and PRX. It's Latino USA. I'm Maria Rosa.
Speaker 1: Today dacos and how this traditional Mexican dish has become
Speaker 1: a staple food in the American diet. Poser Ralat has
Speaker 1: the kind of job that some foodies dream about. He's
Speaker 1: the taco editor at Texas Monthly magazine. Ralat also has
Speaker 1: a new book out. It's called American Dacos, a History
Speaker 1: and Guide. The book dives into the evolution of tacos
Speaker 1: in the United States and their history in the Borderlands.
Speaker 1: When we think of tacos, we usually think of them
Speaker 1: as a distinctly Mexican food, but according to Ralat, he
Speaker 1: says that's only half of the story. Tacos are also
Speaker 1: as American as apple pie. He says, from the breakfast
Speaker 1: kind to the puffy shell kind. The variety of dacos
Speaker 1: that have sprung up in different regions of the United
Speaker 1: States show that this is also a distinctly American food.
Speaker 1: But the rising popularity of dacos in the United States
Speaker 1: has well made a lot of US connoisseurs. In fact,
Speaker 1: TV shows like Netflix Staco Chronicles have given a different
Speaker 1: light to this simple, yet so complex of a dish.
Speaker 1: Last year, basketball superstar Lebron James went viral when he
Speaker 1: embraced tacos by posting videos of himself eating them enthusiastically
Speaker 1: while stereotypically saying the phrase. Now, according to Ralat, tacos
Speaker 1: have been here long before the hype. They were introduced
Speaker 1: to the United States around the same time as the
Speaker 1: American burger was invented. In his book, Ralat discusses the
Speaker 1: importance of doc documenting the history of docos in the
Speaker 1: United States, and he joins me today to talk about
Speaker 1: their unique identity north of the border. Welcome to let
Speaker 1: you know, USA.
Speaker 3: Thanks for having me to.
Speaker 1: Be like the one and only standing official doco editor
Speaker 1: of the United States of America. That's a big deal. Congratulations,
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 3: It's it's an honor that I don't take lightly because
Speaker 3: I have the responsibility of not just for writing about
Speaker 3: the food, but writing about the people, and I think
Speaker 3: that's really the most critical part of the job.
Speaker 1: Before we continue, people might be saying, wait, what's going on?
Speaker 1: And so you're very open about the fact that you stutter.
Speaker 1: It is something that happens, and so we might as
Speaker 1: well just say, hey, it happens, and you're you're cool
Speaker 1: with basically saying yeah and moving on right.
Speaker 3: Yes, I am, thank you. Yes, It's a part of
Speaker 3: my life and it's never stopped me from doing things
Speaker 3: like live TV or radio segments.
Speaker 1: I love that, I gotta say, I really do. I
Speaker 1: completely love that. So what you may not know is
Speaker 1: that I've been a taco fanatic since probably before you
Speaker 1: were even born. I'm Mexican. I grew up with this stuff,
Speaker 1: you know. I mean my mom made that goes. Alita
Speaker 1: made that goes. But you're Puerto Rican. You were growing
Speaker 1: up with this stuff. So what's the story as to
Speaker 1: why this Puerto Rican dude ends up falling in love
Speaker 1: with docos?
Speaker 3: Growing up in the States. I knew about doc was
Speaker 3: generally speaking as a fast food product, but doc was
Speaker 3: as a Mexican food item. Wasn't Brooklyn from it a chicana?
Speaker 3: And I don't know who I fell in love with first,
Speaker 3: the woman or the food.
Speaker 1: So before we get to talking about tacos, which again
Speaker 1: we could talk about forever, one of the things that
Speaker 1: stood out to us is from the beginning of your book,
Speaker 1: and this is where you refer to something you call
Speaker 1: the abualita principle and having just mastered Jose, You'll be
Speaker 1: proud of me finally having just mastered my abulita, Like
Speaker 1: I finally figured it out. I'm just like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: I can't believe it. I unlocked it. What is this
Speaker 1: thing about the abuelita principle when it applies to tacos.
Speaker 3: So whenever people talk about Mexican food, eventually the conversation
Speaker 3: rolls around two. Well, Maya Wilita made the best Mexican food.
Speaker 3: She made the best gizos, Her lingua was the best,
Speaker 3: or her molley was the best. And for them, that's
Speaker 3: as far as Mexican food goes. Nothing else counts as Mexican,
Speaker 3: which is unfortunate because Mexico is a large country with
Speaker 3: microregions and different cuisines. It's not that simple. We shouldn't
Speaker 3: box it in. Boxing it in is misguided at best
Speaker 3: and racist at worst. Uh could also be maybe so
Speaker 3: and so's grandmother wasn't a good cook. I know that's sacrilegious.
Speaker 3: I know it's sacrilegious. Okay, but my grandmother was a
Speaker 3: terrible cook too, and.
Speaker 1: He takes down at what he does as well.
Speaker 3: Not everyone can cook.
Speaker 1: You know this notion of like when people get that
Speaker 1: hard taco shell and you know, people kind of eating
Speaker 1: it and he's always falling apart in your hands. I
Speaker 1: was like, do you guys don't understand? And I always
Speaker 1: was concerned about the American tacle, like is this a problem?
Speaker 1: Basically that the hardshell taco is the American taco? Is
Speaker 1: it the American tackle? Or am I really being dismissive
Speaker 1: of you know, commercialized American tacos and I'm being again
Speaker 1: a taco elitist, and that there is actually an extraordinary
Speaker 1: experience of an American tacle.
