I’m Hungry: Tacos

It’s 11:30 PM, and I still haven’t eaten. Tonight homemade tacos.

Advice for those making tacos: buy big shells. If you buy small shells, you can’t fit enough vegetables inside and end up putting a disproportionate amount of meat and cheese inside. I rarely cook tacos (especially for myself); the food is greasy and time-consuming to prepare (witness the hour). But once in a while is ok, and fresh tomatoes can give it a zing. It brings back memories of my mom cooking tacos for me and my siblings. She never said “tacos” (as in moccasin), but “tackos” (as in “wackos”), something which mortified her children who were trying to hide our Yanqui heritage and blend in as Texans.

The key to making tacos right is preparing lots of fixings. My dad (that brute) used to eat the taco meat with bread and cheese and nothing else. I always liked to prepare a medley of fixings. The green lettuce, the red tomatoes, the orange cheddar cheese, the brown meat, and the golden yellow corn taco shells; it was always a sight to behold. Truthfully, fried taco shells are awful for your health, and soft flour tortillas are much healthier and easier to prepare (just zip them in the microwave). Hardshell taco shells must be heated in the oven (or the toaster oven). For 3-5 minutes, but not too long, or the taco shells will start folding in on itself (making the task of stuffing the shells that much harder).

I faced a dilemma. Because of the late time, I wanted to eat immediately (though I usually ate before the TV). The show “Angel” was still recording, so I filled some shells, and started eating while flipping through random pages of Martin Seymour-Smith’s Modern Guide to World Literature. I was in the Latin American section. Smith was talking about in contrast to Europe (where literary movements often evolved from artistic movements), literary movements in Europe arose out of social and political movements.