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26 GASTRONOMICA WINTER 2008 WWas the Invented in SSouthern California? Taco bellprovides investigations photocopy orreproduce article contentthroughtheuniversityofcalifornia press gastronomica: thejournal offoodandculture,vol.8,no.1,pp.26–38,issn 1529-3262. first, quicklyfriedthemandstucktogetherwitha Spanish name,incontrasttootherMexicandishesclearly in MexicoCity.Asculturalhistorians haveshown,words ing regularusageonlyattheend ofthenineteenthcentury is simplyafreshmaizetortillawrappedaroundmorsels interpretation ofYankeeingenuitytransformingaMexican modernity andnon-westerntraditionassumesthatthetaco everyday foodwithdeeppre-Hispanicrootsiscalledbya company founderGlenBellexplained,“Ifyouwanteda can readilyattest,NorthAmericanfastfoodisbynomeans contrast, thehardtaco,asofttacofriedinporkfat,mustbe of meatorbeans.Thetortillahassurelybeenusedinthis dozen []…youwereinforawait.Theystuffedthem derived fromindigenouswords. had tobedoneaboutthemethodofpreparation.” historical claim.IncontemporaryMexico,thesofttaco has existedunchangedsincetimeimmemorial—adubious aries, cookbooks,archives,and literarysourcesrevealsthat as quicklyany a comparativelyrecentinvention,becauseSpanishconquis- at thedrive-throughwindow. prepare elaboratedumplings,noodles,,ortacos peasant tradition.Asconnoisseursofglobalstreetcuisine toothpick. Ithoughttheyweredelicious,butsomething tion tostandardizefoodandmakeitmoreefficient. fast food.Thisprocess,dubbed“McDonaldization”by formation ofethnicandnationalcuisinesintocorporate the word“taco”hasasurprisingly recentprovenance,enter- fast. Streetvendorsintheleastdevelopedofcountriescan to waitingcustomers.Yetthereareproblemswiththis thatcouldbequicklystuffedwithfillingsandserved tadors broughtthepigs.Yetpuzzleremainsofwhyan fashion sinceitwasinventedthousandsofyearsago.By sociologist GeorgeRitzer,entailstechnologicalrationaliza- something wasthecreationof“tacoshell,”apre-fried script ,nevermindthetimespentwaitinginline Moreover, thiscontrastbetweenNorthAmerican o a u s

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© ’ 1 2008 by theregentsofuniversitycalifornia.allrights reserved. pleasedirectallrequestsforpermissionto i s rightsandpermissions web site,http://www.ucpressjournals.com/reprintinfo.asp. doi:10.1525/gfc.2008.8.1.26. Oras I f n o v r n Angeles, Iexaminehowtacosgainedafollowingamong Proto-Tacos Before examiningthetaco’smigrationnorthward,wemust first locateitsoriginsinMexico,whichisnoeasytask. Linguistic evidenceoftheedibletacoismostnotableforits antropología ehistoria,méxico. I concludethatthefirsttacofranchisessucceedednot In anotheressayIhavedescribedhowtheproletariantaco States, whereMexicanmigrantshadalreadybeguntocreate col. sinafo-inah,inventorynumber155025.courtesy oftheinstitutonacionalde in Mexicotoemphasizethatthetacowasitselfaproduct is commontomostRomanticandGermaniclanguages, mainstream audiences,withparticularattentiontothe literally shapesocialreality,andthisnewphenomenon restaurants, called ence, from cuisine withoutcrossinglinesofsegregationin cialties, convenientlywrappedupintortillas,andthereby by sellingfastfoodpersebutrathermarketingaform by corporateformulators.Afterdescribingthereinvention of exoticismthatallowednonethnicstosampleMexican of thetacobymigrantsinearly-twentieth-centuryLos of modernityratherthansomefolkloricdishtransformed Right: helped toformanationalcuisine. a distinctiveethnicsnacklongbeforeTacoBellenteredthe a tortillaaroundmorselsoffoodbutrathertheinformal although itsoriginsremainunclear.Thefirstknownrefer- absence. TheSpanishword“taco,”liketheEnglish“tack,” geographical distributionofrestaurants.Fromthisevidence throughout ,whosharedtheirdiverseregionalspe- that thetacosignifiedwasnotpracticeofwrapping southern California. scene. Ibeginbybrieflysummarizingthehistoryofthisfood shop emergedasagatheringplaceformigrantworkersfrom e Here Iwishtofollowthetaco’stravelsUnited n i Paperboys eatingtacosforbrunch, ca. a t 1607 ? e , appearedinFrenchandsignified aplug d taquerías

i n , wheretheywereconsumed.

4

1920 . 1950 s 27 GASTRONOMICA WINTER 2008 used to hold the ball of an arquebus in place.5 Eighteenth- Perhaps the first unequivocal reference to the Mexican century Spanish dictionaries also defined “taco” as a taco appears in Manuel Payno’s 1891 novel, Los bandidos ramrod, a billiard cue, a carpenter’s hammer, and a gulp of de Río Frío (The Bandits of Rio Frio). During the festival of wine—a combination recalling the English colloquialism, a the Virgin of Guadalupe, the indigenous classes danced in “shot” of liquor. Only in the mid-nineteenth century did the honor of the national saint, while feasting on “chito (fried Spanish Royal Academy expand the meaning to encompass goat) with , drunken , and very good pulque… a snack of food, and the specific Mexican version was not and the children skipping, with tacos of tortillas and avo- acknowledged until well into the twentieth century.6 Of cado in their hand.”12 Although this culinary meaning of course, European definitions must be used with caution in taco had no doubt been in common usage by the popular referring to a Mexican reality. Nevertheless, taco did not classes for some time, with Payno’s benediction, it quickly appear in early Mexican dictionaries either, most notably received official recognition in Feliz Ramos I. Duarte’s 1895 Melchor Ocampo’s vernacular volume, published in 1844 Diccionario de mejicanismos, which also attributed the geo- under the wry title “Idiotismos Hispano-Mexicanos.”7 graphical origin of the term to .13 Nineteenth-century cookbooks provide no more help Unfortunately, these literary sources do not indicate than dictionaries, which may come as no surprise given how this Spanish word, newly used for a generic snack, the elite preference for Spanish and French cuisine over became associated in Mexico City with a particular form indigenous dishes.8 The first and most influential cookbook of rolled tortilla. Peasant women have long used such torti- published in the nineteenth century, El cocinero mexicano llas as a convenient package to send food to male relatives (The Mexican Chef, 1831), provided a long list of popular working in the field or elsewhere, even if they called it dishes including , , , chila- something other than a taco. Some speculation is necessary quiles, and envueltos. The envuelto (Spanish for “,” to make the precise connection, but one possibility lies in appropriately) comes closest to what would now be called a peculiar eighteenth-century usage among the silver min- a taco, although it was something of a cross between a taco ers of Real del Monte, near Pachuca, , to refer to and an , with sauce poured over the fried explosive charges of gunpowder wrapped in paper. While tortilla. Most elaborate were the envueltos de Nana Rosa this particular variant does not seem to have been recorded (Granny Rosa’s wraps), stuffed with (chopped in any dictionary, it derives from both the specific usage of meat) and garnished with “ rings, little , olives, a powder charge for a firearm and from the more general , raisins, pine nuts, and bits of candied fruit.”9 meaning of plug, since the silver miners prepared the blast Nineteenth-century costumbrista (local color) literature by carving a hole in the rock before inserting the explosive provides further detail about Mexico’s rich tradition of “taco.”14 And with a good hot sauce, it is easy to see the simi- street foods. The first national novel, José Joaquín larity between a chicken and a stick of dynamite. Fernández de Lizardi’s El periquillo sarniento (The Mangy We cannot know exactly when the miners might have Parrot, 1816), mentioned a cooked by Nana Rosa brought their tacos to Mexico City, but nineteenth-century “consisting of envueltos, chicken stew, (marinated civil wars and economic turmoil struck the silver districts meat), and pulque (fermented agave sap) flavored with particularly hard, forcing many to migrate in search of work. prickly pears and pineapple.” In a footnote to the 1842 One of the first visual records of the taco, a photo from the