Speaker 3: It certainly is the most iconic American taco. It's also
Speaker 3: a gateway taco for people it hopefully these other people
Speaker 3: to try other tacos. But you know, let's face it,
Speaker 3: Taco bell is historically significant. It helped popularize the taco.
Speaker 3: It was a gateway taco and with that it I
Speaker 3: probably wouldn't have this job.
Speaker 1: And you know what you've also like, for example, the
Speaker 1: last time that I was in Miami, I don't know
Speaker 1: where I ended up, but oh my god, I was
Speaker 1: eating some daco fusion that was like knocking my socks off.
Speaker 1: And again, you write about Kosher tacos, you write about
Speaker 1: West Indian tacos, you write about Korean tacos. So what
Speaker 1: is all of this in your view in this moment,
Speaker 1: No matter what you know, no matter what people are
Speaker 1: saying about Mexicans and what we represent, what in fact
Speaker 1: does the reality of tacos in our food in the
Speaker 1: United States. Say about the integration of tacos as a
Speaker 1: mainstream food, it.
Speaker 3: Says a lot. Hey, daco is a reflection of its
Speaker 3: time and place. It is created from populationshifts, and the
Speaker 3: people who make it. For example, KMX in the nineties,
Speaker 3: you had this huge wave of immigration from Korea and
Speaker 3: they settled in southern California next to Mexicans. And what
Speaker 3: happened These people traded ingredients.
Speaker 1: What do you think is next for the taco? I mean,
Speaker 1: is there a frontier? Is there a border? Is there
Speaker 1: a border wall that the taco is going to crash through?
Speaker 1: Can it evolve further?
Speaker 3: Yes? And I've often said that eventually everything makes its
Speaker 3: way into a tortilla. But then I countered this Flan
Speaker 3: taco and I looked at it and I said, that's
Speaker 3: not what I meant. This is I did not consider
Speaker 3: flann as making its way into a tortilla.
Speaker 1: Should I be horrified or excited about this?
Speaker 3: Will say, oh, excited because it's so delicious. It was
Speaker 3: mind blowing because I never imagined that this was possible.
Speaker 3: But it worked. It worked so well. I went back
Speaker 3: for thirds.
Speaker 1: I'm kind of feeling it, you know, I'm definitely I'm like,
Speaker 1: I'm like, maybe I could try to make that at home,
Speaker 1: but maybe not. But it's intriguing. So look, the truth
Speaker 1: is that right now the whole world is living through
Speaker 1: the COVID nineteen pandemic. You know, what are your concerns about,
Speaker 1: you know, tacos and making it through this pandemic and
Speaker 1: what we might lose or gain because of this moment
Speaker 1: that we're living through.
Speaker 3: So I think that that the that will survive and
Speaker 3: thrive once more. I think that ideas are uniquely positioned
Speaker 3: because that they are usually family owned, small operations that
Speaker 3: can adapt quickly to their customers' needs. I think that
Speaker 3: Mexican food as a whole is unstoppable. Mexican food always wins.
Speaker 1: Not that there was a fight or anything going on,
Speaker 1: but you just declared Mexican food always wins.
Speaker 3: Okay, yeah, Well, because it'll come back. These businesses will
Speaker 3: come back as long as the landlords are flexible. We
Speaker 3: should get almost everyone back. At least that's what I
Speaker 3: hope and that's what I believe.
Speaker 1: Thank you Jose for sharing your taco stories and taco
Speaker 1: love affair.
Speaker 3: With us.
Speaker 1: We really appreciate it.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Maria, this has been an honor.
Speaker 4: Joel is Gone Primeravez Masa Minos fara do mil Kings,
Speaker 4: Jose Puerto rican Ya and Latino or USA and Contrea
Speaker 4: Puerto Rico and contre Arguing, Sanava tell Ristoria Puerto Rico,
Speaker 4: Demi hintid Lacentia, Solita Como Latinasnidos e Latino Usami Compana
Speaker 4: and Silo Unavos, Mararijosa Sarre Latino As serving Celebrando con
Speaker 4: su Trenthaniel Leo, Muchos Mucosanio's math in no tengo Duda.
Speaker 1: This episode was produced by Juan Diego Ramirez and edited
Speaker 1: by Luis Trees. The Latino USA team includes Andrea Lopez Cruzado,
Speaker 1: Marta Martinez, Mike Sargent, Daisy Contreras, Victoria Estrada, Renato Leanos Junior,
Speaker 1: Patricia Sulbaran, and Elizabeth enthal Torres. Our editorial director is
Speaker 1: Fernando Santos. Our director of engineering is stephanel Lebau. Our
Speaker 1: senior engineer is Julia Caruso. Our associate engineers are Gabriel
Speaker 1: Lebas and j J. Corubin. Our marketing manager is Luis Luna.
Speaker 1: Our theme music was composed by Zane Ruinos. I'm your
Speaker 1: host and executive producer Maria join us on our next episode.
Speaker 1: You can also find us on your social media and
Speaker 1: I Say.
Speaker 3: Jo.
Speaker 5: Latino USA is made possible in part by Public Welfare
Speaker 5: Foundation catalyzing transformative approaches to justice that are community led, restorative,
Speaker 5: and racially just, The Ford Foundation, working with visionaries on
Speaker 5: the front lines of social change worldwide, and the John D.
Speaker 5: And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Speaker 1: Taco snob No, I know the worst, the worst