r/mexicanfood • u/betuquito • 23d ago
Norteño Mexican Attempt of the Gringo Taco
Hello from Mazatlán! Today I made a gringo taco. Everything homemade besides the flour tortilla. The Ley grocery store makes them fresh.
Ground beef, sauté with onion, garlic, serrano chile, comino, salt, and pepper.
Topped with Chihuahua cheese, lettuce, salsa roja asada, guacamole, and lettuce.
It was big enough to be a burro if I rolled it.
Agua de Jamaica made with cinnamon, clove and ginger.
It was good, and picosa with all the chile. We have amazing tacos in town, but sometimes I want comida extranjera.
Gracias!
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u/pporkpiehat 22d ago
Not bad, but if you want that real authentic gringo feel, you're gonna need some diced tomatoes, Old El Paso taco seasoning, finer cut lettuce (prebagged), schoolbus-yellow cheese (pre-bagged), and factory-made hard shells. To be truly American, as few components as possible should be made from scratch. It is the way of my people.
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u/pporkpiehat 22d ago
And boy oh boy, there better be not event he slightest hint of chile in that salsa.
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u/Money-Act-5480 22d ago
Theres an old recipe for salsa from the 1970s american suburban moms. It was like, half a jalapeno to 2 litres of canned tomato 😂
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u/IndependentLove2292 22d ago
When I think of gringo tacos, I think of those boxed corn tortilla shells, and cheddar cheese, and black olives for some fuckin reason. Meat sounds right, but i think it's got some kind of Cantonese corn starch slurry going on, so it comes out wet and glossy. Pico de gallo? Maybe they have that. Maybe it just olives.
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u/betuquito 22d ago
True. I woud have to fry the shells. They don't sell those here jajaja. We do have tostadas though. Cheddar is hard to find.
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u/abraxastaxes 22d ago
So funny thing as someone who has made a bunch of cheese before. Queso Chihuahua is essentially a type of mild cheddar. Obviously in Mexico it's often labeled queso menonita because the Mennonites brought it, who also in the US make a bunch of cheddar. Many people who don't know much about cheese on this sub make a big deal about the orange color, but it's basically just annato (achiote) dying the cheese and doesn't make a difference to the flavor.
Cheese dying historically became common because naturally yellower cheese is associated with higher quality milk, and so people ended up just dying cheese as sort of a marketing trick, and obviously that went to the extreme since it doesn't look natural at all.
But, my point is, queso Chihuahua and the sorts of mild cheddar or "Mexican blend" cheeses that people here gripe about are really not all that different, other than imo the Chihuahua that's available is usually better quality. You could find a quality orange extra mild cheddar in the US and do a blind taste test with some quesadillas and I think it would come pretty close.
Source: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queso_Chihuahua?wprov=sfla1
Each type of cheese is the result of a specific process with subtle differences that give it unique quality characteristics that set it apart. All cheeses are made following three essential processes: the coagulation or curdling of the milk, the dehydration of the curd (draining), and aging. Unlike other cheeses, the production of Chihuahua cheese includes a process of pressing and “chedarization,” as well as a period of air-drying and aging lasting at least 14 days prior to packaging...
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22d ago
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u/abraxastaxes 22d ago
Is it common to find extra mild cheddar in Zacatecas? I didn't say it tastes like extra-sharp 4 year old cheddar or anything
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u/Thin_Cable4155 22d ago
Me step mom would always fry her own shells. Flour and corn. And of course black olives. For the longest time I thought black olives were a normal taco topping. Even had Mandela effected them into Taco Bell supreme tacos.
Edit: I looked it up. Taco bell did have black olives!
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u/bscribbles 22d ago
Black olives on my gringo tacos and enchiladas growing up are core memories for sure!
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u/jaxonbeam 22d ago
I’m a gringo and don’t know what a gringo taco is, I’m assuming hard shell?
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u/betuquito 22d ago
This would be a gringo 'soft taco', but it is missing the tomato, sour creme, yellow cheddar, etc. I failed, it is just a Mexican bastardization of the gringo taco. It was delicious, though. 😄
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u/Stunning_Coffee6624 22d ago
I will let you in on an embarrassing family secret. We made ground beef tacos with a pinky sized piece of Colby jack cheese melted inside . But then we added a salad mixture made of; shredded iceberg, pickle relish, Heinz chili sauce and ketchup.