WINTER 2008 edition, the editor lovingly evoked the scene. “On the banks early 1920s, shows a woman selling tacos sudados (“sweaty 28 of the irrigation canal on the Paseo de la Viga, there was a tacos”) to a group of paperboys (see photograph on p.27). little garden park where Nana Rosa, who lived to be nearly These treats were made by frying tortillas briefly, stuffing a hundred, attracted the people of Mexico…charging them them with a simple mixture, often just potatoes and salsa, stiffly for the good luncheon spreads she prepared; and even and wrapping them in a basket to stay warm, hence an today, the envueltos de Nana Rosa still figure in the cook- alternative name, (“tacos from a basket”). books.”10 Another formidable gourmet and man of letters, Both chronicler Jesús Flores y Escalante and early archival GASTRONOMICA Guillermo Prieto, recalled plebeian restaurants at mid- sources confirm this connection with miners by pointing century serving enchiladas, , and frijoles refritos, out that tacos sudados originally carried the sobriquet while the renowned geographer Antonio García Cubas tacos de minero.15 compiled an exhaustive zoology of ambulant vendors. 11 Yet However appealing this lineage may be, it is by no means none of these acute observers of Mexican popular culture exclusive. The Mexican practice of wrapping bits of food recorded a gastronomical usage of taco. in tortillas is far too common, and the word “taco” has far “just so”storieswithoutaddinganother.Atleastthisderivation A criticalmassoftheseshops,servingupcountlessdistinct A briefsurveyoftheemergencetacoinMexico Through theclashoftheserivalcookingtraditions,taco Taquerías, whetheranactualrestaurantwithkitchenand fighting, inturn,broughtsoldiers, Díaz dictatorship( National Tacos Revolution of vention ofelitecookbookauthors.Culinaryintellectuals indicates thediversityoffoodsavailableinproletarian it forthemselves,sanitizingthetacoofitsplebeianroots. incipient industrialization.Theadventofrevolutionary written upasanonymoustacoand with inadequatekitchenfacilitiesbecameafactoflifefor languages aswell,toallowforanydefinitiveetymological lowers), andrefugeestothecapital.Ascolonialcity example, atleasttwoshopsspecialized inpozole,ahominy neighborhoods ofMexicoCity.Unfortunately,mostwere regional specialtiesinconvenientandinexpensivemouth- called “LaJalisciense”alsopresumably offereddishesfrom citations issuedbymunicipalinspectorsfrom quickly discoveredthistrendandsoughttoappropriate characterized thisfood.Informaltacoshopsofferedanew but afewnotationshintatthevarietyofregionaldishes.For became atrulynationalicon. basket oftacos,offeredaspacefornewcomerstoassuage origin. directly anincipientnationalcuisinewithouttheinter- and popular—evenasitspreadthroughoutthecountry avoids theusualfallacyofattributingapopular-sectorfood arrival oflargenumberslabormigrantsattractedby popular inMexicoCity,theyacquiredparticularimpor- gradually acquireditsmodernforms—hardandsoft,elite grew intoamodernmetropolis,overcrowdedtenements this state,whetherpozole, (goatstew),orsomething fuls, allowedtheMexicanworkingclassestoexperience to anelite,malepersonagesuchastheEarlofSandwich. too manymeaningsinSpanish,andperhapsindigenous their nostalgiafortheparticularfoodsofhometowns. tables orapoorwomanstandingonstreetcornerwith tance aroundtheturnoftwentiethcenturywith the masses,whonumberednearlyhalfamillionby stew typicalofGuadalajara,, andanotherrestaurant social spaceforthelowerclassesatendofPorfirio shows thecontingentnatureandconstantinnovationthat An archivalsampleofearlytacoshops,drawnfrom 16 Heavenknowstherearealreadyenoughculinary 1910 . Althoughstreetfoodshavelongbeen 1876 – 1911 ) andduringthesubsequent soldaderas ()stands, (camp fol- 1918 to 1910 1920 . 17 ,

