Talking Taco
9/9/202543 min
Whether or not it's Tuesday, tacos pretty much always hit the spot—and not just in their homeland in Mexico. These days, the taco can be found all over the world, although it's acquired some strange new fillings along the way, from French fries to canned corn. It's hard to imagine something so universal having to be invented—but, in fact, the taco as we know it only emerged in the 1800s. In this episode, Gastropod talks taco with the experts, peering through the salsa-smudged veil of history to answer such questions as: What do Cornish miners and their lunc...
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First 90 secondsCynthia Graber· Host0:00
[upbeat music] Okay. Para e- so para ella, big bebé y big la cuache.
Nicola Twilley· Host0:07
Uh-huh.
Cynthia Graber· Host0:08
Y para mi, big la cuache y girondo. Sin cilantro.
Nicola Twilley· Host0:11
[laughs] Oh, don't mind us, we're just hanging out in Mexico City ordering tacos from a little stand, as you do.
Cynthia Graber· Host0:19
This is my favorite taco stand in Mexico City. It's a vegan one called Por Siempre Vegana, and it was the first place Nikki and I went out to eat after we landed in Mexico.
Nicola Twilley· Host0:27
All right. You going first? Get in there.
Cynthia Graber· Host0:30
Okay. This one has beans, this one doesn't. This one has pineapple and all sorts of fun things. Ooh, spicy.
Nicola Twilley· Host0:38
Mm.
Cynthia Graber· Host0:38
So good.
Nicola Twilley· Host0:39
All right.
Cynthia Graber· Host0:41
Mm.
Nicola Twilley· Host0:41
I'm gonna start... You started with the pastor, so I'm gonna start with the big bebé, which I can't even remember what it is, but it looks freaking amazing, so... Mm. That's hitting the spot.
Cynthia Graber· Host0:55
Tacos do frequently hit the spot these days, not just in Mexico City, but all around the world. That's the topic of this episode of Gastropod, the podcast that looks at food through the lens of science and history. I'm Cynthia Graber.
Nicola Twilley· Host1:07
And I'm Nicola Twilley. And you might be thinking, "Tacos? Really? What's to say about tacos?" But what if I asked you if a burrito is also a taco, or a fajita, or what about a chimichanga?
Cynthia Graber· Host1:20
This is a good question. And here's another one: we just did an episode all about corn and vitamin T, the omnipresent tortilla, which has certainly been around for thousands of years.