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Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America (2012)

by Gustavo Arellano(Favorite Author)

3.61 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1439148619 (ISBN13: 9781439148617)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Scribner

review 1: I'm happy to say that buy the time the credits rolled, I've come to understand Mr. Arellano and give his kudos for this well-researched, funny, entertaining book. I found this book in a university library next to Michael Pollan, and was initially shocked out of my comfort zone by the differences between the two. Arellano peppers his book with reference to "gabachos," or the "pinche gringo," and other derisions of white America. Are they fairly earned? Maybe. Is the widespread generalization gratuitous and unnecessary in an otherwise well-constructed study of culinary popular culture? Definitely. After reading some of his Ask a Mexican columns, that is a much better venue, and the jokes land in a way they don't in this book. Ultimately, Arellano is a well-intentioned troll... more. If you can get past the racial wordplay, the book gives a very thorough and interesting journey through Mexican food and its adaptations to the American palate over the last two centuries. I learned a ton about the history of industrialized Mexican food, fast-food, and how "authenticity" should be (if even) defined. Particularly as a Texan-born gabacho living in California, everything he wrote rang familiar for me, and it was nice experiencing that nostalgia (because who doesn't remember that Pace Picante commercial from the 90's?). If you eat, cook, or think about Mexican food, this book is worth a read - even por nosotros pinches gringos culeros. ;-)
review 2: I grouped this with cook books because it is so much about food, but it really is cultural history just as much. Being a southern Californian, "Mexican food" has been a normal ethnic option all my life. I was astounded to learn the history of the specific menu items that American's accept now as common authentic "Mexican" that really evolved in places like Chicago and San Francisco. I enjoyed this book so much from the library that I read it through once, a second time for certain passages, and then my own bought copy. The author is delightfully irreverent while being totally informative. And if you can read it without salivating regularly and seeking out every restaurant in your area that might provide some of the described delights, I would be amazed. less

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