I tend to associate tacos with corn-flour tortillas and quesadillas and burritos more with flour tortillas. And this leads me to a shameful secret: I love flour tortillas like nobody’s business. They’re delicious.

This is a taco blog, but interrupt the usual order of business to let you know about some delicious flour tortillas.

My mom’s birthday recently passed and I was out on a mission to find a tres leches cake. The mission would have been much easier if my mom were content with a Hispanic supermarket cake, but no, she wanted one from a bakery.

I interned with Glendale 11 earlier in the year and had made the drive down Glendale Ave and passed through Historic Downtown Glendale several times during my drive to and from the studios.

The first time I drove down Glendale, the big baby blue building of La Purisima Bakery caught my eye(mostly because I always got caught by the red light). I’d stopped once to get a pastry, and I remembered that they had a cake section as well.

The tortilla machine hadn’t been on that time, so I didn’t know what kind of tortillas were for sale at that time.

I jumped in my car to drive to the bakery to order my mother’s birthday cake on a Friday afternoon.

While putting in my order, I saw several asking for tortillas. Slowly, more people came in to the shop and took bunches of tortillas home. I don’t mean they took a pack home, no, they were carrying 4-6 packs each of tortillas.

Only a couple of tortillas left in the bag

The flour tortilla smell wafted through the air, and I couldn’t resist ordering some as well. I ordered two packs, and I could feel the warmth through the plastic grocery bag.

Outside of the bakery was a man selling cheese, but I declined and made my way to the car. Apparently, this man must have known that it was tortilla time.

I couldn’t resist the smell, so as soon as I buckled up in my car I took out a tortilla. It was amazing.

The tortilla is out of the bag

It might have been the boredom of eating whole wheat tortillas for a few years(my mom insisted we switch), but they have an amazing taste.

They seem to still have a powdery substance around them, but it’s probably flour residue. They’re pretty thick(perfect for a heavy loaded burrito) and have a sweetness to them. They also practically melt in your mouth.

The tortillas are all pretty thick

The next day I went to pick up the cake and more tortillas. People were still buying them, and it seems like their batch was practically done. They only had a few more packs sitting on the cart. I ordered 5 packs(because two weren’t enough), and I was a little disappointed that they weren’t warm.

It also reminded me of when I was younger. My family hails about 30 minutes Guadalajara.  When we visited them in Mexico, I loved going to the tortilla mill and getting them for lunch. Sometimes the ladies working there would be nice and give me a tortilla with some rock salt grains and wrap it up(probably not the most healthy thing to have) and I would eat it on the way back to my grandmother’s house. My grandmother’s house was down the street, so it’d be a perfect “for the ride home” treat. Now, people buy tortillas at the store or have them delivered them to their house. It makes me a little sad that the new crop of six-year-olds won’t get those memories.

About 10-12 tortillas come in each pack. When I ordered my 5 packs the total came out to about $11 dollars with tax, so they have a similar price to supermarket tortillas.

However, they taste just as delicious heated up in the microwave.

La Purisima has two locations: one in Glendale and one in Central Phoenix.

4425 W GLENDALE AVE
GLENDALE, AZ
85301-2822

2318 East Indian School Road,

Phoenix, AZ

85016-6260

However, here’s an opportunity that might be of interest to all you fellow taco lovers out there.

The Arizona Taco Festival! 

From their website:

The 30 competitive taco teams will cook off in any combination of four categories—chicken, beef, pork, and seafood—while sometimes also entering the salsa and guacamole contests as they chose. Teams will bring their food trucks, hottest booth decor, and crazy surprises.

They will also have Lucha Libre and for those over 21, they’ll have a tequila expo.

I will get back to this blog, so expect new posts. If you have a place you’d like me to check out, email me at andrea[dot]gmartinez4[at] gmail[dot]com or tweet me!

I’d seen La Frontera taco truck while driving down Phoenix’s 16th street. I remembered the interesting atmosphere that seemed to surround the establishment, so I made up my mind to pay a visit.

