Burrito
A burrito or burro in Mexico is, historically, a regional name, among others, for what is known as a taco, a tortilla filled with food, in other parts of the country. The term burrito was regional, specifically from Guanajuato, Guerrero, Michoacán, San Luis Potosí, Sonora and Sinaloa, for what is known as a taco in Mexico City and surrounding areas, and codzito in Yucatán and Quintana Roo. Due to the cultural influence of Mexico City, the term taco became the default, and the meaning of terms like burrito and codzito were forgotten, leading many people to create new meanings and folk histories.
In modern times, it is considered by many as a different dish in Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine that took form in Ciudad Juárez, consisting of a flour tortilla wrapped into a sealed cylindrical shape around various ingredients. In Central and Southern Mexico, burritos are still considered tacos, and are known as tacos de harina. The tortilla is sometimes lightly grilled or steamed to soften it, make it more pliable, and allow it to adhere to itself. Burritos are often eaten by hand, as their tight wrapping keeps the ingredients together. Burritos can also be served "wet"; i.e., covered in a savory and spicy sauce, when they would be eaten with a fork and knife.
Burritos are filled with savory ingredients, most often a meat such as beef, chicken, or pork, and often include other ingredients, such as rice, cooked beans, vegetables, such as lettuce and tomatoes, cheese, and condiments such as salsa, pico de gallo, guacamole, or crema.
Burritos are often contrasted in present times with similar dishes such as tacos, in which a small hand-sized tortilla is folded in half around the ingredients rather than wrapped and sealed, or with enchiladas, which use corn masa tortillas and are covered in a savory sauce to be eaten with a fork and knife.
Etymology
The word burrito means "little donkey" in Spanish, the diminutive form of burro, or "donkey". Sonoran historian and politician, Horacio Sorbazo Díaz, explained that the term originated in Sonora where some dubious taco stands would sell donkey meat instead of beef, and people, maliciously, began calling tacos "burritos" implying they were made with donkey meat. Another possible origin is that it derives from the tendency for burritos to contain a lot of different things similar to how a donkey would be able to carry a large burden.History
Before the development of the modern burrito, the Maya civilization of Mexico used corn tortillas as early as 1500 BC to wrap foods, with fillings of chili peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, squash, and avocados. Historically, the Pueblo peoples of the Southwestern US also made tortillas filled with beans and meat sauce and prepared much like the modern burrito. But these preparations could also be said to be the origin of the simpler taco, rather than the modern burrito.The precise origin of the modern burrito is not currently known, but there is evidence that in Mexico burrito was mainly another name, among others, for a taco, a rolled tortilla, whether corn or wheat, filled with meat or other ingredients. In the 1895 Diccionario de Mejicanismos by Feliz Ramos i Duarte, burrito was identified as the regional name given in the Mexican state of Guanajuato to what is known as a taco in other regions:
Both, Diccionario Agrícola Nacional by the Mexican Dirección General de Estadística and Diccionario de Mejicanismos by Mexican linguist and philologist Francisco J. Santamaría, identify burrito as another name for a taco in the state of Guerrero, while in the State of Sinaloa it is specifically a taco filled with salt:
The Dictionary of Mexican Spanish by the Colegio de México also provides those definitions, stating that it is a regionalism from, both, the states of Guerrero and Michoacán for taco; and also states that, in the state of Sinaloa, it is a "taco de sal", a rolled corn tortilla with salt in it.
In Vocabulario Sonorense , Sonoran writer, historian and politician, Horacio Sobarzo Díaz, states the same, writing that burro is another name for a taco, but argues that it's a regionalism from Sonora and that it originated from the fact that in some places in that state, donkey meat was sold instead of beef:
In her book Life in Mexico Scottish noblewoman Frances Erskine Inglis writes that she ate burros, tortillas filled, in this case, with cheese, while on the road in Michoacán:
Being that burrito or burro was originally a regional name for what is known as a taco or codzito in other regions of Mexico, the use of both corn and wheat flour tortillas was understandable. References to burritos made with corn tortillas appear as late as 1938 in California. Ana Bégué de Packman, author of the book Early California Hospitality wrote that corn and flour tortillas could be used interchangeably for making burritos.
Currently, wheat flour tortilla burritos are known as "tacos de harina" in Central and Southern Mexico.
Folk history
Stemming from the view that burritos are distinct from tacos, there are many explanations and folk stories about the origin of burritos, most of them originating in the United States.An often repeated piece of folk history is the story of a man named Juan Méndez who sold tacos at a street stand in the Bella Vista neighborhood of Ciudad Juárez during the Mexican Revolution period, while using a donkey as a transport for himself and his food. To keep the food warm, Méndez wrapped it in large homemade flour tortillas underneath a small tablecloth. As the "food of the burrito" grew in popularity, "burrito" was eventually adopted as the name for these large tacos.
Some have speculated that it may have originated with vaqueros, the cowboys of northern Mexico in the 19th century.