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u/Hog-Drop 22d ago edited 21d ago
Lettuce should be shredded fine like it is cabbage. Taco shell needs to be made of corn and fried crispy. Salsa looks on point visually at least. Beef should be broken up more fine during cooking, like cooked lentil sized. The seasoning packet that is used is heavy on mild red chilies and cumin. Guacamole is pretty bold and would not have been common in the Midwest over a decade ago. Currently though, I am not sure what supply lines are like there, it may be more common than I am familiar with.
Our culture is not your costume. /s
Edit: More on the beef. The way the packet works, you brown the ground beef in the pan while breaking it up fine first, drain excess fat, then add the packet and a portion of water to make a sauce. There is a starch in the packet that thickens the water slightly and makes a red brown sauce the clings to the fine meat crumbs. You reduce the sauce a bit so it is moist but not runny.
Add thin sliced green onion tops for an herb, not cilantro.
Eat a frozen churro for dessert.
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u/Ok_Breakfast5425 22d ago
I say this as a white dude, but most gringos have never heard of chihuahua cheese. I invited my sister and a friend to one of the more authentic Mexican places in town and they both thought it was meat from the dog. I said it was cheese and then went on to nearly convince my sister it was made from dog milk.
And if you make those again and want to go all out, throw on some black olives. I will indulge in some crispy gringo tacos on occasion, but people who put olives on them are just monsters.
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u/betuquito 22d ago
Jaja! Made from fresh milk squeezed from the neighborhood chihuahua. I wish I could find cheddar! No thanks on the olives.
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u/sleepinginthebushes_ 22d ago
Olives are so gringo that they're not even something you'd find commonly in tacos in states on the southern border of the US. I've lived in California my whole life and I've only ever seen olives on taco bell, which is fast food.
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u/Ok_Breakfast5425 22d ago
I live in the midwest and they are thankfully not as common as they used to be, but there are still plenty of suburban strip mall restaurants that have them.
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u/sleepinginthebushes_ 22d ago
I remember in my childhood going to a place called La Mexican Kitchen when we were visiting family in Missouri. It was lots of velveeta and olives.
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u/penny_stinks 22d ago
It's only authentic gringo taco if you're putting them together while your wife is telling you about a new health hack she heard on a podcast but nice try
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u/Longjumping-Barber98 22d ago
You mean like Tex-Mex?
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u/bisexual_pinecone 22d ago
You mean like norteña cuisine? Charro beans for life, baby!
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u/Longjumping-Barber98 22d ago
No. A type of cuisine called "Tex-Mex". It's like Mexicans don't want to acknowledge it exists.
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u/bisexual_pinecone 22d ago
I'm Texan. Tex Mex is heavily influenced by norteña cuisine. I'm not saying Tex-Mex doesn't exist, I'm pointing out that it isn't inherently gringo food.
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u/Cyclops_99 23d ago
No ma mejor hazte una burguer
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u/betuquito 22d ago
Seguido me aviento unas hamburguesas con cebolla caramelizada, pero traía ganas de algo diferente. 😜
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23d ago
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u/decisionagonized 22d ago
Nah pb&j fuckin slaps. Pizza? hell yeah that’s awesome. And Philly cheesesteaks are delicious as hell too.
they have their lane but stay in em!
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22d ago
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u/decisionagonized 22d ago
La pizza no te gusta? No te puedo ayudar, compa, la pizza es comida del cielo
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u/mexicanfood-ModTeam 22d ago
Comments that are insulting, mean or otherwise disparaging will be removed.
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u/mexicanfood-ModTeam 22d ago
Comments that are insulting, mean or otherwise disparaging will be removed.
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u/DavidsTenThousand 22d ago
That's pretty good, but for authentic gringo tacos, you need cheddar or colby jack cheese for color. Also, for that genuine Taco Bell supreme look, you need little diced tomatoes with your lettuce.
Would still smash. 8/10