Best taco in ages

Being from Mexico, it's sometimes ridiculous to see a taco fad across other countries. Specially since it seemed to my untrained eye that the early international versions of the taco had absolutely nothing to do with the real deal. The incredibly simple and delicious taco. I've seen this trend spring around with a bunch of other foodstuffs I grew up taking for granted. But I guess this is just part of the process of food becoming global. You can't expect all of the ingredients to make the trip along with the idea.

Celebrating our anniversary with a recent trip, my wife and I visited the beautiful city of Querétaro. One of Mexico's UNESCO protected cities. In the Cinco de Mayo walkway, we came across a sign that grabbed my attention so hard, it practically pulled me in: Tacos de Chapulines (yes, that's grasshopper tacos).

It had been a while since I last had chapulines, so the Oaxaca-inspired taqueria/cantina was a nice place for a meal. The place was quite eye-catching, but then again, in a city where most buildings are considered cultural heritage, that's not the hard part.

We started off immediately with a couple of the tacos de chapulines and while we drank our beers, the waiters brouught our treats. It was a beautiful, simple thing: one tortilla laid on the plate with chunks of avocado, pieces of pork rind and a good handful of the little critters. Add a good spoonful of salsa and we were ready to dig in.



If you've never had the little buggers. Let me give you a very poor description of what it's like: Crunchy, salty with a hint of acid and spice. That's because they're so deeply fried that crunchy's all that's left and they are later seasoned with chili and lime juice. Still, it was a very good taste along with the pork rind and avocado chunks. How good, well, well enough to rate as one of the best tacos I've ever eaten. I've even gone to get me some chapulines at an artisan fair to reproduce these sometime this week...