The taco and the tortilla are proudly Mexican, and are part of our gastronomic culture, but also of universal gastronomy.
If you are a taco fan, there are some fun facts that will surely make you say “wow”, or at the very least, make you smile.
1. A Mexican in Mexico consumes an average of 60 kilos of corn tortillas in a year. It sounds dramatic but it’s only 160g a day.
2. World Taco Day has been celebrated on March 31, every year since 1997; This commemoration was earned for being a dish appreciated all over the world.
3. The date on which the first taco was made is unknown, but it was undoubtedly between the years 1,000 and 500 before the modern era, which is the same in which the tortilla appears.
4. It is not known when the taco began to be called taco, but in 1889, there are already references in the literature, as in Los bandidos de Río Frío, by Manuel Payno.
5. The record for the longest taco in the world is held by Querétaro, with a taco that measured 75 meters and was filled with carnitas. Delicious!
6. It is not known for sure, but it is said that al pastor tacos are an adaptation of the Arab shawarma, changing the meat of lamb for pork. The custom of putting vegetables and pineapple on them began in Mexico City.
7. The crispy crust taco (or hard shell taco), which is not really a taco, was born far from Mexico, in the United States.
8. At the end of the 19th century, taquerías already existed, but they were street stalls, not local ones since the taco was a food for the proletarian classes.