Tacos!
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A taco is normally served flat on a tortilla that has been warmed up on a comal; since the tortilla is still soft, it can be folded over or pinched together into a U-shape for convenient consumption. In the variant known as the taco dorado (fried taco) or flauta (Flute in English, because of the shape), the tortilla is filled with pre-cooked chicken or barbacoa, rolled into a cylinder and deep-fried until crisp.
Having cheese, lettuce, or sour cream on a taco is uncommon in Mexico, as is the use of ground beef for the meat - this is more often seen in American fast food chains such as Taco Bell, Del Taco, or Taco John's. Also, hard-shelled tacos (where the tortilla is heavily fried to give it a crisp texture) such as those seen in American fast food are almost non-existent in Mexico.
Authentic Mexican taquer'as (taco vendors or restaurants) serve many cuts of meat not often seen in some cultures, including stomach, head, and liver meat from cattle. One example of such fare are tacos de cabeza, which are actually made out of the head muscles (including the tongue) and brains of cattle. Mexican tacos are more likely to feature chopped onion and cilantro as condiments, as well as red and green salsa or pico de gallo. Lime slices are also sometimes offered to squeeze over the dish.
One speciality found at many taco stands across Mexico (and a particular favorite in Mexico City) and Texas is the taco al pastor. As the name pastor suggests, they were originally made with lamb or mutton, probably adapted from shawarma which was introduced by Lebanese and Syrian imigrants to Mexico. Now, the main ingredient is spiced pork, which is cut in slivers from a rack of meat standing on a vertical spit in front of an open flame; the method is similar to that used to prepare D'ner kebabs and gyros in the Mediterranean. The cooked meat is then placed on a maize tortilla and garnished with chopped cilantro, onion, and a wedge of pineapple, with a dash of salsa as a finishing touch. Since tacos al pastor tend to be among the cheapest tacos, they are the mainstay of many a visit to the taquer'a.
The authentic Mexican taco is not to be confused with the traditional California taco handed down by the Mexican population of old California. It consists of an over-sized (approximately 6 inches across), lard-fried corn tortilla (not a taco shell) filled with seasoned, bean-diluted ground (or shredded) beef, shredded cheese, shredded lettuce and diced tomato. Most California supermarkets sell oversized corn tortillas for this purpose. However with the influx of recent Mexican immigrants to the rest of the United States, these tacos are hard to find outside of the Southwest; immigrant Mexican restauranteurs tend to emulate the hard-shelled, fast-food version of this taco mentioned earlier in this article.
In the Mexican states of Baja California and Baja California Sur, and the U.S. state of California, along the Pacific coast, the fish taco is quite popular, and is served in many seaside taquerias. These tacos contain chunks of either grilled or battered and deep-fried fish, a white, creamy, milk and mayonnaise based sauce and shredded cabbage.
In northern Mexico, tacos are usually offered in both wheat and maize tortillas, although the former is prefered, with the exception of the above mentioned fish tacos, carnitas and barbacoa. The first dated account of the Taco was written by Bernal Diaz del Castillo in 1520 in his chronicles called A True History of the Conquest of New Spain.
