Join us for a one-on-one conversation with chef, food writer, and filmmaker Adán Medrano. Adán is on a mission to set the record straight on what Tex-Mex is and what it isn’t. He’ll walk us through the history, recipes, and research on how we define “Texas”, “Mexican”, and the Indigenous beginnings that started it all.
Traditional Barbacoa and Beyond
When you can’t make lamb, goat or beef head barbacoa in a pozo, you go to your favorite barbacoa taqueros y taqueras. From Sunday morning traditions to more modern takes on barbacoa, we’re taking a deep dive into barbacoa in Central Texas. We’ll first spend some time with La Santa Barbacha, where they put more of a modern take on barbacoa for those everyday eaters. Then we’ll drive out on a Sunday morning to La Pulga, or as some of you might know it, the 812 Outdoor Market and get it by the pound. Guests include Rosa, Daniela, Uriel, and Doña Landaverde from La Santa Barbacha and Don Miguel Moreno of La Santa Rosa.
Meet Latino James Beard honorees: How this national recognition impacts Latino chefs and makers
Latinos are gaining more seats at the table at the James Beard Foundation Awards! Get to know some of the past and current winners, nominees, and semifinalists from across Texas: 2023 James Beard Award semifinalist Mariela Camacho of Comadre Panadería, 2023 James Beard Award finalist for Best New Restaurant Emmanuel Chavez of Tatemó, and 2022 James Beard Award winner for Best Chef Iliana de la Vega of El Naranjo. Learn from their perseverance, their beginnings, and how they got the attention of this prestigious national foundation.
Decolonizing Tacos: Vegan Taqueros in Texas
Plant-based tacos aren’t just one of today’s trends. Before the introduction of pork and cattle to this side of the hemisphere, plant-based foods were the norm. In this episode, we skip the meat and talk to vegan taqueros and taqueras in Texas to understand what goes into making vegan options for taco lovers. Guests include Edgar Delfin from Lick It Up (El Paso/Austin), Chris Rios from The Vegan Nom (Austin), and Belen Hernandez from Belenty’s Love (Dallas).
Mexican Hands: Exploring recipes that were developed by our honored matriarchs, mothers, abuelas, tías and hermanas
In this episode, we discuss how we can honor the matriarchs of nuestras familias. The kind that with their bare hands can flip tortillas over a blazing comal, work and pound masa for tortillas and tamales, and make salsas with their Mexican Hands. Get to know the stories behind the dishes and recipes that are near and dear to our hearts. Guests include Diana Valera from Tamale House East in Austin and Ellen Riojas Clark, Ph.D., Professor Emerita at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Bean and Cheese Battle Royale
You voted and we put the finalists to the challenge! In this episode, we taste the best bean and cheese tacos in San Antonio, Texas. Which bean and cheese combo will be crowned the winner of this Bean & Cheese Battle Royal? Why is this breakfast taco a staple and part of San Antonio’s food culture? Guests include Stephanie Guerra from Puro Pinche, Nydia Huizar and Richard Diaz from BarbacoApparel, and Jaime Macias from Jaime’s Place.
Taco Tuesdays in School Cafeterias: Exploring culturally relevant foods in elementary schools
Grab a lunch tray and join us at the cafeteria as we explore Mexican food served in elementary schools. We talk to Austin Independent School District’s Executive Chef Diane Grodek about the food served in schools, cafeteria worker Ofelia Diaz and get honest feedback from kids eating tacos and tamales over lunch at McBee Elementary School in Austin.
Trailer: Tacos of Texas Season Tres
Let’s talk tacos with Mando Rayo, Taco Journalist and the co-creator of United Tacos of America TV Show & Tacos of Texas book and PBS digital series.
As an avid taco ambassador, food explorer and street ethnographer, Mando has traveled across the U.S. to uncover the tastiest tacos, from the Rio Grande Valley in Texas to L.A. and New Orleans to New York City. And we’re keeping the conversation front and center through the Tacos of Texas Podcast Season Tres (3).
Keeping it true to our Taco Journalist roots, we’ll talk to Texas taqueros, tortilleras & makers; we’ll also explore food cultures & people while exploring issues like Taco Gentrification, roots of Barbecue and Migrant Farmworker rights. We’ve got some muy rico conversations coming up in season tres and this season we’re reconnecting with the roots and history of nuestra gente including Mexican Hands, Redefining Tex-Mex, Black Mexicans, Taco Tuesday in School Cafeterias y más!
Ultima Palabra con Mando Rayo
It’s 2022 and yes we’re still dealing with taco tropes, Latino stereotypes & pendejadas. But in between all that hot mess, we still have lots of tacos to enjoy. Today we’ll tackle some of the highlights and low lights of 2022 with Ultima Palabra with special guests from the Taconet, Lucy Flores from Luz Media and Junior Taco Correspondent, Samuel Franco.
Taquiando y Hablando: The ingredients to making a taco podcast
Producer and host, Mando Rayo talks with story producer and filmmaker Sharon Arteaga on the steps they took to create the Tacos of Texas Podcast, Season Dos, from research to guest interviews and specialized segments to eating ojos, cabritos, all the tortillas, finding vendedoras along the borderlands, decolonizing our maíz, all while listening to taco beats and traveling over 2000 miles without leaving the state of Tejas.
