The day after I hosted a braised beef taco party I saw an article in The New York Post declaring tacos the "it" comfort food of the year. Did they get the scoop from my party? I wish!
Taco trucks, Korean tacos, taco menus. Have you noticed tacos lately? I can't say I have, but, then again, I did just make them last week. Last week also marked a surge in the spaghetti taco trend, an idea that launched on a kids tv show (iCarly, for those of you who don't watch Nickelodeon) and quickly spread to the dinner table. Really, it's just spaghetti served in a taco shell. Kids (and the parents who make their food) seem to love it!
Personally, I think tacos are a great party food -- the do-it-yourself toppings give everyone a customized meal -- and they are inexpensive to make. You can dress them up by using duck or lightly fried fish or keep them low key with ground beef and homemade taco seasoning. I love the occasional late night stop at a taco truck and I'm psyched to try Korean tacos. I was sold on the trend before I even realized it!
Do you think tacos will beat out cupcakes and sliders as the comfort food of 2010?
Read more:
• Spaghetti Tacos: Silly Enough for Young Eaters at The New York Times
• Crunch Time: NYC Wine & Food Fest goes loco for the taco at the New York Post
Related:
• Super Bowl Parties: Taco Bar
• Good Question: What Should I Serve With Tacos?
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I think tacos are IT for 2010.
I did roast beef tacos for my housewarming party a few years ago. Made the beef in crockpots with mexican spices, heated corn tortillas in the oven, and made pico de gallo and also a green tomatillo salsa. Super easy and relatively cheap way to feed lots of people. And fun!
I guess it depends on where you live. Probably for most states bordering Mexico, tacos are just a fact of life and not a trend. Though I think the trailer food trend has made eating from taco trucks (which have been around feeding working class joes for ages) more acceptable...
I agree with verily, in Texas, Tacos have been the IT thing for years... here in Dallas, there are more taco shops than you could count and even in the tiny town I grew up in, the taco shops outnumbered all other types of restaurants combined. But, way to go, rest-of-the-USA, for catching up to the trend.
Yeah, being from CA, it's hard to imagine not eating tacos at least once a week. I am considering moving to NY and my friend from there just told me that there isn't any Mexican food (except for Chipotle, which does not count). My world pretty much collapsed into a heap of rubble around me when she said that.
TAco Town!
actually, i'm making fish tacos for a birthday party tonight. Nom Nom!
As others said, tacos are a constant in the southwest. Build-your-own taco buffets are a party standard in California. We had beef tacos at least once a month growing up in the Bay Area, and fish tacos are a go-to in San Diego.
I agree, with the posters above, tacos in CA are pretty standard. Where I live, the Bay Area, there are more Mexican and Chinese options than so-called American or other European fair.
In California, "gourmet street food" has become a big trend, and, with that, the emergence and popularity of various fusion tacos: Korean short rib tacos with their optional kimchi toppings (my favorite!), the Philippino sisig taco, and other fusion flavors (I'm pulling for Chicken Tikki Masala Curry tacos!).
@KillaCook - as a relatively new NY resident, I can attest to the lack of good Mexican food. I live in the Hudson Valley, though, and I have found a few decent places - you know they're authentic when tripe and tongue tacos are on the menu!
But I've found that NY lacks "ethnic" food restaurants other than Chinese/Asian and Greek/Italian. Lol. Where I live there is, within a 30 mile radius, a decent Japanese noodle shop, a great greasy-spoon-style Mexican restaurant, a great more-authentic/we-don't-really-use-cheese Mexican restaurant, an Indian Bistro, an Irish pub with amazing burgers, and lots of really great pizza places. No Greek though, except for Greek diners, which don't count.
And I live on the west side of the river, which is less cosmopolitan - so it can be done!
P.S. I think you should add homemade tortillas to the trend list for tacos. And the revelation that tacos can be just meat and maybe a few vegetables in a corn tortilla and not need cheese and salsa and guacamole and olives and lettuce and sour cream, etc.
My husband and I live in Ohio, and we eat tacos at least once a week. I love cheese, so I always have cheese on my tacos, but it's usually just beef, cheese, lettuce. Sometimes sour cream dolloped on each individual bite.
Our diet consists of mostly Mexican foods, vegetable soups and grilled cheese, and Indian foods.
Yeah, CA tacos have always been a staple.
BUT, I'm having a taco bar at my wedding in a few weeks, which is becoming more popular.
My boyfriend's nina and nana feed a whole horde of people on a regular basis with beef and potato tacos, plus rice and beans on the side. Nothing beats it.
I'm going to a taco buffet baby shower today!
I live in Huntsville, AL and we have a taco bus that makes the best tacos. They are different from any Mexican food I've had before. I think they are muy authentico. Yum!
We had a taco truck for our daughter's first birthday last month. It was so much fun. My husband and I both grew up in Southern CA so tacos have always been standard comfort food for us both. We could eat them every night.
Mexican food in general is getting very popular at the moment. Where I am (Manchester, UK) burritos are the 'in' thing.
Lots of tacos in Chicago. But spaghetti tacos??? I literally can't wait to try them. Maybe tomorrow night!
I am of the opinion that fresh corn tortillas must be quickly fried in hot oil, folded and drained, THEN made into tacos. I don't care about the calories, only the flavor. Corn tortillas warmed in the oven (no offense, really) sound awful.
I can't stand food trends like this. The only IN, should be in season. Remember this for example when rummaging through a freezer cabinet for raspberries in December just because a chocolate raspberry Martini is IN for Christmas...
It's bad enough that many wear what they're told, but to eat a food just because it's cool and trendy is just pathetic.
Cupcakes, bacon... forget it.