In 1923, Alejandro Borquez opened the Sonora Cafe in Los Angeles that later changed its name to El Cholo Spanish Cafe. Burritos first appeared on American restaurant menus at the El Cholo Spanish Cafe in Los Angeles during the 1930s. Burritos were mentioned in the U.S. media for the first time in 1934, appearing in the Mexican Cookbook, a collection of regional recipes from New Mexico that was written by historian Erna Fergusson. In 1956, a frozen burrito was developed in Southern California by Duane Roberts.
Development of regional varieties
Mexico
Burritos are a traditional food of Ciudad Juárez, a city bordering El Paso, Texas, in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua, where people buy them at restaurants and roadside stands. Northern Mexican border towns like Villa Ahumada have an established reputation for serving burritos. Authentic Mexican burritos are usually small and thin, with flour tortillas containing only one or two of several ingredients: either some form of meat or fish, potato, rice, beans, asadero cheese, chile rajas, or chile relleno. Other ingredients may include: barbacoa, mole, refried beans and cheese, or deshebrada. The deshebrada burrito has a variation with chile and one with salsa verde. The Mexican burrito may be a northern variation of the traditional taco de Canasta, which is eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.Although burritos are one of the most popular examples of Mexican cuisine outside of Mexico, they are only popular in the northern part of Mexico. However, they are beginning to appear in some nontraditional venues in other parts of Mexico. Wheat flour tortillas are now often seen throughout much of Mexico, despite at one time being particular to northwestern Mexico, the Southwestern US Mexican-American community, and Pueblo Indian tribes.
Burritos are commonly called tacos de harina in Central Mexico and Southern Mexico, and burritas in "northern-style" restaurants outside of northern Mexico proper. A long and thin fried burrito called a chivichanga, which is similar to a chimichanga, is prepared in the state of Sonora and vicinity.
A variation of the burrito found in the Mexican state of Sonora is known as the burro percherón.
San Francisco Mission burrito
The origins of the Mission burrito or Mission-style burrito can be traced back to San Francisco, in the Mission District taquerías of the 1960s and 1970s. This type of burrito is produced on a steam table assembly line, and is characterized by a large stuffed flour tortilla wrapped in aluminum foil, and may include fillings such as carne asada, Mexican-style rice, whole beans, sour cream and onion.Febronio Ontiveros claims to have offered the first retail burrito in San Francisco in 1961 at El Faro, a corner grocery store on Folsom Street. Ontiveros claims credit for inventing the "super burrito", a style which may have led to the early development of the "San Francisco style". This innovative style involves the addition of rice, sour cream and guacamole to the standard burrito of meat, beans, and cheese. The Mission burrito emerged as a regional culinary movement during the 1970s and 1980s. The popularity of San Francisco-style burritos has grown locally at Mission Street taquerias like El Farolito, and nationally at chains like Chipotle Mexican Grill, Illegal Pete's, Chevy's Fresh Mex, Freebirds World Burrito, Qdoba, and Barberitos. Chili's had a brief stint with "Fresh Mex" foods and burritos between 2015 and 2017. In 1995, World Wrapps opened in San Francisco's Marina District and brought a burrito-inspired wrap style to the restaurant industry.
San Diego
–style burritos include "California burritos" and carne asada burritos. The style has been described by food writers as an "austere meal of meat, cheese and salsa", a contrast to the Mission-style burrito, which is typically larger and always contains more ingredients. A significant subgroup of Mexican restaurants in San Diego serves burritos described as "no-frills" and, in contrast to Mission-style burritos, the assembly line is not used.In the early 1960s, Roberto Robledo opened a tortilleria in San Diego and learned the restaurant business. Robledo began selling small bean burritos at La Lomita in the late 1960s, and by 1970, he had established the first Roberto's Taco Shop. By 1999, Roberto's restaurants had expanded to a chain of 60 taco shops offering fresh burritos known for their distinctive quality. Hoping to draw on the prestige of Roberto's, new taco shops in San Diego began using the "-bertos" suffix, with names like Alberto's, Filiberto's, Hilberto's, and others.
The California burrito originated at an unknown -berto's named restaurant in San Diego in the 1980s. The Fresh MXN chain also claimed to be the originator of the California burrito. The earliest-known published mention was in a 1995 article in the Albuquerque Tribune. The California burrito typically consists of chunks of carne asada meat, French fries, cheese, and either cilantro, pico de gallo, sour cream, onion, or guacamole. The ingredients are similar to those used in the "carne asada fries" dish, and it is considered a staple of the local cuisine of San Diego. With the merging of French fries and more traditional burrito fillings, the California burrito is an example of fusion border food. The California burrito has also been described as a "trans-class" food item, as it is regularly consumed by people across socioeconomic lines. Variants of this burrito may add shrimp, or substitute carnitas or chicken for carne asada.
The carne asada burrito is considered one of the regional foods of San Diego. Carolynn Carreno has said that to San Diegans, "carne asada burritos are as integral to the experience of the place as a slice of pie is to a New Yorker." The San Diego–style carne asada burrito is served with chunks of carne asada, guacamole, and pico de gallo salsa. This "wall-to-wall" use of meat contrasts to burrito styles that use rice and beans as filler ingredients.