After over a decade of writing about tacos for several publications as well as his own blog, The Taco Trail, Dallas resident José Ralat became Texas Monthly’s first taco editor, a unique and enviable position, in 2019. We recently caught up with Ralat to discuss American Tacos: A History and Guide, his new book released April 15 from University of Texas Press, how he became the Lone Star State’s top taco expert, and how taquerias will survive the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the questions have been edited for brevity and clarity.
How did you become taco editor?
I’ve been writing about tacos and Mexican food for more than 10 years. I had an online column for the Dallas Observer called Taco Trail. I left a year later and took the name with me, working independently while freelancing. I got to travel a lot when I later became food editor at Cowboys and Indians magazine. That gave me the opportunity to really dig into the history and talk to the people behind the food. I pitched the job of taco editor while I was gainfully employed at C&I in 2015 when I was co-editing the Texas Monthly taco issue. I just emailed the editor and pointed out that they have a barbecue editor, but people eat more tacos than barbecue. There were several editorial changes, turnovers, and ownership changed. But four years after that, after constantly freelancing and reminding them that I still wanted the job, they gave it to me.
I was going to ask you about tacos getting overshadowed by barbecue in Texas.
It’s a complex topic. A lot of that has to do with Angloness. There’s an allure there. Mexican food is a part of Texas’ DNA, and we certainly eat a lot more of it than barbecue. But Mexican food is made by Mexicans and a lot of people don’t like Mexicans, even though most families here are mixed. There’s a lot of contradictions.
So how do you do it justice?
I tell the stories of the people and humanize them. The food typically tastes great, sometimes it’s not great, but at some level it doesn’t always matter what it tastes like. What’s important are the stories of the people who make the food.
American Tacos describes eight kinds of tacos.
There are eight chapters, but within the chapters I break it down even further. In the fried taco chapter, for example, I have sections for three types of fried tacos. Other chapters have sidebars and boxes on marginal or developing aspects of taco styles, like the integration of Southern and Mexican food cultures. I write about Cajun tacos made by African Americans. There isn’t enough development there yet, but it’s coming. I wrote about Indo Mex, which is subcontinental Indian and Mexican foodways integrating. There’s a big hub of that in Houston.
What does a typical day as a taco editor look like?
It’s not as much eating as you’d think, although when I’m eating, I go all out. I can eat at anywhere from five to 10 places a day. But I don’t drive [Ralat has epilepsy], so when I’m traveling I take a lot of buses and use rideshare services. It’s exhausting. Some towns have two barbecue joints and 20 taquerias or Mexican restaurants on one row. Brownsville has a 3 1/2-mile stretch of road that skirts the border. It has the highest concentration of highest quality taquerias and Mexican restaurants that I have ever experienced.
You have the best taco brain in the state. Where does Dallas fit in as far as Texas tacos?
San Antonio and Austin are Tex-Mex towns, El Paso is its own thing, but I think Dallas is about diversity, so much so that it rivals Houston.
What are your current favorite tacos in Dallas?
Revolver Taco Lounge, Maskaras Mexican Grill, and I eat at Trompo quite a bit.
What is the most fiercely debated taco issue you’ve covered?
The whole idea of the white people taco, or the hipster taco. Frankly, I think that’s a bunch of hooey. I don’t think it exists. If there’s a taco that’s being served here, it’s already been served in Mexico. By saying something is a hipster taco or a white person’s taco, we are trying to create a box around a food and we can’t. It’s not necessarily our food. It was gifted to us. To say that creativity isn’t allowed is wrong, misguided at best, and racist at worst.
Restaurants have quickly pivoted to takeout and delivery during the pandemic and it seems like taquerias and Mexican restaurants are doing pretty well.
I would tend to agree. Most taquerias and Mexican restaurants are mom and pop shops, small, family-operated businesses that are versatile and flexible. When times are tough, they can turn on a dime and adjust their business model. Not everyone’s going to make it, but the taqueria is in the best position to survive this type of event. There is no stopping the taco.
Watch for upcoming virtual book tour events at texasmonthly.com/food/#tacos.
