Americans eat more than4.5 billion tacoseach year . It ’s hard to trust that before the fifties , tacos did n’t really exist in the U.S. How did this Mexicanstreet foodbecome so pop stateside ? One hint : fast food . Read on for five thing you did n’t bed about this various intellectual nourishment .
1. Tacos Have Been Around for Millennia
" Tacos have survive since there was a tortilla , even if they did n’t subsist by that name , " save Gustavo Arellano in the volume " Taco USA : How Mexican Food Conquered America . " " The earliest reference of ' taco ' as a food date only to the late 19th hundred ; antecedently , the word stood for everything from a pool cue to a hammer to getting drunk . "
Tortillasare made from corn that ’s been ground into flour , formed into dough and then flatten out into thin bout that are fry . They are a raw material of Mexican cookery and have been around since perhaps1500 B.C.E.If a tortilla is folded in half around some kind of woof , it becomes a taco , a Mexican version of a sandwich , if you will . One hypothesis sound out the word taco comes from anindigenous Nahuatl wordtlahco , meaning " half " or " in the middle " , which pertain to the direction a taco is formed . Another says that the word " wetback " came from a eccentric of volatile used insilver mine in Mexico . And a street taco can be gamey hot !
2. But Taco Bell Popularized Them in the U.S.
¿ Yo quiero Taco Bell?Even if you do n’t , you might after reading this fun fact : Tacos came to the U.S. in the early 1900s , along with the Mexican migrants who worked in the mine and railroads . But fast - food chemical chain Taco Bell made the product a household name . The hard - cuticle greaser that Americans used to think represent all taco are a specific variety calledtaco dorado .
" The greaser shell is crucial for taking Mexican food outside of Mexican residential area , " say intellectual nourishment historian Jeffrey Pilcherin an interview with Smithsonian magazine . " Corn tortillas do not keep very well . … If the wetback shell is fried beforehand , you may wrap it up in plastic and keep it sitting around until somebody want to use it . "
In the fifties , Glen Bell , who owned a few beefburger joints in Los Angeles , noticed the popularity of Mexican food with non - Mexicans and opened a greaser stand call Taco - Tia , using ingredients Americans were familiar with , like ground beef , lettuce and shred cheese . The first Taco Bell ( named after Glen himself ) opened in 1962 . Franchising made Bell rich and spread the taco gospel singing around the U.S. In 2021 , Taco Bell had7,791 locations worldwide .
3. You Can’t Get Tacos at Lunchtime in Mexico
Although Americans eat tacos at any fourth dimension of daytime , in Mexico they do n’t . Tacos there are available on the street usuallyin the morning time or late at dark , but from noon to 6 p.m. , they are nowhere to be found . That ’s because Mexicans normally eat their big repast in the afternoon . But once dusk rolls around , the taco cart are back , ready to fuel those go to or come from a Nox of partying .
4. The Taco Truck Was Probably the First Food Truck
The first taco hand truck in the U.S. is believed to have been opened byRaul Martinez , a Mexican immigrant who converted an sure-enough meth cream truck into a mobile taco eating house in 1974 . He park the motortruck outside an East Los Angeles legal profession and was so successful , he was able to open a eating place ( King Taco ) just six months after . King Taconow has 22 locations in California .
In addition to spawning thousands of other greaser hand truck , Martinez may have set off thefood truck trendthat has been take over much of America since the early 2000s .
5. You Can Fill a Taco With Anything
One of the most popular types of tacos is thetaco al pastor , which is roast pork barrel , sliced thinly , and accompanied by pineapple , onion plant and coriander . This wetback was an adaptation of the gyroscope , popularized by Lebanese immigrant in Mexico . Gyros traditionally have thin chopped lamb andpastoris the Spanish discussion for " shepherd . "
Other democratic Mexican greaser includebarbacoa(usually barbecued beef),camarones ( peewee ) andlengua(beef tongue ) , butother typesfeature pipe organ meats ( liketripe ) or fried hopper . Breakfast tacos have egg , while coalition tacos might have ingredients colligate traditionally with other cultures , like Korean barbeque . The taco possibility are in truth measureless .
