vitamin
taco
ABOUT THE TACO
While I was in Mexico - I learned the concept of Vitamin T and how it applies to Mexican food.
Vitamin T is the matriarch of Mexican cuisine. It encompasses corn based food such as tamales, tacos, tostadas, and tortas. It’s the basis of Mexican survival. I had 3 weeks to spend in Mexico City (CDMX) to find the best Vitamin T.
The food scene in CDMX is daunting and to do this right, I had to focus on one thing. I focused on the humble taco. I was fascinated by the taco for a number of reasons. The tortilla itself is a multipurpose apparatus for Mexican cuisine. It’s a fork, a spoon, a plate, a napkin and a meal.
It can be corn or flour based. It not only accompanies family dinners along side mom’s best homemade Mexican meals or grandma’s best Mexican recipes handed down from generation to generation. It’s the vessel to serve up the best tacos. A taco can be fried like a taco dorado or flauta so it becomes a hard shell.
Sure there are other kinds of tortillas, like the hard shell corn which was an American invention, or maybe a black rice tortilla or even one made out of banana flour. I will just stick to the tortillas you would typically find in Mexico for now.
Secondly the taco usually always involve a salsa.
Whether it’s a creamy salsa, garlicky salsa, spicy salsa, mild salsa, green salsa, red salsa, yellow salsa, chili salsa, coriander salsa, haberno salsa, pico de gallo salsa, yogurt salsa, taquero salsa, guajillo chile salsa, roasted jalepeño salsa, cactus fruit salsa, pineapple salsa, onion salsa, roasted tomato salsa, roasted tomatillo salsa, chipotle salsa, pasillo chili salsa, mango salsa, cascabel salsa, avocado salsa, lime salsa, salsa Mexican just to name a few.
Tacos allow you to play around and explore different salsas. You can have a dozen of the same tacos but if you add different salsas to them it can completely change the taco experience.
And finally we have the filling. Where do I start?
If you’re a vegetarian taco lover or looking for the best vegan tacos you might be looking for nopales, huitlacoche which is a rare corn fungus that is like a Mexican truffle, avocado, beans, black truffle, white truffle, spicy pulled jackfruit, grilled tempeh or any kind of vegetable or fruit or chocolate perhaps served with cheese or skip the cheese if you’re vegan.
If you’re a carnivore and Bona fide meat lover, pork lover or poultry lover you can choose from grilled steak, ground beef, skirt steak, wagyu beef, cow tongue, steamed beef, cow eyeball, cow brain, cow head, beef brisket, cow intestines (tripa), carne asada, carne adobada, cow cheek, birria, ribeye, chachete, beef tenderloin, bone marrow, cecina de res, beef rib, suadero, surtido, carnitas, al pastor (trompo) al vapor (or sudados or de canasta) campechanos, pulled pork, slow braised pork loin, chicharrones, crispy pork, crispy fried pig skin (cuerito), pork chop, pork rib, ground pork, bacon, trompa, maciza, tacos árabes, sausage, buche (pork stomach), steamed pork, longaniza, chorizo, pork belly, pig ears (oreja), cecina de puerco, cochinita pibil, lamb chops, lamb head, lamb sausage, lamb loin, lamb leg, tinga, roasted chicken, chicken breast, chicken thigh, fried chicken, chicken skin, shredded chicken, marinated chicken, crispy chicken, chicken liver, fried Korean chicken, crispy duck, duck confit, duck tongue, spicy duck, foie gras, pheasant, eggs, roasted turkey, fried turkey, turkey breast, turkey skin or for the seafood lovers you might be turned on by octopus, soft shell crab, lobster, shrimp, fried fish, steamed fish or anything that came from the sea or the ground like cricket (chapulines) or scorpion tacos just to name a few.