KSAT Explains: San Antonio Taco Culture 🌮

Whether they're puffy, street style, or served up for breakfast, San Antonio knows tacos. That's what brings us together. So tacos involved. Everybody gets along. The city is saturated with taco trucks and taquerias, some that have been staples here for decades. We've been open from 56. Same family. It's been passed on to different owners. We keep the recipes. We've been so many generations working here. They come in different styles with different types of meat. And just when you think you know everything there is to know about San Antonio's taco scene, something new emerges. It's kind of like a half Asian, half Mexican taco. You can find tacos now of tikka masala chicken. You can find tacos of bulgogi beef. Food is a language that everyone speaks, you know, and fusing it together. It's just another way that we can all get to know each other. Together and share the same thing. A taco will feed the soul of every human being if it's crafted right, it's perfection. Make no mistake about it. San Antonio is the culinary and cultural capital of Texas. In this episode of case that explains, we're exploring San Antonio's taco scene, the history, the evolution, and the importance of it all to our city's identity and culture. Case that explains Nathan explains case that explains case that explains. And in depth perspective perspective on stories we bring you in our newscasts around the day. We're looking into concerns over voting safety during the pandemic and the battle over mail-in voting. A look at how the protests and demonstrations have played out in our city and an examination of what it means to be black in San Antonio. An issue that you have likely felt the effects of rising property taxes. The roots of the handle run deep in South Texas. We examined the cultural impact the music has had in San Antonio. This week explains team is diving into San Antonio's taco poker. Thanks for joining us for this episode of case that explains. I'm Myra Arthur when it comes to food, San Antonio has some great options, but tacos are arguably what we are known for. Whether it's for breakfast, lunch or dinner, there's no shortage of options. And while many people argue, we have the very best you can find tacos in most cities these days, but what set San Antonio apart is its own distinct style and flavor. Alicia Pereira takes us to two local staples taquerias that have been serving up the classics for decades. A good morning in San Antonio starts with handmade tortillas that protect precious fuel. I think it's part of our culture now, like the bean and the cheese is a mixture really good. Whether you're simple like a bean and cheese taco, we we make it toasted with or you long for an Abuelita approved carne guisada taco. We also have a carne guisada with. It's one of the best selling tacos here and the regular recipes since 1950. This Westside staple has kept generations coming back for more restaurant. The original donut shop is being established since 1954. Make French. We start here at 4 AM just to have everything fresh by 6 AM. A breakfast of champions only complete with a sweet treat. Really nice. I think combination of a taco, a donut, a coffee, so you're ready to work after that. Nestled in the city's inner Westside, just 5 miles away, is the home of a taco named after its unique tortilla. Because we actually do hold the trademark for the puppy taco. Ray's drive-in was established in 1965 by Raymond Ray Lopez, and it grew in popularity for its signature puppy taco. Started with Ray, then went to his brother, Turo, now down with his wife and daughter. It's a nostalgia in a shell, a cloud of crunchy heaviness. And what's different about this one is it's been perfected over the years. That not much change. Everything is made to order. As soon as you order the masas drops, so that taco has that soft crunch, but it's perfect. Filled with Pico de Yo chicken, carne guisada or avocado. Here it's all about the tortilla. That is a little trade secret. We have our own tools and specialties that we use, which are, you know, kept under lock and key. It's puffy, it's crunchy, it's light. It's San Antonio. Breakfast tacos and puffy tacos are just two favorites that a lot of us who grew up here remember, but tacos predate our childhoods. In fact, the origin of the taco goes back thousands of years. By partaking in the taco. Ultimately, you are part of this long tradition out of this deep, deep, deep history. We all know a taco, but what defines a taco? Loose definition, a tortilla filling and maybe salsa, but the taco editor of Texas Monthly, yes, that is a real job, says there's more to it than that. According to Jose Rilat, that's just the first definition. The second one is. That a doctor is a reflection of its time and place. A doctor is regional, meaning a taco from San Antonio is not going to be the same as a taco in Mexico City, and a taco today isn't going to taste the same as the tacos. Indigenous people ate in Meso America in 10,000 BC. That's when historians believe corn was first domesticated and tortillas were first made. We can look into