Veracruz porttownfamedforitsfreshseafoodandsharp- Thus, dinershadtheirchoiceofseveraloystershops,two (beefsteak) and (grilled tacos)usingexpensivecutsofmeatsuchas Fish Restaurant)andanother“PescadeAlvarado”afterthe Filomeno Mata,editorofthe Hernández’s pioneeringhome economicsmanualincluded Daily oftheHome Such anelaborateconcoctionclearlyinvokedthelatest ing classesthankstoimprovedrailroadlinkswiththecoast. in Mexico,publishedaversionof innovation, buttheupscaletacostheyproducedwerecare- ing techniquesaswellperishableandexpensivefruits with theirdailydeadlinesandcompetitivedemandfor ment hademployedethnographersinsteadoftaxcollectors. little bull),aplacecalled“PescaderíaVeracruz”( making French-stylecrêpes,perhapsthefirstuseofanow- else. Plentifulseafoodwaslikewiseavailabletothework- evolve, usingwhatevercastoffbitsofmeatthatcookscould restaurants inaffluentneighborhoodsserved novelty, mayhavebeenthefirsttoprintrecipesfortacos. recipes for random choppedmeat,bothfrom anunspecifiedanimal), classics as cream andcrumbledfreshcheese. common tacticforgentrifyingplebeianfoods,example, béchamel sauce).Theauthorcontinued:“stuffthemwith on aplatterintheformofpyramid,coverwithmeringue delights mighthavebeenrecordedifthemunicipalgovern- dishes asSanLuisPotosítacosmadewithporktrotters dients helpedtomaintainsocialdistinctions.Bythe dishes throughtheuseofEuropeaningredientsandcook- crepas decuitlacoche afford. Cookbook author Josefina Velázquez de León traveled afford. CookbookauthorJosefinaVelázquezdeLeóntraveled and potato,whilealsohelpingtodiffusesuchMexicoCity and adornwithstrawberries,orangeblossoms,violets.” and edibleflowers.Morerecognizableversionsoftacos creamorsomedryconservesandrolllikeataco.In green chile,deepfried,andtoppedwithaspoonfulofthick talking women.Wecanonlywonderwhatotherculinary fried fishstands(oneinexplicablycalled“ElTorito,”the throughout Mexicoatmid-centurycollectingsuchhumble the samefashionmakealloftacosthatyoulike;arrange tacos) onJune fully distinguishedfromthefoodsofstreet.Newspapers, followed insucceedingdecades,butthequalityofingre- street foods,buttransformedthemintosociallyacceptable The tacosoftheworkingclasseslikewisecontinuedto Elite culinaryintellectualsquicklyimitatedthispopular decrema 2 chuletas , 1908 ) andpioneerofthewomen’ssection and (crêpeswithcornsmutdousedin . Thisrecipebeganwithdirectionsfor (porkchops). , tortillasrolledaroundstripsof El DiariodelHogar (barbecuedhaunchesand tacos decrema 20 Meanwhile,AnaMaría tacos alcarbon (cream ( The bifstek 1960 s,

18 19

29 GASTRONOMICA WINTER 2008 brains (preferably sheep), and maguey worms (now an Above: Eating tacos during the festival of the Virgin of expensive delicacy, but considered beyond the pale in Guadalupe, ca. 1950. photo by nacho lópez. col. sinafo-inah, inventory number 374177. courtesy of the instituto the 1930s). Hernández also explained that tacos should be nacional de antropología e historia, méxico. fried a deep golden color or left very smooth, depending on whether they were hard or soft; both were served Migrant Tacos with a lettuce salad and salsa.21 Shredded lettuce eventu- ally became the usual accompaniment of tacos dorados Foods provide an important example of “ethnic and racial (“golden” fried), while soft tacos in contemporary Mexico borderlands,” as historian Albert Camarillo has character- are generally garnished with chopped and cilantro. ized the points of contact in pluralistic societies.23 They Although cookbooks serve as important historical police the boundaries between groups through dietary laws records, the spread of proletarian taco culture took place and stereotypes and simultaneously offer an inviting port quite independently of these texts as workers traversed of entry for those who wish to taste the unfamiliar. These the country, adopting recipes from their new neighbors. culinary borderlands become fertile sites of innovation, as

WINTER 2008 Moreover, these migrants included many foreigners such cooks borrow recipes and ingredients from their neighbors, 30 as the Lebanese who settled in in the 1920s. Their transforming them to produce a constant stream of “fusion” gyros, cooked on a rotating vertical spit and served with pita cuisine.24 Yet they also express ethnic and racial conflicts or its local counterpart, a wheat tortilla, came to be in a visceral fashion, when the vague threat of an outsider known as tacos árabes. borrowed the technique, suddenly assumes the physical force of food poisoning. using the more abundant pork, flavored with a slice of These ambivalent culinary encounters have been played pineapple, and eaten with corn tortillas. This new innova- out repeatedly in California as alternating waves of migrants GASTRONOMICA tion, called tacos (shepherd’s tacos), quickly spread came west from the and north from Mexico. throughout the country and beyond.22 The first decades Newcomers of the nineteenth century were primar- of the twentieth century witnessed not only widespread ily Anglos, drawn by the gold rush and the prospect of internal movement, but also the beginnings of large-scale easy land. Negative stereotypes predominated in the first Mexican migration to the United States, and these travelers decades after the us invasion of 1846, as Mexican residents, carried their new taste for tacos across the border. called , were seen as lazy, dirty, and devious, Anglos dulyreenactedin Wiley Kleeman,juxtaposedplebeiantacosofporksnout, Los Angelesprovidedinabundance.Equallyimportant, Ruiz andotherhistorianshave uncoveredtheinnovative English-language cookbooksbasicallyresembledMexico Sensationalist chargesoffoodpoisoningremainedastaple City tacos.In Merino brothers,anorderofmeat,chicken,orbraintacos into thenationalhistorywhilesubordinatingMexican instructions formakingtortillasathome. influx ofMexicansbegantoarriveinresponseindustri- ing tamalesalongsideMexicans. wealthy Porfirianexiles,butmostwereordinaryfolkin munity, includingfamiliarfoods.Inmigratingacrossthe life intheSouthwest,whichasCareyMcWilliamspointed ears, andjowlswithmoreupscalecreamcheesetacos. eventually blendedintothe“fantasyheritage”ofpastoral evolving inadistinctivefashionnorthoftheborder.Vicki unfit forthelandthattheypossessedandAnglos Spanish-Mexican Cookery columnist forthe chicken with cost fiftycents,whichwasmoreexpensivethanaplateof coveted. Tamalesprovidedanobviousculinarymetaphor, border, tacosseemtohavelostsomeoftheirlower-class both potentiallyunsanitaryanddangerouslyhottothe offered thesocialcomfortsofanestablishedethniccom- out, providedawayofincorporatingSpanishcolonialism of societyfrombuyingtamalesstreetvendors. of mass-marketnewspapers,butthatdidnotstopallsectors of AnglosinCaliforniahelpedfearsMexicanstorecede. had beenreducedtoaninsignificantunderclass,anew a ribsteak,orshrimpsalad. alization andrevolution.Thesemigrantsincludedafew as Anglos,AfricanAmericans,andevenJapanesebegansell- and adjusted tochilepeppers,andthegrowingpredominance popularized thisromanticvisionofOldCalifornia,which population. HelenHuntJackson’s pushcarts wereethnicborderlandsinmorewaysthanone, tacos doradosasanafterthoughttosomeratherimpractical the city’sMexicanpopulationofperhaps the ethnicborderlandsbetween Mexicanfamilytraditions taste ofNewEnglandmerchantsandsettlers.Yetpalates stigma. AtElVeracruzano,arestaurantownedbythe search ofjobsinagriculture,industry,andrailroads,which strategies thatMexicanAmerican womenusedtomediate These resemblancesnotwithstanding,tacoswerealready In theearlytwentiethcentury,whenoldCalifornios us citizenshipandconsumerculture. 1914 Los AngelesTimes , BerthaHaffner-Ginger,adomestic or pipián tamalada , byhomeeconomistPauline (chileorpumpkinseedsauces), 28 Earlydescriptionsfrom 26 Thepre-Hispanicpastry 1884 picnicsandluncheons. , includedarecipefor novel, 29 100 In 31 Thetacosthese , 1929 000 Ramona by , Ramona’s 25 These 1930 30 ,

