Everything You Need to Know About Tacos When Traveling in Baja California

Here are the basic styles of tacos with the names as you will see them at the various taco stands and restaurants in Baja. Most of the tacos named below can also be ordered as a torta. Tortas are Mexican sandwiches prepared on some tasty bread rolls.

When handed or served your taco across the counter at a small taco stand, traditionally the corn (mais) or flour (harina) tortilla will be laid flat on a plate and have a serving of the meat you ordered placed in the center of the tortilla. Some taco stands cover the plate with a plastic bag so the plates don’t get dirty and are easier to wash.

You then pick one soft taco up in one hand, ( I use my left hand) folding the tortilla into a U shape with the meat held inside the U. Then you use the condiment rack or tray and spoon the various toppings onto the meat to make your taco a finished product.

Condiment options include salsa fresca (onion, tomato, celantro mixed fresh as needed), a finely chopped cabbage, liquidy guacamole, spicy hot (picante) salsas, sliced limes and sometimes other extras. The better taco stands will also have grilled chilies, along with slices of cucumber and round red radishes that are free with the tacos.

It is customary at taco stands to first order your food, to then eat and to finally pay before leaving. Most taco stands don’t write your orders on paper so each customer is on his or her honor to tell the money taker who finally tallies their bill, the true quantity of food and drinks consumed. Frequently the drinks are in an ice box or a glass fronted refrigerator and the customers simply grab what they want and pay with the food. No cheating at the taco stands please.

A typical taco order sounds like this in Spanish: “Dos tacos de carne asada con harina”. This is saying two carne asada tacos with flour tortillas. Or you might order “Dos tacos de pescado con mais”, which would be two fish tacos with corn tortillas.

When you eat inside a Mexican restaurant you are usually served a bowl of corn chips (totopas) and some salsa. When eating at a taco stand, you almost never get served chips. But there are an infinite variety of taco stands and service. My favorite taco stand in Loreto is called La Pangalapa. This place servee chips at your table before the tacos and condiment tray are delivered. It is a sort of upscale taco stand with sit down tables, a large covered dining area, two pretty sisters serving and taking orders and wide variety of soft drinks, beer and hard liquor.

Taco stands come in all styles and sizes. There are small portable stands where the meat is cooked and the tacos prepared on a small wheeled cart. There are small fixed stands just large enough for the cook to stand behind the counter. There are very large stands that can have half a dozen or more workers. There are taco stands housed inside catering trucks.

Most stands specialize in one or two varieties of tacos. A typical taco stand might have carne asada and pollo tacos, but not have fish tacos. Most often birria tacos are at specialized birreria stands. Frequently fish tacos are served at a stand specializing in seafood. A taco stand featuring fish tacos might also have seafood cocktails and ceviche available. Pangalapa, in Loreto is like this. They have seafood cocktails (pulpo – octobpus, camaron – shrimp and almejas –clam) and excellent fish ceviche along with shrimp tacos. Pangalapa sometimes has carne asada tacos, but not always.

Each taco stand keeps its own hours of operation. Sometimes there are two stands side by side, but the two stands are open at different times of the day. Sometimes several stands are lined up in a row, with each stand serving some different style of tacos.

A variation on the taco is the authentic Mexican burrito. These burritos look nothing like an American style burrito. What we in America think of as a burrito is now commonly referred to in Baja as a “super burrito”.

An authentic burrito can be made with either corn or flour tortilla, but is more commonly made with flour tortillas. The flat tortilla has some beef, machaca or beans and ranch cheese spread on and then is rolled into a long thin tube. These burritos do not have rice, salsa, sour cream, lettuce or tomatoes rolled inside. When those toppings are placed inside the authentic burrito becomes an American style super burrito.

In the USA we have something called a taquito, which is a corn tortilla rolled up with meat or beans inside and then fried to a crispy light brown. The authentic Mexican tortilla resembles a taquito, but is not fried and is filled with tasty meat or beans, not some kind of fake soy filled ground beef.