Tardeadas
Move over Sunday brunch! Today we are vibing at a Tardeada in Seguin, Texas. Travel with us as we fill our panzitas with Tacos and our soul with good music y good afternoon vibes at Burnt Bean Co. The Pope of BBQ Ernest Servantes will guide us through a Sunday ritual of some sacred tacos of Texas. We talk tardeada traditions, memorias, and some of our favorite tardeada tunes y comida.
Thank You Jesus
Let’s explore the original purveyors and growers of our foods and honor the hard work of Migrant Farmworkers. Thank you Jesus…De Nada says the migrant farmworker. Going beyond the internet meme, let’s not only explore where our food comes from but who cultivates it, picks it and gets it to local grocery stores and restaurants. The farm-to-market movement has exponentially grown in the U.S. but when it comes to taquerias and Latino farmers, are they included in the make-up and do they benefit from the farm-to-market economy? In Texas, migrant farmworkers have been part of the farming community since the 1950s and while they may go unnoticed, we’ll talk to some of these unsung heroes who are feeding the people of Tejas though farming and local taquerias. Guests include Elizabeth Marquez and Maria Elena from La Union Del Pueblo Entero (LUPE) as well as Norma Flores López from Justice for Migrant Women.
Taco Gentrification
In Austin, East of IH-35 is considered the great divide, from the wealthy and the poor, the whites and Black and Latino communities. With Austin’s growth and gentrification comes even more displacement. You can literally experience it through the city’s tacos, where you can buy tacos for $2.00 at one location and $9.00 at another, all within 5 blocks of each other! In this episode, we’ll explore Taco Gentrification and how it impacts taqueros and the communities we live in. We will take a taco tour of the east Cesar Chavez and 7th Street and also hop over to East Riverside, a place of dos mundos where one side of the street is home to immigrants and families while the other side is inhabited by millenials and new condo dwellers. Guests include Regina Estrada from Joe’s Bakery & Mexican Restaurant, Mincho Jacob from BASTA Austin and Samuel Franco, East Riverside resident and advocate.
Las Jefecitas: using comida to sustain immigrant households.
Many immigrants have leveraged the delicious cuisines of their países as a means of income and work when they first arrive in the United States. Even before setting up a taco truck or even a brick and mortar, we see vendedoras earning their income by selling tacos out of their hieleritas in grocery store parking lots or wherever they know they’ll find foot traffic. In this episode we explore what motivates these women to leave their kitchens and go out into these parking lots. We discuss these informal economies and how they look in today’s digital age. We also spend time at La Mujer Obrera and Cafe Mayapán to see how the organization supports immigrant and indigenous women by training and employing them.
Decolonizing Maíz
Corn is the most important crop of the Americas. It sustained the Western Hemisphere for centuries, and with the colonization of its lands, came the colonization of corn. In the past century, corn went from maíz production to mass production, with companies modifying it and depleting it of its natural riches. In this episode we rally with masa makers on a journey to reconnect our comunidades with the nutrients and flavors of the superfood in a more pure form than the mass-produced maseca, with which many of us are familiar. We talk to Andres Garza, now Nixta Taqueria’s Director of Masa Development and Fermentation, Olivia Lopez, chef and co-owner of Molino Olōyō in Dallas, Texas, and Julian Maltby of Mercado Sin Nombre in Austin, TX about decolonizing the once magical maiz and the many shapes of tacos being made with their corn tortillas.
Politi-tacos: The Politics of Tacos
As some politicians take more notice of the voting power of the communidad Latina, we see our cultura make its way into campaign slogans, hear Spanish being spoken from debate podiums, and even Tacos being used as an effort to rally up support! While some taco tactics may just be lip service, others have made sincere connections with the communities they go into. In this episode we talk tacos and politics with Councilmember Vanessa Fuentes, AISD Trustee Ofelia Zapata and Jilma Palacio from Taqueria King as we get to know the Dove Springs neighborhood in Austin, Texas.
Smoked Beef Barbacoa
Barbacoa, from Sunday traditions to everyday goodness, barbacoa continues to evolve and surprise us. In this episode, we talk barbacoa basics before chatting with Joel Garcia, owner and pitmaster at Teddy’s Barbecue in Weslaco, Texas. Joel shares his barbecue and barbacoa story and how smoking beef heads takes barbacoa to the next level.
Cabrito y Familia: Rebecca’s Mexican Restaurant
The tradition of cooking cabrito goes back centuries. For Rebecca’s Mexican Restaurant, in McAllen, Texas, it goes back over 30 years, for a mother and her two daughters. In this episode we stop by this G.O.A.T. of a restaurant and talk cabrito traditions of the RGV with both hijas, Jessica Gutierrez and Laurie Johnson and some fellow taco-loving customers at the restaurant.
Vitamina T
Don’t forget to take your Vitamin T! That’s T for Tacos, Tortas, and Tamales. In this episode, taco journalist Mando Rayo and bilingual educator Suzanne Garcia-Mateus sit down and browse through the spanglish children’s book that they co-wrote called Vitamina T for Tacos. They connect over their shared experiences of growing up bilingual and speaking spanglish and how that motivated them to write a book that represented the complex culture that they didn’t see in children’s books when they were growing up.
The Filipino Guey
They say that Filipinos are the Mexicans of Asia. From the adobo and the chicharrones, to cultural traditions, we share an overlap in our identities. In this episode, we bond with our Filipino primos Isabel Protomartir (host of Identity Productions show Até) and Ralph Xavier Degala (Master Chef Season 9). We discuss how Filipino culture is thriving in Texas and the tasty tacos that come with it.