In light of a supposed brush with failure in Boston, the subject of our next T.D.T. poll will be an important one. I must call upon each and every one of you to lend your opinion on a vital question which may have far reaching consequences in my quest to throw "The Perfect Game" of the taco eating world. Senior Salty must know: does a Choco Taco count as a taco? Now on to todays tacos. Rico's. My old stand by never let's me down. When I get home from a hard day at work, I know I have but a short walk ahead of me to reach the tasty treat that always seems to brighten my mood. Two grilled chicken tacos with guac and all my troubles seemed to just melt away.
12 comments:
I vote affirmative!
I was impressed with the originality and the fact that you did not panic in the "taco desert" that is Boston.
It was amazing no tacos anywhere...I want to put a TBell franchises there and make millions! Poor chowds they get no tacos :(
I did some research:
Definition #1- m-w.com
Main Entry: ta·co
Pronunciation: 'tä-(")kO
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural tacos /-(")kOz/
Etymology: Mexican Spanish
: a usually fried tortilla that is folded or rolled and stuffed with a mixture (as of seasoned meat, cheese, and lettuce)
Definition #2-Wikipedia: A taco is a traditional Mexican dish comprised of a rolled, folded, pliable maize tortilla filled with an edible substance.
Now, the first large discrepancy is that the choco taco does not include a maize tortilla, which seems to be required per definition #2, supra. Instead, the choco taco is comprised of a sugar cone, which does not satisfy the requisite corn component:
Sugar Cones: ENRICHED WHEAT FLOUR (CONTAINS NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), BROWN SUGAR, VEGETABLE OIL SHORTENING (PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL AND/OR COTTONSEED OIL), OAT FIBER AND/OR VEGETABLE FIBER, SALT, CARAMEL COLOR, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SOY LECITHIN.
Large discrepancy #2-
Similarities between Taco and Choco Taco:
A Choco Taco has a shell—like a real taco.
A Choco Taco has milk chocolate poured over the top— and milk chocolate's a dairy product—like the cheese in a real taco.
A Choco Taco has peanuts, which are in fact not nuts at all but legumes—like beans, which people often eat with real tacos.
A Choco Taco has vanilla ice cream, which could be said to slightly resemble a real taco's sour cream.
A Choco Taco has fudge striping—I guess that's supposed to represent meat.
But alas, no choco taco equivalent to lettuce, required in definition #1, supra. Thus, our inquiry is complete and Choco Taco must be excluded from the definition of taco.
Hope this answers your question, Senor Salty.
I would like to point out that definition #1 clearly states: USUALLY fried tortilla that is folded or rolled and stuffed with a mixture (AS OF seasoned meat, cheese, and lettuce). The fried tortilla, lettuce, meat, and cheese are not absolutes, they rather vague suggestions. The only absolutes in the definition are a tortilla (no mention of a required composition or preperation), and that it is filled with a mixture (no specific components necessarily required). As for definition #2, is a taco made with a flour tortilla not a taco? Last time I checked, there was no maize in flour. Nuff Said!
American Heritage dictionary:
ta·co (tä'kō) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. ta·cos
A corn tortilla folded around a filling such as ground meat or cheese.
[American Spanish, from Spanish, plug, wad of bank notes.]
Looks like we've got a problem with the corn component issue. Will continue research and post later findings ASAP.
Do not be rediculous. A chaco taco does not count as a taco for purposes of completeing a mission of eating a taco every goddamn day for a year. As pointd out when I folded the sugar packet in my hand to create a 'sugar packet taco', if a 'taco' is just something wrapped around something else, then eating one daily truly is no feat at all (unless you are willing to eat a hand wrapped around a sugar packet!). The TDT poll will vindicate me and you will be eating meat and cheese in tortillas every single day for a year, as promised.
To be fair you did “taco” the sugar packet, so in theory the sugar in the packet could be considered the meat of the taco (see definition below) and therefore you just created your own specialized type of taco…enjoy!
Random House Webster unabridged Dictionary
meat (mt), n.
2.the edible part of anything
I say a choco taco is a taco. It has taco in the name for chrissake! I think as long as Fredo eats something off a menu labeled sa a "taco" or identified from it's packaging as a "taco," then the quest is intact. By Camel's definition a fish taco - which often consists of fried fish, flour tortillas, and cabbage - wouldn't be a taco either. When it so clearer is a taco!
In differentiating the Gordita from the Taco, wikipedia states: A gordita in Mexican cuisine is a food which is characterized by a small, thick tortilla made with masa harina (corn flour). The gordita is in contrast to a taco, which uses a thinner tortilla.
I believe the inference presented is that the taco is the same as the Gordita in every respect EXCEPT for the thickness of the CORN tortilla.
Done. Taco = Corn tortillas only filled with an edible substance.
P.S. Thus, the choco taco is a distinct entity foreign to the Taco species.
More confirmation:
from the food dictionary, epicurious.com
taco
[tah-KOH]
A Mexican-style "sandwich" consisting of a folded corn TORTILLA filled with various ingredients such as beef, pork, chicken, CHORIZO sausage, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, onion, GUACAMOLE, REFRIED BEANS and SALSA. Most tacos in the United States are made with crisp (fried) tortilla shells, but there are also "soft" (pliable) versions.
PAWN3D
in response to marquis: there is an absolutely nasty japanese dish: tako. nothing like a taco but more of some feral uncooked ocean dwelling creature. and it is definitely not a taco. senor salty: any interest in trying thedailytako.com?
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