the most ancient sources of story for clues about where the taco emerged. And it really is something that emerges in the earliest. Evidence of the indigenous peoples, and particularly around. The indigenous people, the cultivation of domestic corns. John Philip Santos is a professor of Mestizo cultural studies at the Honors College at UTSA to study Mestizo culture is to study those cultures that are by their nature mixed and overlaid one upon the other, which from the start has been the story of the taco. When the Spanish arrived in present day Mexico in the early 1500s, they were introduced to the taco. The Spaniard becomes in part mesticized through the ingestion of corn and the taco, particularly, and that blending of cultures led to the creation of the relatively younger flour tortilla. The great divide that emerges through the centuries between the corn tortilla and the flour tortilla is itself a testimony to the. Mixed nature of this story because. The flour tortilla comes out as a result of the cultivation of wheat, you know, which is brought from Northern Europe. And of course, as the taco becomes more widespread and touched by other cultures, the kinds of tacos found in different regions begins to vary. For a while, some types of tacos were only served in certain regions of Texas or Mexico, but that's not the case today. Thanks to migration and social media trends, the world has gotten smaller and that's reflected in the expanding offerings on our local taco scene. RG Marquez introduces us to some newer styles in San Antonio with their juicy, cheesy, delicious flavor. Media tacos have taken off across Texas and San Antonio, so it's pretty crazy. It blew up out of nowhere. San Antonio is adapting to the new culture and the new you know, the innovation of the the original taco. The media boom is still relatively new in our area, but it's been a big success in California for years. Jose says Bedia traveled to Texas from its birthplace of Jalisco, Mexico. It was a way to prepare. Pervasive goats. I mean, they were everywhere. Bedia is traditionally made with either goat or lamb, but beef media is the most popular in the states. This is beef media which comes out of Tijuana, particularly loaded with cheese and no Bedia taco is complete without the consume, which is a type of stew that uses dried chiles and other spices. Josh Palacios and his wife Martha are originally from California. After moving to San Antonio, they saw an opportunity to bring media here. My wife's family, they come from, you know, restaurants they they own restaurants and they have recipes from, you know, 50 years back. They put a new spin on those traditional recipes and open up their food truck and remedial back in 2019. Now, as you can see here, these media tacos look amazing. They're delicious and the trend has gotten so popular that elder Medio is actually planning to open up two more food trucks on top of the two that they currently have and then open a brick and mortar restaurant. And they're not the only ones serving up this type of media across town. On another side of town, Martin Vargas and his wife, Sabrina Perez, opened media patio on South Ressa in 2020. My wife made media tacos and they tasted really good, actually. And we're like, you know what? We should sell these. And and we're joking around. She said, just buy me, buy me a food truck and we'll sell Martin, says his love for media stems from his trips to Mexico. As a kid, we would go to you don't want to walk there with my parents. And when we're there, we would drive about 45 minutes to go try media. Well, a lot of the traditional ways of cooking media have stayed the same. The presentation has evolved here. We put it in grilled cheese. You know, we put them in ramen in the top of your ramen. People love that, you know, stuff like that. The name, a nod to media's roots in Mexico. People come in, like I said, in groups and they eat. It feels like a neighborhood, you know, and in Spanish, it's Barrio. Media Barrio has outgrown their food truck and now have a brick and mortar location on South Barresa. And check out this amazing food right here from the media. We have the ceviche and of course the media tacos. But it's important to note that media is not the only traditional style of Mexican style taco that has made its way to South Texas. This authentic that taquitos was taquitos. West Avenue serves up Jalisco style street tacos seven days a week. But you can only get their al pastor tacos, one of Mexico's most traditional options Thursday through Sunday. This taco's magic is in the adobo sauce with a secret ingredient used to marinate the pork. Maybe eight or nine ingredients. The last the last step that they make to trompo. The trompo is a delicious mound of meat cooked on a vertical grill sliced directly onto the taco garnished with onions, cilantro and a slice of pineapple. Meanwhile, at a food truck about a 10 minute drive east, you'll find tacos served that bring the flavors of Mexico City and Laredo to San Antonio. Husband and wife Francisco Estrada and Lizeth Martinez own Naco Mexican Eatery. She's from