How do you eat tacos?

[Mr Pootle]

Mexican food has never really taken off in the UK, but you can find it if you look. My  wife found a "taco kit" in a supermarket last week, and we had it yesterday.
In the Michael Connelly books his hero, Harry Bosch, frequently visits taco stands and eats them either standing up, or sat in his car. When I bit into each of my three tacos yesterday they shattered, depositing the filling on the plate below. I finished them with a knife and fork.
Could one of you wise Americans advise me, preferably with the aid of a video, how to eat tacos please. We've the other half of the kit to have later in the week.

[Dirk_S]

You’re already a pro at eating them American-style. That’s just what often happens. That’s why many folks take to soft taco shells over hard. Or better yet, wrap a similarly sized soft taco shell over the hard corn tortilla and you have yourself the safest method of preserving your nice Oxford shirt from the evils of staindom.

[Shorty]

OR, you could crunch them up in a bowl, add lettuce etc, and have a taco salad.

[Markcarovilli]

Mr Pootle

Can’t help much on tacos but Harry Bosch series is great in my estimation.  My wife and I really enjoyed them - the series not the tacos.

Mark

[Moto Vita]

Mexican food has never really taken off in the UK, but you can find it if you look. My  wife found a "taco kit" in a supermarket last week, and we had it yesterday.
In the Michael Connelly books his hero, Harry Bosch, frequently visits taco stands and eats them either standing up, or sat in his car. When I bit into each of my three tacos yesterday they shattered, depositing the filling on the plate below. I finished them with a knife and fork.
Could one of you wise Americans advise me, preferably with the aid of a video, how to eat tacos please. We've the other half of the kit to have later in the week.

 Mexican taco shells are not hard. The hard ones are an American thing that I've never understood, and avoid.

[pebra]

Mr Pootle,
How do you eat hamburgere, then? 😄

[cliffrod]

There isn't any magic to it. Either use proper soft tortillas or play the broken hard shell game.  Regular wheat flour soft tortillas are the most forgiving.  I think corn tortillas taste much better, but they tear pretty easily.  We just had chicken fajitas on soft corn tortillas with rice and refried beans for lunch.  The more you toast the corn tortillas, the better they taste but the more fragile they become.  Hard crispy taco shells are an American thing, not authentic Mexican cuisine. 

I've come to like fish tacos very much.  With all this crazy fusion stuff, I think if I was over in England visiting you we  would have to try some Brit-Mex.  Get some good fish & chips and eat the fish on a tortilla with some onion, cilantro, lime juice and hot sauce.   Food for thought....

[acogoff]

     Maybe, should ask the Norwegian members, I've often heard Fridays are either Taco Night or Pizza night in Norway. And I'm not sure there are any "Wise Americans". Probably less than wise Brits, maybe. I stay away from fast food type tacos as they contain about 500 % of the daily allowance of cholesterol each. Make your own from scratch at home with the ingredients you like, than it is your own fault if you get a dirty shirt.

[Mr Pootle]

Mr Pootle,
How do you eat hamburgere, then? 😄

Between two halves of a soft bun. It's usually safe, but I remember a lunch in Nimes, when I picked the bun up and bit into it. Most of the filling came out the other side, onto the pair of white trousers I'd bought especially for my holiday in the south of France.
These days I tend to use a knife and fork for burgers too. After my radiotherapy I can't get my mouth open wide enough to treat burgers as finger food.

[Tom H]

Some hard shells break easier than others. Just the way it is. You could try... a very light steaming to soften them just a touch (maybe a moist paper towel and a few seconds in the microwave), don't over stuff them, hold them in a paper napkin so when it does crack, it stays together in the napkin.

As mentioned, soft tacos are easier to manage. Warmed flour, corn or white corn. Corn, you might use 2, some are thin and tear easily.

Tom

[oldbike54]

 Use greasier meat .

 Dusty

[Tom H]

Use greasier meat .

 Dusty

This does help to keep the fold from cracking

Tom

[Guzzistajohn]

We get these crunchy corn tortillas by a company called LaFamos warmed up in the oven then add a little of the taco meat juice when you stack your stuff in and it's muy bueno 

Add taco stuff to a bag of fritos corn chips and you've reached junk food nirvana 

[Stevex]

+1 on Harry Bosch. Read all the books before the series hit Amazon.

[Tom]

Change your eating technique with the crunchy corn taco shells:  Do a complete clean bite.  Smaller bite.  Have your mouth level or a little elevated.  Opposing hand cupped under your chin should anything fall.     Great for small ones because kids like to be interactive with their food. 
As with any "finger food",  wash your hands before dining. 

As stated earlier however authentic tacos are made with soft tortillas.  Double 4" rounds with meats that are not commonly eaten.  Goat, beef tongue, offal & other parts.  Most often the meat is chopped.  Great for street food.  Easier to eat and go.  Beef, pork and chicken is more for Gringoes.

 

[LowRyter]

Mexican food has never really taken off in the UK, but you can find it if you look. My  wife found a "taco kit" in a supermarket last week, and we had it yesterday.
In the Michael Connelly books his hero, Harry Bosch, frequently visits taco stands and eats them either standing up, or sat in his car. When I bit into each of my three tacos yesterday they shattered, depositing the filling on the plate below. I finished them with a knife and fork.
Could one of you wise Americans advise me, preferably with the aid of a video, how to eat tacos please. We've the other half of the kit to have later in the week.

