Evolution of Fourthmeal

Americans are exposed to a wide range of ethnic diversity on a daily basis, and often in the form of the food we eat.  Pizza, fried rice, falafel, and tacos are just a few of the foods that have been adopted into mainstream American culture as representatives of various ethnicities from around the world.  Jeffery M. Pilcher traces the origins of the taco in his article “Was the Taco Invented in Southern California?” and analyzes how the food itself has changed due to migration across the border and throughout the country.  The people of Mexico who brought the taco to the United States adapted to their new culture and environment quite similarly to how the taco changed, and marketing strategies for Mexican food followed suit as well.

It is very important to understand that the emergence of the taco as a form of fast food in the United States was completely dependent on the fact that industrialization of society had opened opportunities for the mass production of ethnic identifiers, specifically in the form of various foods.  The article states that the concept of a taco had existed in Mexico for some time as a means of convenience for eating (much like a sandwich would be for European immigrants), but it was not assigned a name until it started appearing in indigenous Mexican cookbooks in the mid 1800’s.  Migration of Mexican immigrants to the United States allowed the taco to reach new audiences, in turn introducing other ethnicities to the product.  Much like McDonald’s is responsible for the globalization of the hamburger, industrialization allowed for the fast, efficient production of tacos (specifically the shells) due to improved technologies that allowed the shells to be cooked on a rack instead of individually by hand.  Even the identifiable “U” shape of a hard taco shell evolved as a product of industrialization.  Whereas older versions of tacos could have meant any form of meat on a tortilla, the U shape came about because the mechanized racks that the shells were fried on had been intentionally shaped that way.  This shape was devised to capitalize on convenience, as more tortillas could be fried faster and the shape allowed for quick filling, thus the “American” tacos we know today owe more to their own McDonaldization than they do to their Mexican heritage.

Just as important as the shape and development of the modern taco was the social process by which the taco was introduced to the rest of America after its original migration across the border.  Los Angeles and other areas of southern California had several urban, ethnically diverse areas of multiculturalism, but as time progressed and more Mexicans immigrated into the southwest, those areas became more densely Hispanic and less white, and white families moved to the suburban outskirts of the cities.  Several authentic Mexican eateries existed in the densely populated urban areas, while “taco shops” became more popular amongst the suburban white neighborhoods.  

The article explains that many of these taco shops allowed people of other cultures with adventurous tastes to try Mexican food while avoiding having to eat in an all Mexican-owned and staffed restaurant or having to worry about sanitation, as Mexican immigrants at the time were (and oftentimes still are) subject to that sort of prejudice.  The term “taco” even held less of a negative stigma than some more traditional Mexican words such as enchilada or tamale that would drive some white customers away.  It was the introduction of the taco to the outer white neighborhoods that caught on with a mass appeal and allowed the taco to become part of mainstream American culture.  The success of Taco Bell and its counterparts relied exclusively on marketing the idea of a romantic, fantastical Mexico to America, hence Taco Bell’s design of faux-adobe walls and reliance on a talking chihuahua to sell their product.  These marketing moves have probably done more damage to the image of Mexican-American immigrants than they have helped to introduce the culture, as many American children today are exposed to what “Mexican” means early on in life, and associate it with a fast food restaurant and a snack modified for the convenience of mass production rather than with the idea of a unique culture from a neighboring country, and this stereotype has only widened the culture gap as new imitators (“Welcome to Moe’s!”) attempt to cash in.

The emergence of the taco in American culture depended entirely on the tried-and-true formula of McDonaldization, in which an item’s production process is modified for efficiency and control.  What is now seen to many as a cultural icon and a corporate representative of Hispanic presence in the United States originally had humble beginnings in Mexico as a homemade snack that wasn’t even assigned a specific name.  The article “Was the Taco Invented in Southern California?” addresses not only the taco’s origins, but also how the surge in immigration, combined with the growing ideas of industrialization and capitalism, paved the way for the taco to become a household item in America.

The original article can be found here.