27 1920 Although itisdifficulttogeneralizeaboutsuchadiverse American taco,includingcheddarcheese,shreddedlettuce, Thus, manyofthedistinctiveelementsMexican flour tortillas,andanonymousgroundbeefratherthan One othernotablechangeresultingfromindustrialization States, combinedwithascarcityofcornmills,madeflour States thantheycouldinthehomeland. verde” (greenbelly)becauseheatesomanyvegetables. Mexicans oftencomplainedaboutthepoorqualityofmeat iceberg lettuceorcannedgreenchiles.RamónFernández informants feltthattheycouldreproduceaMexicandiet information aboutthelifeofmigrants.Inparticular,most including freshmilkandlocalcheddarcheese.Another in theUnitedStatesandwerenostalgicfortasteof was theincreasedavailabilityofproduce,whetherfresh who fledtheravagesofrevolutionaryfighting.Moreover, women producedweresoonasdistinctivetheiridentity. with foodsavailableintheSouthwest.HasiaDiner’sstudy mood tookthem.Oneassimilatedyouth,CarlosB.Aguilar, many adaptedaNorthAmericandietorsampleddifferent many migrantsaddedeggsanddairyproductstotheirdiet, lence ofwheatflourtortillas,aregionalvariantcommon ethnic foods—Italian,Chinese,Mexican,orAnglo—asthe explained thatlocalfood“hasnotaste;theonlythingIlike nineteenth-century industrialrevolutioninfood,butcul- complained thathegotsickwhenevervisitedhisparents cost oflivingintheUnitedStatescomparedwithMexico. constituted asignificantbenefitofmigration.Infact, only inthenorth.IndustrialflourproductionUnited of theAmericansaresalads,thosetheyknowhowto of Mexicanswoulddoubtlesshaveagreed,especiallythose of Europeanmigrantsaroundtheturncenturysug- of regionalMexicancuisines;indeed, theethnicborderlands distinctive porkproducts,were adaptationstofoodsavail- and theycookedMexican.Yetmostseemtohaveretained able intheUnitedStates. prepare well.”JoséRochaacquiredthenickname“panza population, anethnographicstudydirectedinthemid- gests thatnewcomersatefarmoreabundantlyintheUnited their basicdietarypreferences,andmanycitedthehigh tortillas cheaperthancorn,areversalofpricesinMexico. freshly slaughteredmeatfromalocalabattoir.Bycontrast, foods. Wemightsupposethatabundantmeatmadepos- tural preferencesmediatedreactionstomass-produced surprise fornewcomersfromcentralMexicowasthepreva- sible byindustrialslaughterandrefrigeratedtransport Important dietarychangesresultedfromthelate- Other changesmayhaveresulted fromtheinteractions s byanthropologistManuelGamiohasleftawealthof 32 Largenumbers 34

33 31 GASTRONOMICA WINTER 2008 extended to new migrants from the central part of the coun- performance of eating with a tortilla. One guidebook try who came in contact with Mexican American traditions explained: “The Mexican’s dexterity with the tortilla is as of norteño (northern) origin. Little evidence remains of amusing to watch as the Italian’s business-like disposal of such culinary exchange in , but New Mexico spaghetti and the chop sticks of the Oriental.”37 Nevertheless, provides a revealing point of comparison. The Spanish first ethnic restaurateurs seeking to build a mainstream clientele settled Santa Fe in 1598, and with fewer Anglo interlopers, in the postwar era found themselves on the wrong side of the local elite were better able to maintain their wealth and sharpening lines of segregation. culture. Hispanic doyenne and home economist Fabiola de Vaca Gilbert published a cookbook in 1949 Segregated Tacos revealing both the influx of new migrants and the process of culinary innovation. “Tacos are definitely a Mexican impor- Dramatic new migrations reconfigured the ethnic and tation,” she observed, “but the recipe given below is a New racial borderlands in mid-twentieth-century Los Angeles. Mexico adaptation.” Her basic formula of meat and pota- Midwesterners came in great numbers, attracted by a toes had been published a decade earlier in Albuquerque combination of industrial jobs, favorable climate, and by Margarita C. de Vaca, but the New Mexico College of the enduring romance of the Spanish fantasy heritage. Agriculture graduate suggested a novel twist, which became Southerners likewise contributed to the city’s massive almost universal north of the border, pre-frying the tortillas growth, whether they were African Americans fleeing Jim into the characteristic “U” shape of a taco shell before add- Crow discrimination or “Okies” and “Arkies” thrown off ing the filling.35 the land by the Great Depression. Mexican numbers Mexican American inventors likewise began to experi- declined briefly in the 1930s, when officials expelled ment with industrializing their own foods. In 1949, Joseph unwanted workers, including many who held us citizenship, Pompa of Glendale, Arizona, filed an application with the but greater numbers returned to find jobs in the wartime United States Patent Office explaining that “heretofore tor- economy, either informally or through the “bracero” guest- tillas were fried by hand in deep fat and held in position by worker program, founded in 1942. Los Angeles acquired hand as they hardened and turned crisp until they assumed its sprawling suburban geography and combative racial the folded position desired.” Pompa planned to increase the politics in the postwar era, as whites, blacks, and Mexicans efficiency of taco production by creating a deep fry basket interacted within these social spaces. Although largely with horizontal rows of tortilla holders and a parallel frame unknown to migrants from the east, tacos quickly caught that could be folded down to hold them in place under on across the social spectrum. Taquerías might well have the oil. However, two years earlier New York restaurateur become an open borderland, that is, a space that encour- Juvencio Maldonado had proposed a similar “form for fry- aged cross-ethnic proletarian alliances, as they had in ing tortillas to make fried tacos.” The invention consisted Mexico City. Instead, competition between Mexican of vertically stacked tortilla holders in a metal frame that American and nonethnic restaurateurs to market the taco could be immersed in oil then unfolded to release the fried closed off such opportunities and reinforced emerging tortillas (see illustration on p.33). References cited in the patterns of segregation. applications indicate that both drew inspiration from other The modern taco took shape at precisely the moment