Most of the taco trucks make soft tacos, either a flour tortilla or a double wrap corn tortilla. 

Taco Bell makes crispy tacos that only crumble little bit.   My thinking is that the crispy tacos need a little bit of the grease from the meat and sauce to soak in a bit and soften the shells.  They'll still crumble, just a little more controllable.   Anyway, I am guessing that's how Taco Bell (and million other food joints and restaurants) do it.

[Dirk_S]

...Double 4" rounds with meats that are not commonly eaten.  Goat, beef tongue, offal & other parts.  Most often the meat is chopped.  Great for street food.  I Easier to eat and go.  Beef, pork and chicken is more for Gringoes

I was quite excited when I stopped by a taco bar in Vegas (near the Radisson, perhaps?), and it listed brain on the menu. Only other time I had brains was when I asked my Pennsylvania Dutch grandparents to fry some up out of curiosity.

[Tom]

What kind of brains? 

[berniebee]

Here in Ottawa, Canada, (Where tacos were invented.  ) we use only soft tortillas warmed in the microwave for 15 seconds.
Half of the hard tacos in a "taco kit" are usually cracked anyway. And yes, you've discovered why many people use both soft and hard shells together.

You should be able to find the spices for a decent taco seasoning. You basically mix chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. And if you are feeling ambitious, you can even make the tortillas yourself. Not hard to do. I mean they have been doing it in Mexi, er, that is here in Ottawa since before there was electricity.

BTW, your kit probably specified ground beef. Tacos are even better with cooked, shredded beef or shredded chicken.

[Dirk_S]

What kind of brains?

I forget, but I assume pork. We all know how dangerous those mad cow prions can be.

[pebra]

     Maybe, should ask the Norwegian members, I've often heard Fridays are either Taco Night or Pizza night in Norway. And I'm not sure there are any "Wise Americans". Probably less than wise Brits, maybe. I stay away from fast food type tacos as they contain about 500 % of the daily allowance of cholesterol each. Make your own from scratch at home with the ingredients you like, than it is your own fault if you get a dirty shirt.

Yes, taco has become very popular here. Probably not very advanced or authentic cooking, though 😄

Initially hard shells dominated I believe, but now mainly soft tortillas.
I still think it's a messy way of eating.

[Lannis]

I forget, but I assume pork. We all know how dangerous those mad cow prions can be.

Cow brains can't hold a candle to pork brains in terms of dangerousness to your well-being.

One small serving of pork brains has 10 times the TOTAL recommended DAILY intake of cholesterol for a normal person.  I've tried 'em and it ain't worth it!

Lannis

[Rich A]

Add taco stuff to a bag of fritos corn chips and you've reached junk food nirvana 

That's a "thing" here in New Mexico and probably other places, called a Frito pie (seasoned hamburger meat*, picante or other sauce, pinto beans, tomato, onions, lettuce and maybe some sour cream all in the bag). Typically eaten with a plastic fork.

It is usually called "hamburger meat" here, not just "hamburger."

Rich A

[Moto Vita]

That's a "thing" here in New Mexico and probably other places, called a Frito pie (seasoned hamburger meat, picante or other sauce, pinto beans, tomato, onions, lettuce and maybe some sour cream all in the bag). Typically eaten with a plastic fork.

Rich A

 Hmmm, can you make it in to a smoothie?

[Perazzimx14]

Tacos are good anyway as long as you have hot sauce and beer to accomany them.

[normzone]

What nobody has discussed here yet is the origin of the taco ...

A manufacturer of paper napkins, desperate to increase sales, came up with the idea.

As for how to eat them, grasp them as you would pick up the middle of a garden hose laying on the ground, with your palm down and your thumb horizontal.

Hard shell or soft, the technique is the same - lift the taco no more than a few inches, keeping it centered over your plate.

Lower your face to the taco and turn your head sideways, introducing the taco to your mouth without removing it from the safety of the plate zone.

It will still spill, hard taco or soft, both variations are tasty, work with what you've got. But at least it will stay on the plate.

For soft tacos, another variant is to use two tortillas for each taco. Eat the taco and the innermost tortilla as described above. Gravity will place the fallout on the second tortilla below - repeat the actions as described.

Then get some napkins, and think kindly of that sales-hungry manufacturer of long ago.

[Guzzi Gal]

The crunchy shells are no bueno.

For those interested in a brief history, look no further than https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard-shell_taco .

[Dirk_S]

Lol, Wikipedia is telling me that tacos are pre-Spaniard authentically Mexi-cuisine.

[beetle]

Shovel them in. Two to three bites max. Eat the next one. Gorge yourself stupid.


 

[GeorgiaGuzzi]

I use my hands to eat tacos...

Seriously tho, if there is a store that has them, get soft corn tortillas, take a non-stick pan and put a small amount of oil in it. Med-hi heat get the oil warm (not smoking) put a tortilla in for just long enough to get some crispy brown bits, flip over do the same to the other side, remove, sprinkle lightly with salt, build your taco with your preferred fillings. Muy bueno!