Neal nerds out on tacos with Mauricio Velázquez de León - Mexico City-born writer-turned-publisher, founder of Duo Press, and author of An Illustrated Guide to Tacos and Burritos, a serious cookbook drawn like a comic book, out August 11. They trace tacos from 7000 BC southern Mexico to fine taquerias in Tokyo and Norway, unpack why the burrito is actually a California invention, and get into Duo Press’s backwards publishing model - concept first, author second.
Mauricio makes the case that tacos are “food for the people, from the people, to the people,” defends small tacos against the supersizing trend, and hands over a short list of spots worth crossing a border for.
Key topics
A serious cookbook built like a comic book
Why tacos are “food for the people”
The burrito as a California (Mission Street) invention
Duo Press’s reverse model: concept first, author second
Tacos de canasta - the bicycle-basket tacos
Corn in the south, flour in the north: the tortilla map
Taco al pastor’s Mexico City origins
Why bigger tacos are worse tacos
Quesabirria, Korean tacos, and the fusion wave
Links & resources
An Illustrated Guide to Tacos and Burritos (Duopress, out Aug 11)
Jeffrey Pilcher - Mexican-food historian (University of Toronto), writes the book’s history sections
Josefina Velázquez de León - Mauricio’s great-aunt, renowned Mexican cookbook author
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