Talking Taco

Gastropod

Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley

Science, Food, History, Arts

4.7 • 3.5K Ratings

🗓️ 9 September 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Whether or not it's Tuesday, tacos pretty much always hit the spot—and not just in their homeland in Mexico. These days, the taco can be found all over the world, although it's acquired some strange new fillings along the way, from French fries to canned corn. It's hard to imagine something so universal having to be invented—but, in fact, the taco as we know it only emerged in the 1800s. In this episode, Gastropod talks taco with the experts, peering through the salsa-smudged veil of history to answer such questions as: What do Cornish miners and their lunchtime pasties have to do with the taco? Did Glen Bell, of Taco Bell fame, actually invent the hard-shell version? Is a burrito also a taco? And how can a seemingly simple snack harbor so many mysteries? Grab a napkin, because things are going to get messy—and delicious—as we dive deep into the taco-verse to find out! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Okay, so for her, big bebebe and big la quache, and for me, big la quache
0:09.6	and for me, big la quache is girono, sin cilantro.
0:12.2	Oh, don't mind us. We're just hanging out in Mexico City ordering tacos from a little
0:17.7	stand, as you do. This is my favorite taco stand in Mexico City. It's a vegan one called Por Sainpre Vegana, and it was the first place Nikki and I went out to eat after we landed in Mexico. All right. You go in first? Get in there. Okay. This one has beans. This one doesn't. This one has pineapple and all sorts of fun things.
0:39.8	Oh, spicy. Mmm. So good.
0:45.6	All right. I'm going to start, you started with the pasta, so I'm going to start with the big baby,
0:48.9	which I can't even remember what it is, but it looks freaking amazing. So,
0:55.8	that's hitting the spot. Tacos do frequently hit the spot.
1:01.0	Tacos do frequently hit the spot these days not just in Mexico City but all around the world.
1:06.0	That's the topic of this episode of Gastropod, the podcast that looks at food through the lens of science and history.
1:07.0	I'm Cynthia Graber.
1:10.4	And I'm Nicola Twilly, and you might be thinking, tacos?
1:12.7	Really? What's to say about tacos?
1:20.1	But what if I asked you if a burrito is also a taco? Or a fajita or what about a chimichanga?
1:25.4	This is a good question. And here's another one. We just did an episode all about corn and vitamin T, the omnipresent tortilla, which has certainly
1:28.4	been around for thousands of years. So why did the taco only show up in the late 1800s?
1:34.2	And how did Taco Tuesday complete with hard shell tacos, hamburger meat, and iceberg lettuce
1:40.9	ever become a thing? Listen on to find out. But before we dive in, in case you
1:45.4	miss the news in the last episode, we're going to be sending out the invite to our exclusive
1:49.5	once-yearly fan favorite gastro hang soon. That's going to be taking place on October 8th,
1:54.6	and you can get on the invite list at gastropod.com slash support. Gastropod is part of the
1:59.7	Vox Media Podcast Network in partnership with Eater.
	...

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