WINTER 2008 ethnic food technology including donut fryers and sau- when San Bernardino, California, restaurateurs Richard 32 sage makers. Maldonado, who received his patent in 1950, and Maurice McDonald were transforming their carhop proudly explained that his invention restored “peace after from a teenage hangout into the prototype of the fast-food open mutiny among his own cooks, who dreaded handling industry. The origin of the McDonald’s system for selling the fried taco orders.”36 standardized, low-cost food in large quantities is a well- As the example of Maldonado’s New York restaurant known story. They started with the menu, eliminating all indicates, tacos soon gained a following beyond the ethnic but a handful of items, , fries, and shakes, which GASTRONOMICA community. This snack food presented mid-century diners could be eaten without utensils. Next, they redesigned the a new and seemingly more authentic version of Mexican kitchen to produce these items efficiently and installed heat food, replacing chili con carne and , whose novelty and appeal had been eroded by fifty years of canned mer- Right: The original fast-food taco form, a patent issued to New York restaurateur Juvencio Maldonado in 1950, when Glen Bell was still chandise. Moreover, the fried taco shell offered newcomers flipping hamburgers in San Bernardino, California. a relatively easy introduction to that peculiarly Mexican courtesy of united states patent and trademark office 33 GASTRONOMICA WINTER 2008 lamps to keep the burgers warm so they could be made Above: Taco shops, as indicated by 1950s telephone directories, expanded from Mexican neighborhoods in central and eastern Los WINTER 2008 ahead of time. A standardized of catsup, onions, Angeles into predominantly Anglo and African American suburbs to and two slices of pickle eliminated the inconvenience of 34 the north and south.

special orders, while the use of disposable paper bags, wrap- illustration by jeffrey pilcher © 2007 pings, and cups allowed further economies. Lines formed out the door when the McDonald brothers reopened the restaurant. Rather than compete directly, he sought to restaurant in 1948, selling hamburgers for just fifteen cents, apply their industrial techniques to a new market niche, or half their former price. Ray Kroc purchased the franchise the . Bell devised a taco fryer in 1951—unaware GASTRONOMICA rights in 1954, and the fast food empire was born.38 that Maldonado had beaten him to the patent office—and Glen Bell, in asserting his claim as the inventor of the modified his chili-dog sauce to use as salsa. He then began fast food taco, drew explicit connections with this mod- selling tacos and orders of for nineteen cents ern-day creation myth. In 1948, he opened a hamburger each. Following a divorce, he opened two new restaurants, and hotdog stand in a Mexican neighborhood of San called Taco Tia, in the western suburbs of Barstow and Bernardino, across the tracks from McDonald’s original Redlands. He sold those stores to a partner in 1957 and Yet despitea Angeles fordistantsuburbsaroundtheperipheryofcity, Wilmington. Finally,withthe Taco BellinDowney,heestablishedthechainthatcame (see illustrationonp. Bell’s tacosneartheirRedlandstrainingcamp.From Large numbersofMexicanslivedinthedowntownarea, Los AngelesandHollywood,northeastinPasadena Los AngelesCountyfromthe George SánchezhasnotedthatMexicanslivedinalmost Chávez Avenue)inBelvedere.Yetthereweresurprisingly Monrovia, andonthebayinSanPedro,LongBeach, Charley ToogoodandHarlandSvare,whohadsampled including Sonoratown,asAnglosdubbedthesiteof were locatedacrosstheriverinBoyleHeights,andastring went intobusinesswithLosAngelesRamsfootballplayers which servicemenclashedwithMexicanyouth,accelerated likewise appearedinsuburbsfromPasadenatoLongBeach. neighborhoods ofSoutheastLosAngeles. rate, creatingapatternthathistorian PhilipEthingtonhas north toLakewoodandOrangeCountythesouth.The ranging fromtheSanFernandoValleyandWhittierin under Spanishsurnamesinthe correspond topatternsofMexicanresidenceatthistime. city’s minoritypopulationsgrewevenmorerapidlyduring been restoredabout of eateriesrandownBrooklynAvenue(nowEastCésarE. original foundingofLosAngelesin of spatialanalysisinexaminingthedevelopmentfast helpful tobeginwithamapofMexican-ownedrestaurants helped ensurethattheseneighborhoods remainedsepa- and theirrestaurantswerescatteredfromWestHollywood all partsofthecityoneveSecondWorldWar, and hadnofewerthantenMexicanrestaurants,including a processofresegregationinLosAngeles. geographers haverecentlyemphasizedtheimportance to thelargelyJewishWestSideandAfricanAmerican ter ofthesecondlargestMexicancommunityinworld. few suchplacesgivenEastLosAngeles’sfutureasthecen- the city’smostfamous,LaGolondrina(swallow).Others to dominatetheMexicanfastfoodmarket. to tage ofthehousingboom tive covenants,zoninglawsand homeowners’associations this period,andAfricanAmericanMexicanenclaves food. the integratedneighborhoodsofdowntownandEastLos 1961 Although Belltrumpetedhistechnologicalinnovations, Wartime racialtensionssuchastheZootSuitRiots,in 40 Tofollowthespreadoftacorestaurantsthrough , theyopenedElTacorestaurantsindowntown 1948 SupremeCourtrulingagainst restric- 1930 34 ). Thedotsrepresentestablishments asthetouristcenterOlveraStreet 1940 1962 1941 1950 s tothe openingofthefirst citydirectoryand 1781 s, Anglosabandoned . Thisdistricthad 41 42 1960 39 Takingadvan- s, itmaybe 1957