My roommate heard of my plans and quickly launched warnings my way. “Don’t get sick from street food!” “Don’t eat if it’s not clean!”

However, Phoenix has health codes to combat those types of things.

Confident that getting sick off any type of food is somewhat powered by the mind, I made the drive to La Frontera(the taco truck, not the actual border).

It’s not difficult to find La Frontera taco truck. It’s big, it’s white and people file in line to place their order. Remember, this is all just off the street.

La Frontera is parked in a parking lot where there’s a water mill and an ice dispenser. At first you might not be so sure if you’ve made it to the right place. The only vehicle that has a secure parking spot is the taco truck, so you’ll pull into an old parking lot with a few potholes.

Once I secured a parking spot I made my way to the window. To my surprise, there were many people eating their midday meal at the tables underneath a blue tarp. About three tables make up the seating of La Frontera.

I’d made my visit during the earlier part of lunch so I wasn’t expecting too many people. Despite the amount of customers, it didn’t take too long to place my order.

The menu isn’t super extensive, but it has a nice variety. It has several types of tacos, burritos and tostadas. The tacos cost $1.25 each with the exception of the tripitas(fried small intestines) tacos which were more expensive.

I walked up the window and prepared to give my order in English. While there was a range of clientele eating, it seems like Spanish dominates the atmosphere.

-Dos de asada y uno al pastor, por favor(two asada tacos and one al pastor, please).

-Con todo(with everything?)

-Que es con todo?(What’s everything?)

-Cebolla y lechuga.(Onions and lettuce).

-Si, por favor.

It took less than five minutes toeceive my food. Three people(one at the register and two at the food- all on board the truck) seems to speed up the process.

My tacos came on a simple Styrofoam plate covered with aluminum foil.

The smell wafted through the foil that it was almost impossible to patiently take pictures.

Since I’d asked for todo, my tacos came with onions and lettuce. I also ordered an al pastor(Shepard’s style)taco so I thought that the cucumbers were for those, but they weren’t placed with the al pastor tacos.

Moments later I bit into the first taco. Yum.

Filling: As you can see, there’s a decent amount of meat that comes with each taco. The meat tasted very good except for a few pieces that might have been a little overdone. Also, the meat looked a little greasy but it did not deter from the taco.

There weren’t too many onions on top and the amount of lettuce was good as well.

Tortilla: The tortilla was soft and easily chewed. The price justifies for the size, but it was a little small.  It was warmed to perfection and didn’t taste like the mass produced tortillas found in the local grocery aisle. Despite the good amount of filling, the tortilla did not fall apart when picked up.

Presentation: Eating off a Styrofoam plate may not be too enticing, but the tacos looked very well put together. They weren’t falling apart and the smell added to the presentation. The smell wasn’t overpowering, and it makes you want to take a bite.

Price: $

The al pastor tacos were good too. The tortilla was the same kind as the one with the carne asada tacos. The meat had a nice flavor and it was a little spicy. I did not see a spit, so they were probably cooked on a sort of grill. A slice of pineapple would have skyrocketed the taste and experience of the al pastor tacos.

I give La Frontera taco truck two and a half Bellas. It almost hit the maximum of three Bellas, but they’re not perfection. The meat was a little overcooked, so biting to some crunchier tacos and having to chew those a little more wasn’t the best experience. However, make sure to stop at La Frontera for some delicious and cheap tacos.

La Frontera

16th St. & Van Buren

Phoenix, Arizona

It’s difficult to miss the establishment with its bright red, green and white decor. The slogan will capture your attention as well.

My initial intention was to head to a different taco place. However, “Where you don’t peso(pay-so) much,” immediately caught my attention. At first I didn’t understand why they had a currency name as part of their slogan, but after a few repetitions in my head I understood.  I slammed  brakes and turned to Caramba! 

The decor inside matched the outside. Red, green and white dominated the space from the floor to the tables. Spanish talk-radio played in the background. Plenty of indoor and outdoor seating is available at Caramba! Most of the tables remained empty as it was not lunch time.

