At the beginning of this year the Michelin guide launched its first Mexican edition. Among the 18 large establishments that received at least one star was a cash-only taqueria in the working-class San Rafael neighborhood of Mexico City called The Caliph of León. It’s the only street food stand on the list and has been open since 1968. And now, thanks to the Michelin star, it’s probably the only taco stand in Mexico where the wait time is up to three hours.
When I visited on a recent trip to Mexico City, the line was a much more reasonable 25 minutes. The 10ft by 10ft taco stand is located in a series of similarly sized units on a busy sidewalk and the line winds past the neighboring men’s clothing store where an assortment of boxers, jockstraps and thongs are displayed outside. There are four tacos on the menu at El Califa: three beef (loin, rib and gaonera or fillet) and one pork (chop). They cost between 53 and 82 Mexican pesos (approximately £2-3). Each comes with a slice of lime. You can add spicy green or red sauce. These are simple tacos (“elemental and pure”, as the Michelin guide describes them) that are distinguished by the quality of their freshly made tortillas and their meat.
However, ask the locals about El Califa and you will be surprised by the reactions. “Nothing special” is what one person told me; an indication of the wealth of exceptional taquerias in the city and how loyal people are to their favorites. However, everyone agrees on the importance of having a taqueria in the inaugural Michelin edition. Tacos originated in Mexico. Tacos remain fundamental to Mexican culture. Tacos, eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner and at three in the morning by clubbers and barflies, are a source of national pride.
Tacos have now taken over the world, giving rise to everything from Taco Tuesdays to the popular Netflix docuseries. Taco Chronicles. A handful of taquerias have opened this year in London alone, including lucia in Hackney Wick and the much publicized Tacos CDMX in Soho. One of the reasons for the taco’s popularity is the obvious brand advantage that “taco” is easy to pronounce. Tacos are also quick to eat (just two bites) and require few ingredients: a tortilla, some meat (or similar), and salsa. However, its greatest advantage is undoubtedly its deliciousness.
“A taco is a complex flavor bomb,” says the London chef Santiago Lastrawho grew up in a small town south of Mexico City and was the guide of my trip. “A taco has umami from grilled caramelized meat, creaminess from avocado, sweetness and spiciness from the sauce, texture from crunchy onions, herbal notes from cilantro, spiciness from chiles, kokumi. [rich savouriness] of the calcium of the tortillas and the acidity of the lime.”
When he returns to Mexico City, Lastra tends to enjoy his favorite tacos at a simple restaurant. Taqueria Los Cocuyos in the Historic Center. These are made from different parts of the animal’s head and include “creamy” eye, “gelatinous” proboscis (snout), “crunchy” ear trunk (ears), and tongue (tongue). This time, however, Lastra takes us to The Dozena fresh seafood and oyster bar in the trendy district of Rome, where the meal begins with their signature grilled octopus tostada garnished with pineapple, raw onion, chili, guacamole and cilantro. Next up is another local delicacy that Lastra wants us to try, tacos de escamoles, whose key ingredient are rice-like grains that turn out to be ant larvae, also known as Mexican caviar. A trip to the San Juan Market (a traditional food market in the Cuauhtémoc district) offers more challenging varieties in the form of lion, tiger, crocodile and tarantula meat tacos, all apparently just for tourists.
In other places like Sowing Dining Room and neighbor Siembra Taqueria In Polanco the emphasis is on the quality of the tortillas. Here they use locally grown seasonal corn, which is believed to promote biodiversity, more sustainable agricultural practices and greater well-being among farming communities than the industrialized GMO crops that have become dominant in Mexico. In Siembra this corn is turned into masa (through a process known as nixtamalization) and then into tortillas. The focus shows in the rich cheesy flavor and color of their tortilla.
Leaving the city, we drive for two hours to TepoztlanLastra’s hometown, where we will visit the local food and craft market at its busiest on a Saturday morning. Here the women turn giant tortillas comal (smooth and flat plates). Vendors sell all kinds of salsa, including hibiscus, guava, tamarind, grasshopper and “Coca-Cola.” And customers jostle on benches with fans waiting to be served breakfast tacos and quesadillas. I fall in love with a barbacoa taco made with lamb slow-cooked in an oven for several hours. It comes with a restorative broth made with its juice.
A close second is the cue I have in Princess Taqueriawhich is located in front of the old Lastra secondary school. This place was a regular childhood haunt. Outside, a taquero slices reddish-marinated pork on a vertical spit. Pineapple and salsa will be added for perhaps Mexico’s most popular variety, the taco al pastor. At 18 Mexican pesos, this may be the best 70p I’ve ever spent.
Outside of Mexico, tacos have been key in fueling a growing appreciation for regional Mexican cuisine and fine dining. In Sonora Taqueria in London and Sonoratown In Los Angeles, for example, you get flour tortillas (rather than corn), which are a staple of the Sonora region of northern Mexico. At Lastra’s house kol In London’s Marylebone, the signature langoustine taco made with Scottish langoustine, sea buckthorn and sourdough tortillas epitomizes the place’s blend of Mexican cuisine and British ingredients.
In innLastra’s latest opening on London’s Regent Street, the menu includes a Baja California taco made with beer-battered cod and a number of main dishes such as slow-cooked short ribs with mole poblano that come with corn tortillas. These dishes can be prepared in tacos or eaten as stews with tortillas as bread for scooping and cleaning. “If everything goes wrong, I’ll move to Mexico City and start a taco van,” says Lastra, before correcting himself: “No, if everything goes well! Feeding people tacos: that’s the dream.”
Lastra insists that there is nothing better than the way tacos are cooked in his native country, where high standards are demanded: “Everything must be fresh, not premade or reheated. And everything is done at a rate of two or three hundred tacos per hour.” He adds: “A taquero has as much experience as a sushi master, so seeing a Michelin-recognized taqueria and, hopefully, more on the way makes me proud, as a Mexican.”
Ajesh Patalay traveled as Fonda’s guest