Taco varieties:

Carne asada: This is a flat pancake thin piece of beef (flank steak) that is chopped into small 1/8 to 2inch square pieces and then is spread onto the taco. Asada means seasoned and this is usually cooked on a charcoal barbeque. Carne asada meat seasoned and prepared by placing a layer of beef in the bottom of a pan, then some salt and maybe some onion and chili peppers, then alternating layers of beef and this seasoning. This is “seasoned” overnight in the refrigerator and then the beef is fried on a grill or barbeque and then chopped into taco size pieces.

Machaca: Dried beef that is purchased from the butcher shop pre-seasoned with the peppers and onion. While made by hundreds of different cooks and butchers across Baja, the flavor of machaca is remarkably consistent. One of my favorite rolled burritos is the machaca burrito.

Adobada: When you see a large ham or pork leg reddish in color being slowly turned in a manner similar to shawarma with a ceramic gas flame on one side of this upright spitted ham, then you are seeing adobada being prepared. The pork is slightly sweet from an infusion of pineapple. The ham on the skewer has been sliced paper thin in both a horizontal and vertical direction. The cook slowly turns the meat as a gas burner cooks the outside of this big ham. As meat is cooked properly the cook uses a sharp knife to peel thin layers into the metal pan that is beneath the skewer. This meat is then placed on your tortilla. If you like cooked ham you will enjoy this taco.

Pescado or fish: The type of fish varies throughout Mexico, but is always a white fleshed boneless variety of fish fillet. On the west coast of Baja in the north and central regions of Baja the most common fish is probably sea bass or corbina. On the east coast yellowtail tuna or dorado are common. Small pieces of this fish fillet are dipped in a batter and then deep fried. Two or three pieces of this battered fish will be placed on to your tortilla. Absolutely a must try if you enjoy fish and chips.

Pollo: Chicken fillets that are shredded and then placed onto your tortilla.

De cabeza: Cabeza means head in Spanish. Yes these are the “head of a cow” tacos. To prepare the meat the head of a cow is placed onto a specialized steam table. A heavy canvas is laid over the top of the cow head. Some spices and seasonings are added beneath the canvas. Then the head is steamed until the meat is thoroughly cooked. The cook slices or spoons pieces of this meat onto your tortillas. Frequently the entire head is on display beneath the steam cloth at the taco stand.

Dorado: Nope these are not dorado fish tacos. A dorado taco is beef or chicken filling rolled into a tortilla and looking like an American “taquito”. There is no such thing as a taquito in Baja. This rolled meat taco is then fried lightly and served on a plate, usually three of these to a serving. This is restaurant, not taco stand food. Normally served with guacamole, sour cream, lettuce and tomato.

A staple for fishermen and lovingly prepared by their wives are machaca and bean &cheese rolled burritos. A foil wrapped package of 6 or 12 of these burritos will be handed to the fishermen by his wife as he leaves home in the early morning heading out for a hard day of work on the water.

Quesadiilla: Flour tortilla filled with white ranch cheese, folded in half and then grilled to melt the cheese.

Sincrinazado: This is a quesadilla with beef or pork added to the cheese filling.

Milaneza: Beef is breaded and fried in bite sized pieces. Two or three pieces are placed onto a tortilla.

Birria: NO this is not burro meat. This is a style of preparing goat meat for tacos or tortas. This goat meat will usually be oily and reddish in color from the chili and spices used in the sauce. Birreria this is the sign frequently seen on street vendor stands that basically means “goat meat restaurant”.

While this description of taco making is a bit long winded, after reading this you can be assured that when you approach any taco stand you will now be quickly known as the “taco expert” of your group.

Link to the youtube video clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCc9kDu6rHE

Buen provecha

Author Bio:
Keith Jones is the founder of Baja Jones Adventures, Jones Adventures, Tigress Tours in Thailand and Butanding Tours in the Philippine Islands and has led thousands of people to Mexico and other interesting locations around the world. He specializes in gray whale tour, blue whale tour, gray and blue whale combo tour, giant panda bear tour, walk a tiger tour, shark tour, African safari tour, African gorilla trek, arctic narwhal tour and Magdalena Bay whale watching tour. He also writes about Baja travel and gray whales. Keith Jones is the author of Gray Whales My Twenty Years of Discovery.