I made my way to the register and noticed that food preparation area looked much like a taco truck. The front consisted of metal paneling covering the assembly line like taco preparation. If you want your tacos in-house there are plastic brown cafeteria-style trays to use.

I ordered two carne asada tacos that cost $2.56 each from the extensive menu. My total came out to $5.86 for the two tacos.

While waiting for my tacos, I noticed that Caramba! had a recognition from the New Times magazine up on their wall. They’d been awarded “Best of Phoenix” in 1995.

After a few minutes my tacos were ready.

I thanked the cook and headed home with my bag.

I took the contents out of the bag and discovered two containers of salsa.

Finally, after much anticipation I opened the container and saw the two carne asada tacos. Limes, salsa, and lettuce were off to the side.

The two tacos were stuffed with the carne asada filling, although it looked greasy and had a weird substance covering it. It turns out that at the bottom of the tacos was some guacamole. Upon further examination, I discovered that the tacos were actually made up with two tortillas. In between the two corn tortillas was a little bit of yellow cheese.

Ready to chomp down, I picked up the taco only to find that it easily broke apart.

From then on I had to make mini tacos with the broken tortilla and the filling.

A few bites later, I was not impressed.

Filling: Though there was plenty of filling, it was also a little overwhelming. The double tortilla strategy would have worked in this situation, if it had not been stuck together with cheese, to scoop up the extra filling.

The meat was a little greasy, and the guacamole did not mix well with it. A better option would have been to give the guacamole in a separate container. Also, the meat had too much of a spice that gave it a strong after taste.

Tortilla: It didn’t do anything to help the taco. It fell apart too quickly and was a little bland. The meat was not soggy, so it was probably not the cause of the tortilla falling apart.

Presentation: When closed, the taco did not look too bad. However, the meat that did peak out did not look appetizing with the guacamole and excess grease mixed.

Price: $$

Overall: I give Caramba! one Bella the Chihuahua. The tacos did not hit the basics of the categories and left much to be desired. Caramba! may have won an award in 1995, but it’s time to move on.

Caramba!

5421 West Glendale Avenue

Glendale, AZ 85301

623-934-8888

A delicious meaty filling wrapped by thin bread topped with salsa, onions and cilantro. Sounds delicious.

American audiences may immediately think of Taco Bell when thinking about tacos. It’s difficult not to imagine the purple advertisements and the talking Chihuahua when searching for that “fourth meal.”

However, the taco originated in Mexico.

First, the tortilla.

The dictionary defines a tortilla as;

A thin, round, unleavened bread prepared from cornmeal or
sometimes wheat flour, baked on a flat plate of iron, earthenware,or the like.

There are two main types of tortillas:

Corn

Flour

Tortillas popped up around 2700 BC around Tehuacan Valley near Puebla, Mexico.

In 1520 Bernal Diaz del Castillo first documented tacos during an expedition with Hernan Cortes. It was noted that the people were eating tacos filled with things such as fish.

Bertha Haffner-Ginger’s 1914 book contained some of the first English language taco recipes.

Juvencio Maldonado submitted a patent for a hard-shell taco machine in 1950 naming it “form for frying tortillas to make fried tacos.”

Glen Bell launched the first Taco Bell in 1962 in Downey, CA.

Recently, a California woman filed a class-action lawsuit against Taco Bell for false advertising. The lawsuit claims that Taco Bell’s meat filling is only 35 percent meat.

Taco Bell says it’s 88 percent ground beef in its tacos. They have responded with a “Thank you for suing us,” campaign to try and set the record straight about what goes into its tacos.

As of 2007,  only Italian and Chinese food outnumber Mexican cuisine establishments. So, there’s plenty of places to try out tacos.

Modern Day Taco News

These days, tacos have made their way to mainstream pop-culture.

For a young audience, spaghetti tacos born from iCarly, a Nickelodeon series. The recipe consists of spaghetti with meatballs and hard taco shells.

Several users have uploaded videos on how to make spaghetti tacos such as TheMysteryCook.

Those are some of the important dates in taco history. There’s more to come as foods start to cross over to different cultures.