Laredo. He's from Mexico City. They call their food style a family reunion, bringing flavors from both of their native regions to San Antonio via their food truck. It's like binding both of our family recipes and traditions in one truck. So you'll find the blue corn, but you'll find the flour tortillas and you'll find a salad, but you'll find with la coche and you'll find the chilaquiles, but you found them hugged in the north in a tortilla in a flour tortilla. They lived in Mexico City before relocating to San Antonio a few years ago in search of a safer life for their children. Francisco's credentials as a lawyer in Mexico didn't carry over. So he he said, you know what? Don't worry. We'll get we'll sell tacos in our corner and we'll make a living out of it. Besides the wheat la coche or corn smut tacos and their Mexico City style chilaquiles, another popular item on their menu is their cheese crust taco. It's a very popular dish in like southern Mexico. And they serve it usually when the party's over and everybody's a little buzzed. So you'll eat that fatty crust and get that soberness back into your system. So it comes from there. And in here we sell it as a keto taco because keto is a big thing here. Like Josh and Martine, they've been successful enough to expand and are planning to open a brick and mortar spot soon. We're very happy and proud that people in San Antonio have accepted us and we were part of a community now. It's not just the styles that have changed, but also how people view tacos has changed as well. Today, you can find them at high end restaurants and fancy taquerias. They're recognized as a worthy culinary experience. But people who grew up here who were children of the 60s and 70s know that wasn't always the case. When I was a kid, you know, I would take tacos to school in the 1960s, but I would sort of furtively eat my taco, you know, sort of off to myself because it was a still an object of ridicule. You know, in high school it began to change. So in the in the mid 70s, it was, you know, more likely that somebody might want to trade something for my taco. John Philip Santos says this broad acceptance of the taco has allowed the food to transform. Today, you can find it being used by other cultures as a way to introduce their cuisines to South Texas. I'm not going to say that I invented it, but it's something that I just kind of came up with. Ever heard of Korean street tacos? I can say that our first year in business, if we didn't have the Korean street taco, we probably wouldn't have lasted this long. Like that's how instrumental it has been to getting people to try our menu. It starts with bulgogi, a Korean dish so foreign to a lot of San Antonians. Steven Scarantino put the definition on the side of his food truck. And then when they taste the meat, they're like, man, that meat's so good. It's so tender. Then that opens them up to our other dishes. So it's kind of like I would say the taco is the gateway to other items in our menu. So the the the metaphor of the taco has has begun to emerge as a kind of a food practice that will literally hug any cultural tradition between its its covers. That metaphor also playing out at the jerk shack, a local restaurant serving up Jamaican cuisine. What's jerk? It's a spice blend. So it's made of like garlic, thyme, pimento, scallion, a little bit of soy. We grind it all together and it's very, very spicy. And now we have jerk tacos. We put pineapple pico on there. So, you know, pico people know what it is. You know, we have avocado crema. So our flavors are Caribbean, but with a Hispanic influence for both Nicola and Steven, creating a taco that fuses two cultures and cuisines was born out of a love for the cultures and cuisines of their childhoods. A lot of the food that I do is based off my mother's cooking. I'm originally from Jamaica and I left when I was five. So Caribbean cuisine has always been a part of me. What is the easiest way for Texans to gain access to a cuisine via the taco? You know, so many people are migrating to San Antonio and we all have some great things to share. And, you know, I think that's the best way to do it is through food and obviously tacos. Sharing culture through cuisine is an age old tradition. And before we let you go, we want you to hear from those we talked to for this episode on their explanations about why tacos in all their iterations are so important to San Antonians. We'll see you next time. A flavor can make you feel like if you close your eyes and you're tasting something that you tasted that tastes just like grandma's house, you will travel just like that. If you smell it, same thing. Food reunites people. Food feeds your soul. Food makes you have a wider way of seeing the world. In South Texas, it's it has carried so much of a sense of intimacy. You know, the long traditions of family cooking and the way that we gathered with families around food. Tacos is what brings us together. And if there's tacos involved, everybody gets along. Why? I'm not sure. It feels like home. At a time where there's a lot of political divide, this is more important than ever.