American Tacos by José R. Ralat

Author:José R. Ralat [Ralat, José R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Published: 2020-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

Cajun tacos at EaDeaux’s Cajun Cocina.

PHOTOGRAPH © ROBERT STRICKLAND.

The following year, Top Taco NOLA was an even bigger success, with forty-five hundred attendees, more than fifty restaurants represented, and nearly as many spirits companies. The winner for Most Creative Taco was the cauliflower taco from Johnny Sánchez, a fascinating choice considering that the cauliflower taco is the lynchpin of so many “chef-driven” or specialty taquerias.

Elsewhere in Louisiana, Somos Bandidos, out of Baton Rouge, hits plenty of correct notes with prickly fillings like an Andouille-chorizo blend and a jerk chicken. Gov’t Taco runs with historical and legal motifs in its taco names. For example, Clucks and Balances tosses pimento macaroni and cheese and smoked chicken thigh meat with Nashville hot chicken skins and Alabama white barbecue sauce. The Catfish Are Coming! tucks in with mustard-molasses fried namesake fish and crispy greens. The Magna Carrot is founded on glazed carrots. Parish Taceaux in Shreveport has a solid array of Sur-Mex options. The Alabama BBQ Chicken arrives concealed under a wet and thick buttermilk bacon slaw with a peppy white barbecue sauce. The Nashville Hot! Chicken taco slides to the medium end of the heat spectrum, although the pebbled Cotija cheese and pickles add salty and puckering contrasts. The fried oysters are plump, blitzed with bands of lettuce.

Yet, there is reason to be cautious. There is much eyebrow-raising corporate cultural appropriation and cheffy dreams masquerading as innovation.

Take Sean Brock and Minero.

When Brock—noted for his dedication to local and seasonal ingredients at his restaurants, McCrady’s and Husk—announced that he and his partners at the Neighborhood Dining Group would open their own taqueria in Charleston, South Carolina, a Sur-Mex regional hybridization was inevitable. The taqueria would take the name Minero, a name that takes, I think, a white man a whole bunch of cojones to use. The name translates to “miner” and evokes the silver miners who are said to have consumed the first tortilla-based food to carry the name “taco.” “Taco” also refers to the explosive charges used to clear rock in the mines. These rolled foods were called “tacos de minero.” Whether Brock’s decision to christen his newest venture after the earliest tacos was deliberate, I don’t know. But it raises suspicions of cultural appropriation. According to his handlers, Brock was unavailable for an interview. I was however given the opportunity to speak with Wesley Grubbs, Minero’s chef de cuisine, the individual in charge of daily kitchen operations from the beginning. He was gracious and forthcoming.

Brock’s impetus in establishing Minero was his opinion that there were no good tacos in Charleston, and he wanted to eat good tacos while in Charleston. His motivation was selfish, he admitted in the Charleston City Paper. “It was really that simple,” Grubbs told me. Could there really not have been more for a chef dedicated to the roots of his own Southern culinary heritage? It is no secret that Brock is as enamored with corn as he is with rice. So, after several research trips to Mexico

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