Did burritos actually originate in Mexico?
What cuisines apart from Indian do you love the most? Italian, Korean, or Mexican? Well, all these cuisines from various parts of the world are delectable. Talking about Mexican food, quesadillas, tacos, tamales, enchiladas and burritos are the most sought-after dishes. Wait, the last one may not be correct. Wondering why? Even though they do have the Mexican flavour and to them, burritos may not essentially be from Mexico, a country in North America. Okay then, from where did they originate? Well, let us get into the story right away.
The pre-burrito era
Long before modern-day burrito (flour tortilla wrapped into a sealed cylindrical shape around veggies and meat, covered in spices and sauce) came into the scene and impressed generations of foodies, its precursor existed in the form of corn tortillas wrapped with fillings such as chili peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, squash, and avocados. It was in fact widely popular in ancient Mexico in the kitchen and dinner tables of the Mayans as early as 1500 B.C.
Incidentally, in New Mexico, a state in the USA, the Native American tribe Pueblo also ate a similar dish made with beans and meat sauce wrapped in tortillas, that looked much like present-day burrito.
Born in the hands of Mexican cowboys
Not many outside Mexico know, but burrito is only eaten in Northern Mexico, while the Southern Mexicans claim that they haven’t even heard about it. Maybe that’s why, the exact origin of burrito is often disputed and even has several theories surrounding it.
For instance, some food historians claim that they were born in the hands of vaqueros or horse-mounted livestock herders from Latin America in the late 19th century. It was increasingly popular in the Northern Mexican state Guanajuato but had no name. However, it was described as “A rolled tortilla with meat or other ingredients inside”.
Naming of burritos
Legends would have us believe that burritos were accidentally born when a man named Juan Mendez sold tacos at a street stand in Bella Vista, a small town in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It was the period of Mexican Revolution and there was a shortage of food ration, which is why people ate whatever they could lay their hands on. Now, as the legend goes, Mendez used a donkey to carry himself and his food ingredients. However, to keep the food warm from his home till the stand, he often used large homemade flour tortillas to cover them up. Long story short, people who enjoyed eating his tacos named it the ‘food of the burrito’ where burrito refers to the little donkey.
If you believe this story, maybe you should read the next one too. People in Northern Mexico also believe that burritos were born in the 1940s when street food vendor Ciudad Juarez sold tortilla wrapped vegetables to underprivileged school children during midday meal hours. Turns out, the vendor often fondly addressed the kids as his ‘burros’ meaning ‘dunces and dullards.’ Eventually, it was these burros who named their favourite treat as “burritos.”
The tale of Mission Burrito
Perhaps the most accepted backstory of burritos, can be traced back to the California of 1923. As it happened, a Latin American chef named Alejandro Borquez, who was based in Los Angeles, opened a restaurant, where he prepared all kinds of dishes that reminded him of home. It was called ‘El Cholo Spanish Café.’ However, the restaurant was a failure. So, in 1930, inspired by the Mexican dish tacos, Borquez invented a dish consisting of thick, flour tortillas wrapped in rice, beans, meat, sauce and vegetables and then either steamed or grilled it. The food was meant to be a full course one, which is why it was both big and heavy. He called it ‘burrito’ and launched it in his new restaurant in San Francisco, named Mission Burrito. By 1934, burritos had become more famous in the USA than in Mexico especially because travelling journalists spread it nationwide.