Talk:Taco/Archive 2

Archive 1

Archive 2

Miner origin.

"Others argue that the advent of the taco is much more recent, with one of the more popular theories being that the taco was invented by silver miners in the 18th century, however the first mention of the word "taco" in Mexico was in the 1891 novel Los bandidos de Río Frío by Manuel Payno."

This would make sense because English miners would eat pasties. A pastry wrapped food parcel that served as storage as well as food. The first time I saw a taco I thought it was just a pasty made of flat bread. The derivative nature is plain as day. 2001:8003:3631:7400:50FD:2CD8:8930:2A5B (talk) 23:50, 30 December 2022 (UTC)

Where are Birria Tacos in the Variations part of this article?

Like they taste amazing and are one of the most liked Taco variants! 2003:EA:4F4F:CFC4:5CEE:5F71:F590:D30E (talk) 17:51, 6 December 2023 (UTC)

Good idea. Just added. Geoff | ^{Who, me?} 18:18, 6 December 2023 (UTC)

Ty 91.17.132.99 (talk) 17:48, 7 December 2023 (UTC)

Costa Rica and other countries...

So I guess we know the taco originated in Mexico and is also popular in the USA. But I am on Reddit a lot and in some Costa Rican subreddit, tourists keep mentioning a joint called (I think) "SpecTACOlar". Do they have their own taco traditions or is it just a popular dish there like in the USA? Should any other countries be mentioned in this article? YellowAries2010 (talk) 06:35, 25 April 2024 (UTC)

Taco is officially classified as sandwich in the US

According to a court ruling discussed by the attorney Steve Letho in his Youtube channel (video is titled "Court Rules:A Taco is A 'Sandwich'"), a taco is now officially classified as [Sandwich]. I am not allowed to edit this into the Wikipedia article, but others might. If so, please do.--2003:D6:371C:E700:60DE:13C2:F30D:F893 (talk) 15:33, 18 May 2024 (UTC)

Depending on which sources have covered this, this may not be WP:DUE for mention in this article. The more and higher quality the sources provided, the more detail becomes DUE to include. _signed, Rosguill ^talk 15:39, 18 May 2024 (UTC)

What is the implication of your statement? 2003:D6:371C:E700:C889:3615:1F0D:E4F (talk) 22:50, 20 May 2024 (UTC)

Did you read the article, (WP:DUE)? To quote: "Wikipedia should not present a [fact] as if a view held by a small minority is as significant as the majority view. Views held by a tiny minority should not be represented except in articles devoted to those views (such as the flat Earth). Giving undue weight to the view of a significant minority or including that of a tiny minority might be misleading as to the shape of the dispute. Wikipedia aims to present competing views in proportion to their representation in reliable sources on the subject." One statement by one YouTube personality about one court's view is likely such a tiny minority. Geoff | ^{Who, me?} 22:57, 20 May 2024 (UTC)

Yes, but are court decisions treated as "small minority views" in the US? I am puzzled.

If you need a source, start with this one: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/18/dining/taco-sandwich-indiana-mexico.html

I am geofenced and cannot get to the real ruling. 2003:D6:371C:E700:C889:3615:1F0D:E4F (talk) 23:05, 20 May 2024 (UTC)

Forget it: I found another ruling in a different state that explicitly states the opposite. Oh well: Court decisions in the US seem to be rather arbitrary. Sorry for bothering you people. 2003:D6:371C:E700:C889:3615:1F0D:E4F (talk) 23:10, 20 May 2024 (UTC)

Really arbitrary, for sure. This was a single low-level court ruling to finesse an exception for a local zoning law. It's adorable and cute, which is why it's getting press, but has no real "official" legal bearing anywhere but Indiana, which is not exactly a Tex-Mex hub. This would be like a local Judge in Barcelona declaring that German Beer is really just bread-flavored sparkling water. Sam Kuru (talk) 23:21, 20 May 2024 (UTC)

History section

The history section is pretty lacking imo. Could use expansion and more rigor, especially given how important the food is culturally. Maybe just me, but food history is often lacking on Wikipedia seefooddiet (talk) 06:53, 12 August 2024 (UTC)

I tried to add a small fact to the section and it was immediately reversed by a gatekeeper who said they didn't even read my cited scholarly journal article, and then they went and "corrected" other food-related topics and backed up their assertions by citing a pop-culture website. Probably not worth the effort. Wikipedian-in-Waiting (talk) 12:54, 12 August 2024 (UTC)

In these kinds of scenarios you could/should make a post on the talk page and tag the user for a polite discussion. It's not infeasible to reach an understanding in this method; I do this often and provided I have good evidence I usually get my way. seefooddiet (talk) 14:30, 12 August 2024 (UTC)

I did it on their talk page instead. Here's the link, so you can follow up here on that discussion there if you wish: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Rosguill#Disagree_with_your_deletion Wikipedian-in-Waiting (talk) 14:48, 12 August 2024 (UTC)

Their response sounds reasonable to me. Honestly tacos aren't in my editing scope; I'm just pointing out an ongoing need. That one fact is just a drop in the pond; I'm asking for at least a 4x expansion of the section. The onus is on you if you want that info in the article. No need to passive aggressively poke using my post. If you want it in prove your case seefooddiet (talk) 14:56, 12 August 2024 (UTC)

n.b., the History section is separate from the non-traditional variations section. The article should perhaps be reorganized to primarily focus on the history of the traditional taco and less on excerpts from articles on variations, but the first step there would be identify sources for more content on history and use them to expand the article. _signed, Rosguill ^talk 15:18, 12 August 2024 (UTC)

Should lead image be taken in Mexico?

The current lead image shows tacos photographed in Oregon, USA, and includes a salt packet with English writing. To better represent the subject and maintain readers’ trust that they are viewing a traditional taco, it would be more appropriate to use an image taken in Mexico. Ideally of tacos served at a taco stand or home, and at least without English-language packaging. LilaPingvin (talk) 18:36, 26 September 2025 (UTC)

As long as someone familiar with [normal, traditional] tacos can say "Yes, obviously this shows tacos", without needing to say "they're made wrong" or "this is not the usual style" or other substantial criticisms, then this photo is perfectly fine and the language on the packet doesn't matter. A top Mexican cook might have moved to Oregon. A Polish immigrant to Oregon might be making tacos that are excellent by Mexican standards. It doesn't matter. (But if the actual tacos in the picture are wrong, that's different.) TooManyFingers (talk) 15:35, 3 December 2025 (UTC)

Grammar fix requested

"Traditionally, soft-shelled tacos referred to..." A foodstuff cannot speak so it does not refer to anything. You could bold or quote "soft-shelled taco" to make it clear it's the phrase being referred to, or just say that "soft-shelled tacos were traditionally..." 2A00:23C5:FE1C:3701:A5BD:785F:CCF1:82A7 (talk) 11:19, 18 October 2025 (UTC)

I agree with you, and I changed it. I also converted the mentions of traditional soft-shelled tacos to present tense, because it seems highly unlikely that they would just disappear. TooManyFingers (talk) 15:51, 3 December 2025 (UTC)