Mando Rayo

The Best thing I ate in 2024 (Live at El Perrito ATX) — BONUS

We’ll bring El Cuatro, season 4 of the Tacos of Texas Podcast with a live event at El Perrito ATX. We recap some of the best things we ate in 2024 and talk to our special guest from Visit El Paso, Julio Cotto about his identity and favorite taco spots. 

Taco Font, A Latino Art Weekend – Live at The Cathedral ATX — BONUS

Taco Font, a Latino Art Weekend live event in collaboration with The Cathedral Austin and Of Color. Some taco trucks are colorful, some hand-written and painted, and others are inspired by the food they make. In this episode, we’ll capture the most creative taco trucks, the inspiration, and stories behind the art, and eat along the way. Guests include muralist, Ernesto “Cheche” Hernandez and Reyna Vasquez, Veracruz All Natural (Austin) and moderated by Mando Rayo, Taco Journalist.

H-E-B’s road to Mi Tienda

What led H-E-B to go full Hispanic aisle? With the Mi Tienda brand, HEB went full into target Latino consumers from barbacoa, salsas y tamales. Guest is Manny Colunga, store leader at Mi Tienda in Houston, Texas.

Is that Freddy Fender on my tortilla?

Let’s talk about folklore in Mexican cooking from apparitions of La Virgen or Freddie Fender on a tortilla, good and bad omens to ofrendas for our loved ones. Guest is Ayden Castellanos from the podcast, SUSTO.

Taco Pop Culture

From Taco shticks, antics in media and pop culture and cultural appropriation, we’ll explore the highs and lows of taco pop culture. Guest is Stephanie Guerra from San Antonio’s Puro Pinche.

Tools of the Taco Trade 

Cazos, Discadas y parrillas, oh my! Take a tour of La Tia Pancha Flea Market in the northside of Houston as we discover the tools that taqueros y taqueras use to create their muy ricos tacos.

Spanglish, Botanas and Border Cultura

If you grew up along the border in Tejas, you can speak con ganas, know where the good tacos and botanas are and your identity runs as long as the Rio Grande across Texas. Guest is Eddie Vega, Taco Poet and San Antonio Poet Laureate.

Are Chico’s Tacos actually tacos?

This might be controversial but those drowned tacos are actually flautas or are they? We’ll dig into this highly debated issue in Chucotown. Guest is Ivan Enriquez, owner of El Perrito Austin.

On a mission with Chef Ana Liz Pulido

Let’s talk with Ana Liz Pulido, winner of Best Chef – Texas, on how she went from a small town, Mission, TX to the national stage of the James Beard Foundation.

You had me at Queso

Let’s take a melty, gooey trip into what we know as queso, chile con queso, con queso or for you phonetically abled chip eaters, keso. Guest is Nadia Chaudhury – editor of Eater Austin.

Los Verdes: Goooool!

Goooool! But first, tacos. Let’s take a taco tour up to el partido of Los Verdes. On the way, we’ll talk to fans, find the must-stop taco joints and see how comida y gente have welcomed Austin FC to Central Texas. Guests include Joseph Gomez – Owner of ConTodo Austin, Sam Boisjoly – Senior Executive Chef at Austin FC, and Axel Beverido and Tony Avila, co-owners of One Taco Taqueria.

Trailer: Tacos of Texas Season 4

Tacos of Texas is back on August 20th. With Season 4, we’re taking the taco studio on the road to 3 markets in Texas and talk to locals about the food and the culture in their own communities. You’ll hear about the history of Vaqueros and Breakfast Tacos, learn about HEB’s road to Mi Tienda, meet James Beard award-winning chef Ana Liz Pulido, and more.

Bonus Episode: Regional Taco Flavors of Texas

From border to border, El Paso to Brownsville and a little in between, we’re gonna talk tacos regionales and just like the musica itself, there’s many elements and things that go into them. Our guests include Miguel Cobos from Vaquero Taquero and Paola Gabriela from Visit El Paso.

Black Mexicans, Part 2: Tracing the foodways of Black Seminoles and Mexicans in Texas and Mexico

There is so much untold and uncovered history of the African diaspora, especially that within the lineages of slavery. Food can signal a variety of possibilities within history, and in this episode, we examine the melding and the migration of Black Seminoles across Texas and into Mexico. We join Windy Goodloe and Corina Torralba Harrington, both descendants of Black Seminoles and of Mexican heritage for a Juneteenth celebration in Brackettville before making a pilgrimage to Nacimiento de los Negros in Coahuila, Mexico. We uncover their connecting points, foodways, and how they are preserving and continuing their culture and history.

Black Mexicans, Part 1: Tracing the foodways of Black Seminoles and Mexicans in Texas and Mexico

There is so much untold and uncovered history of the African diaspora, especially that within the lineages of slavery. Food can signal a variety of possibilities within history, and in this episode, we examine the melding and the migration of Black Seminoles across Texas and into Mexico. We join Windy Goodloe and Corina Torralba Harrington, both descendants of Black Seminoles and of Mexican heritage for a Juneteenth celebration in Brackettville before making a pilgrimage to Nacimiento de los Negros in Coahuila, Mexico. We uncover their connecting points, foodways, and how they are preserving and continuing their culture and history.