American communityofWatts.Caremustbetakenininter- Angeles exemplifiedthisprocess,asnonethnicswereable African Americans.Nevertheless,using Angeles University ofSouthernCalifornia. Of thefiftyrestaurants,twenty-sevenwereinmajoritywhite .ElTaquitos,althoughgrammatically ing absenceofsuchshopsinEastLosAngeles—justtwo when seekingtoattractcustomerswithintheethniccom- munity. Whilesomesmallrestaurantsmaynotappearfor lack oftelephoneservice,onlyafewfromthesamplesuch more groupseachconstitutedaminimumof ethnic communities.AmapofrestaurantslistedintheLos neighborhoods, twelveinmajorityblack questionable, clearlyappealedtoMexicanmigrantswith business fromstudentsattheneighboringcampusof business districtdowntown,wherenewtacoshopsopened oversimplified totheindustrial logicofMcDonaldization. out offiftyestablishments—duringthislaterperiodsug- or south,areassuchasLincolnHeightsWatts,inthe of thepopulation.Thesetendedtobeinnearnorth of a“racialborderland,”neighborhoodinwhichtwoor of therestaurantsoperatedinevenbroadestdefinition dishes forthefirsttimewithoutventuringintosegregated described as“segregateddiversity,”andwhichpersistsin had alongtraditionofserving amixed-ethnicclientele. a specialtyof“tortasestilolaCapital”(MexicoCity-style as TacosdeOro(goldentacos)madeproperuseofthe analyzing notjusthousingbutotherformsofsocialinterac- and theSanFernandoValley,southintoAfrican around mid-centurycamefromtheexpansionoftaco alongside orinplaceofexisting Mexicanrestaurants,which and eightinmajorityMexicanneighborhoods.Onlyathird preting thismapwithoutexaggeratingthedegreeofracial present-day gatedcommunities. gests thatMexicanrestaurateursavoidedtheword“taco” ) andmayalsohavehadconsiderablecrossover tion suchasdining.Theriseofthetacoshopin ticular, hadasubstantialminorityofMexicanslivingamong triangles intheillustrationonp. to satisfytheirtastesforMexicancuisineorsamplethese from the to correlatethesetacoshopswithtract-levelracialprofiles shops northintothewhitesuburbsofGlendale,Pasadena, separation inLosAngelesduringthe shows averydifferentspatialdistribution(indicatedby The conceptofsegregateddiversitycanbeusefulfor The mostsignificantgeographicshiftinthetwodecades Moreover, theprocessofassimilating tacosshouldnotbe Yellow Pages 1960 censusrevealsastrikingdegreeofsegregation. withtheword“taco”intheirnames 43 34 ) from 1950 nhgis 1940 s. Watts,inpar- 20 technology . Thestrik- percent 1950 s Los 44 35 GASTRONOMICA WINTER 2008 Many taco shops doubtless had Mexicans in the kitchen the modified chili-dog sauce had few takers. To satisfy more preparing the same foods they served at home. Bill’s Taco knowledgeable customers, the franchisees began shopping House employed African-American hostesses Ann Hilliard, across the border in Ciudad Juárez. Yet such authenticity Ozella Millner, and Willie Mae Stinson to greet their has been the exception for the chain, and not until 1997 did Watts clientele, even though Hank Silva may have overseen executives begin a major marketing campaign directed at the kitchen.45 Other culinary border crossings may have Hispanic consumers. More often, the company has alien- resulted from the local particularities of markets and mar- ated the ethnic community with advertisements such as the riages. Lalo’s Tacos of El Sereno, for example, specialized talking .48 in pastrami tacos and , a kosher alternative to the The mass marketing of packaged Mexican foods in usual pork carnitas and . Lalo’s personal story— grocery stores followed a similar pattern of nonethnic whether a Jewish-Mexican mixed marriage or a restaurateur corporations dominating the industry. Although Juvencio seeking to expand his clientele in this multiethnic neigh- Maldonado did a good business selling take-out taco shells borhood—may be lost to history. Nevertheless, an offbeat from his restaurant near Times Square in New York, Anglo Los Angeles institution called the Kosher , founded firms such as Patio Foods and Old El Paso brought the taco in 1946 by a Jewish man who married a Sonoran woman, shell to a national market in the 1960s. Historian Donna still exists on the corner of First and Main, although under Gabaccia has attributed the predominance of outsiders in new management.46 marketing ethnic foods to the longstanding hostility toward These caveats notwithstanding, the taco clearly ethnics of us corporations and to their skill at adapting demonstrates a culinary example of segregated diversity. foods to mainstream tastes.49 Nevertheless, we should not Anglicized names, appealing to customers who could not underestimate the importance of segregation, not only in speak Spanish, provide one indication of the taco’s growing determining the success or failure of individual restaurants, distance of tacos from its ethnic origins. Perhaps the first but also in shaping the social hierarchies that place conti- such restaurant, called simply the Taco House, had opened nental cuisine above Mexican taco shops or Chinese take-out. already in 1946 on Broadway downtown. This restaurant inspired a variety of imitators, including Ernie’s Taco Malinche’s Tacos House, “specializing in Mexican food orders to go,” which had branch outlets in North Hollywood, Glendale, and Taco Bell has evolved so far from the contemporary on Broadway north of downtown by 1953. Minor variations Mexican taco that it seems hard to believe that the two on the Taco House theme included Alice’s Taco Terrace, share such a recent common ancestor, but in fact they Bert’s Taco Junction, and Frank’s Taco Inn. More creative developed through a form of parallel evolution, being names, Taco Kid and Taco Th’ Town, arose from the invented and reinvented almost simultaneously in Mexico African American neighborhood of Watts.47 City and Southern California. The story of the moderniza- The most detailed account of this process of assimilation tion of Mexican food is as much about the movement of can be found in Glen Bell’s authorized biography, Taco people as about technological change. This is not to deny Titan. Having grown up in a family devoted to Ramona, the importance of McDonaldization, the logic of industrial Bell marketed his restaurants on the fantasy heritage, care- efficiency, in shaping the corporate taco. An anonymous

WINTER 2008 fully sanitized for Anglo sensibilities. When a consultant employee recently explained: “My job is I, like, basically 36 suggested the name, “La Tapatia,” he changed it to a make the tacos! The meat comes in boxes that have bags nonsense Spanish phrase “Taco Tia” (Snack Aunt) in defer- inside, and those bags you boil to heat up the meat. That’s ence to English-speaking customers. Each new restaurant how you make tacos.”50 Nevertheless, as this essay has celebrated its grand opening with an ethnic amalgam of shown, ethnic cooks created virtually all aspects of the Mexican mariachi bands and straw sombreros juxtaposed Mexican American taco except the central commissary. against dancing women wearing Spanish castanets. With Corporate hagiography notwithstanding, Glen Bell did not GASTRONOMICA the founding of Taco Bell, he elaborated this Mexican make a better or faster taco; he just packaged it for a non- theme park image using faux adobe walls, a mission-style ethnic clientele. bell tower, and an elaborate courtyard fountain, later dis- The history of the Mexican American taco also helps carded. This strategy worked well for Anglo customers in to explain the seemingly paradoxical reception of Taco Southern California, but when the company expanded into Bell within the ethnic community. Although the corpora- more established Mexican markets such as El Paso, Texas, tion has largely ignored, if not outright offended Mexicans, 3 Whittier BoulevardintheheartofEastL.A.Thisdoesnot 2 3. Comparetamales,fromtheNahuatl 1. GeorgeRitzer, 2. Quotedin“History,”http://www.tacobell.com/.DownloadedMarch americano ydelasmásselectassegúnelmetodococinasEspañola,Italiana, 5. JoanCorominas, 7. MelchorOcampo,“IdiotismosHispano-Mexicanos,”in 4. JeffreyM.Pilcher,“¡Tacos,joven!Cosmopolitismoproletarioylacocina Arevalo, Angel PolaandAurelioJ.Venegas, de Ibarra,HijosyCompañía, Spanish conquestandbecameCortés’smistress.Instead, Malinches, aftertheindigenouswomanwhofacilitated pozolli (: EditorialGredos, working families. we shouldrecognize—andseektotransform—thestructures nineteenth-century volumes,even nacional mexicana,” notes mean condemningtheChicanaswhoeatthereastraitorous labor inproducinggastronomicdelights,includingeven was inthe cratic narrativesthatforegroundthecentralityofkitchen cooks—slave women,Mexicanmigrants,orjustoverworked Francesa eInglesa often culinaryhistoriansbecomesoinfatuatedwithelite of modernlifethatmakefastfoodappealingtoharried 9. Forge Press, vols. (Madrid:EditorialGredos, les! FoodandtheMakingofMexicanIdentity Rahn Phillips,TimPilcher,FritzSchwaller,andDavidVanRiperhiscol- Journalist DaveRoosinspiredthisessaywithaprobingquestionthattookyears Pando. housewives—who providethemealsthatbindfamiliesand Bouret, Goldstein, JoséLuisJuárez,JodiLarson,VictorMacías,EnriqueOchoa,Carla Mexico Press, Narcisso Bassols,whowasnostrangerto street-corner kitchens. the humbleMexicanAmericantaco. this entailsaresponsibilitytowritemeaningfulanddemo- tunity forunitingtheacademyandeducatedpublic,but texts thatwelosesightofthelaborperformedbyanonymous to placefoodhistorywithinabroadsocialcontext.Too there areneverthelessTacoBellsoperatingprofitablyon tes enlastreslenguasFrancesa,LatinaóItaliana leagues attheMinnesotaPopulationCenter. 8. Foradiscussionoftheliterature,seeJeffreyM.Pilcher, to answer.IamalsodeeplygratefulDonnaGabaccia,JamesGarza,Darra 6. RealAcademiaEspañola, societies together.Foodhistoryoffersatremendousoppor- vols.(Puebla:N.Bassols, : 89 El CocineroMexicanoocoleccióndelosmejoresrecetasparaguisaralestilo – This realitypromptsafinalconclusionabouttheneed 231 , ormolesauce,from Diccionario castellanoconlasvocesdecienciasyartessuscorrespondien- 1853 . 1831 Nuevo diccionariodelalenguacastellana ), ), 1993 1119 1998 1 : 178 ). The McDonaldizationofSociety . , ), – 3 Diccionario críticoetimológicocastellanoehispánico vols.(MexicoCity:ImprentadeGalvan a cargodeMariano 88 45 Dimensión Antropológica , quotefrom – 70 . 1881 1991 molli Diccionario deAutoridades 1786 ), assembledbytheintrepidCatalangourmet, ), 1964 5 . – La cocinerapoblanayellibrodelasfamilias : 368 1788 3 183 vols.(MexicoCity:F.Vázquez, [ 1737 . . Tacoswerelikewiseabsentfromlate- tamalli ), 3 ]), : 569 (Albuquerque:UniversityofNew 3 (forthcoming). , (hominystew)from : – 209 , 570 (ThousandOaks, 3 g vols.(Madrid:ImprentaVda. – (Paris:LibreriadeRosay . Thefirstmentionoffood 210 , ediciónfacsímil, ; EstebandeTerrerosy Obras completas ¡Que vivanlostama- ca 1900 : Pine 17 , , 6 3 – 2004 vols. , ed. 1901 . , ), “Authentic orNot,It’sOriginal,”FoodandFoodways 4 1907 30. Herfamiliaritywiththesedifferenttraditions mayoweasmuchtotwodecades 14. DorisM.Ladd, 11. GuillermoPrieto, 10. DavidFrye,Lizardi’sEnglishtranslator,kindlyprovidedthiscitationalong 15. JesúsFloresyEscalante, 12. ManuelPayno, 13. FelizRamosI.Duarte, 16. Forexample,HectorManuelRomerohassuggestedaNáhuatlderivation 18. 17. JohnLear, 19. 28. ManuelGamiocollection(hereafter 23. AlbertCamarillo, 21. AnaMaríaHernández, 24. DonnaR.Gabaccia, 22. MarthaDíazdeKuriandLourdesMacluf, 29. BerthaHaffner-Ginger, 25. VictorM.ValleandRodolfoD.Torres, 26. See 27. CareyMcWilliams, 20. JosefinaVelázquezdeLeón, alrededor delamesa Whitewashed Adobe:TheRiseofLosAngelesandtheRemakingItsMexican editing awomen’scolumnintheMexico Citydaily, Americans campesina mexicana of theEnchilada,”in of theUnitedStates authoritative dictionarycitesavaguereferenceinLuisInclán’s (Wilmington, Del.:ScholarlyResources,Inc., (Lincoln: UniversityofNebraskaPress, novel mexicano with manyotherinsightfulsuggestions.JoséJoaquínFernándezeLizardi, Borderlands inAmericanCities Real DelMonte, His Children Past Los AngelesTimes Mangy Parrot:TheLifeandTimesofPeriquilloSarniento,WrittenbyHimselffor Mexican andSpanishRecipes Histórico delDistritoFederal(hereafter Distrito Federal, served inLosAngeles.SeePaulineWiley-Kleeman, sion ofhercareer,seeJeffreyM.Pilcher,“JosefinaVelázquezdeLeón:Apostle University ofMinnesotaPress, públicas,” exp. [ Immigration intheUnitedStates,”appendix Porrúa, Editorial Porrúa, Ediciones JosefinaVelázquezdeLeón, Boris RosenJélomer(MexicoCity:Conaculta, California, Berkeley, García Cubas, City: AsociaciónMexicanadeEstudiosFonográficos, Mexican original. the edgeswithbeateneggbeforefryingsounds likeaGermanicadaptationof from theword frases viciosas th ed.(MexicoCity:AcademiaVeláquezdeLeón, 1904 ahdf El DiariodelHogar (Berkeley:UniversityofCaliforniaPress, ; ], 27 Astucia 202 April Los AngelesTimes 2004 , vol. (MexicoCity:CoordinaciónGeneraldeAbastoyDistribucióndel (Cambridge, , passim. ), , trans.DavidFrye(Indianapolis:HackettPublishing, (MexicoCity:ImprentadeEduardoDublan, . See, 1910 2405 Workers, Neighbors,andCitizens:TheRevolutioninMexicoCity 31 itacate El librodemisrecuerdos 1002 – 1991 1766–1775 1992 . , 32 , “Infraccionestaquerías,”esp. 11 , newed.(NewYork:Praeger, . The MakingofaStrike:MexicanSilverWorkers’Strugglesin Los bandidosdeRíoFrío Diccionario demejicanismos (MexicoCity, . InadditiontoPayno,FranciscoJavierSantamaria’s , April ), banc film —sort ofadoggiebag.Seehis 4 The HumanTraditioninMexico Not White,Black:MexicansandRacial/Ethnic ), Memorias demistiempos th ed.(MexicoCity:TipografíaModerna, 58 , North FromMexico:TheSpanish-SpeakingPeople 993 ma 2 We AreWhatEat:EthnicFoodandtheMakingof . June , : HarvardUniversityPress, Diccionario demejicanismos:Colecciónlocucionesi (Lincoln:UniversityofNebraskaPress, 1 1902 Libro socialyfamiliarparalamujerobrera California Mexican-SpanishCookBook: Selected . December Brevísima historiadelacomidamexicana ( (forthcoming). 2000 1914 ; 1908

2322 13 Cocina deSanLuisPotosí July ), 2002 ), , p. , reel 42 74 , México,D.F.,EditorialPorrúa, 4 - 2001 ), 1957 1904 1899 45 – ahdf . mg 76 200 . Herratherfussysuggestionofsealing 3 , “PreliminaryReportonMexican . ), ), BancroftLibrary,Universityof Metropolis ), ; ; , . 8 ), MexicoCity,vol. 3 4 51 2004 24 76 , appendixI, 2003 May November , vol. De LibanoaMéxico:Lavida 1992 – th ed.(MexicoCity:Editorial , – 54 2 5 77 1990 ). Fornostalgictamales,see , th ed.(MexicoCity: ), . [ 1940 3 , idem, 1 Vocabulario gastronómico Ramona’s Spanish-Mexican 1906 El Universal , 199 12 1906 of 1994 1998 , ed.JeffreyM.Pilcher 7 ); WilliamDeverell, ( , ), – 2004 Obras completas 12 . 209 ]), 34 ), ); MeredithE.Abarca, , 1904 (MexicoCity: 1926 17 1895 Los treintamenus 232 – 112 ): . (Minneapolis: 35 , 19 1 ; , ; Archivo . – . Foradiscus- 1865 ), 26 118 . 1938 25 , astothefoods 1981 2004 469 February . ; Antonio 1988 bandit (Mexico ), , “Vías . ), 66 ), 1986 , ed. 408 The 10 – 67 . –

, 409 .

. 37 GASTRONOMICA WINTER 2008 Cookery: The First Complete and Authentic Spanish-Mexican Cookbook in 42. These riots have been interpreted as an attempt by Mexican youth to defend English (Los Angeles: West Coast Pub. Co., 1929), 85–86. their community against incursions by white servicemen. See Eduardo Obregón Pagán, Murder at the Sleepy Lagoon: Zoot Suits, Race, and Riot in Wartime L.A. 31. Vicki L. Ruiz, From Out of the Shadows: Mexican Women in Twentieth- (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2003). Century America (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 51–67, 72–75. 43. Philip J. Ethington, “Segregated Diversity: Race-Ethnicity, Space, and 32. Hasia Diner, Hungering for America: Italian, Irish, and Jewish Foodways in Political Fragmentation in Los Angeles County, 1940-1994,” available online the Age of Migration (Cambridge, ma: Harvard University Press, 2001). at www.usc.edu/dept/las/history/historylab/Haynes_fr/index.html. Consulted 33. mg, 2322, reel 1, page 413, “Conrado Martínez,” May 24, 1927; reel 1, page 364, October 13, 2006. See also Mike Davis, City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in “Sr. Manuel Lomelí,” May 21, 1927; reel 2, page 395, “Carlos B. Aguilar,” April 8, Los Angeles (London: Verso, 1990), 165–169. 1927; reel 2, page 449, “Relato de Luis Aguñaga,” April 6, 1927. 44. I am deeply grateful to David Van Riper of the Minnesota Population 34. mg, 2322, reel 1, page 410, “Vida de Ramón Fernández,” April 28, 1927; reel 2, Center for compiling this data from nhgis files of the 1960 census. Spanish page 483, “Vida de Pedro Macías,” April 19, 1927; reel 2, page 437, “Vida del Sr. surnames were used as a proxy for Mexican population, and Anglo population José Rocha,” April 8, 1927. was calculated by subtracting Spanish surnames from total white population. As a result, the predominance of taco shops in white neighborhoods may be even 35. Fabiola Cabeza de Vaca Gilbert, The Good Life: New Mexico Traditions and greater, but on the other hand, segregation may be somewhat overstated by using 1982 1949 71 Food (Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, [ ]), . Margarita C. de 1960 data. Unfortunately, tract-level Hispanic population is not available for Los 1937 Vaca, Spanish Foods of the Southwest (Albuquerque: A.B.C. Co., ). Angeles in 1950. 2 506 305 36. United States Patent Office, No. , , , Juvencio Maldonado, “Form for 45. The hostesses featured prominently in advertisements in the African- 21 1947 2 1950 frying tortillas to make fried tacos,” filed July , , patented May , ; No. American newspaper, the Los Angeles Sentinel, July 7, 14, August 4, 18, 1960. 2, 570, 374, Joseph P. Pompa, “Machine for frying tortillas,” filed 5 January 1949, patented 9 October 1951. Quote from “News of Food,” The New York Times, 3 46. Interview with the manager of Kosher Burrito, Los Angeles, January 31, 2001. May 1952, 24. 47. Los Angeles Yellow Pages Classified Telephone Directory, (1946), 968, (1952), 37. Elizabeth Webb Herrick, Curious California Customs (Los Angeles: Pacific 1429–41, (1953), 1388-1401, (1954), 1395–1408. Carbon & Printing Company, 1935), 109. 48. Baldwin, Taco Titan, 1–2, 71, 74, 100–105, 132–133, 141–142; “Taco Bell’s 38. John A. Jackle and Keith A. Sculle, Fast Food: Roadside Restaurants in the Hispanic Strategy,” Advertising Age 68, no. 42 (October 20, 1997), 12. Automobile Age (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999). 49. Gabaccia, We Are What We Eat, 149–174. 39. Deba Lee Baldwin, Taco Titan: The Glen Bell Story (Arlington, tx: Summit 50. “Day Job: Taco Bell Employee,” The New Yorker, 24 April 2000, 185. Publishing Group, 1999), 51–55, 62–65, 76–78. 40. Daniel D. Arreola, Tejano South Texas: A Mexican American Cultural Province (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2002); David Bell, Consuming Geographies: We Are Where We Eat (New York: Routledge, 1997). 41. George J. Sánchez, Becoming Mexican American: Ethnicity, Culture and Identity in Los Angeles, 1900-1945 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993), 72–76. WINTER 2008 38 GASTRONOMICA Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.