The Book of Tacos

Summary

Located in the heart of San Antonio, UTSA’s academic library boasts one of the oldest, most comprehensive collections of historic Mexican cookbooks in the world (many of which are over a century old). In this episode, we’ll explore what these archaic texts teach us about Mexico’s rich culinary history and how its dishes are prepared today. We’ll talk with Rico Torres, a James Beard-nominated chef who’s built a career off of recreating these age-old recipes at his uber-popular restaurant, Mixtli and Steph Noell, the University of Texas at San Antonio’s Special Collection’s Librarian.

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November 7, 2023

Taco Pop Culture: A Taco Talk on All Things Tacos on the Interwebs

Stephanie Guerra, of Puro Pinche, hangs with us in the studio to talk taco pop culture.

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October 31, 2023

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, […]

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October 24, 2023

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

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October 17, 2023

Archiving Our Food History: What Goes Into Researching and Saving Oral Recipes and Histories.

In this episode, we talk to Dr. Meredith E. Abarca about putting together her online archive El Paso Food Voices. Author and blogger Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack shares how she has used her cookbooks as a way to archive her family’s recipes.

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October 10, 2023

Inside Houston’s Encuentro: The Native American Roots of Texas Mexican Food

This episode heads to Houston’s Encuentro, a two-day culinary event. Host Mando Rayo uncovers the Indigenous history of Tex-Mex and Texas Mexican food from scholars, chefs, and other event attendees.

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October 3, 2023

Salsa Magic

This episode includes a breakdown of the salsas that complete our favorite tacos, from taqueria style, to hot sauces. It includes the science of peppers to a local hot sauce brand’s origins. Then we’ll go into my home kitchen to make one of my favorite salsas and how to pair them up with your favorite tacos.

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September 26, 2023

Redefining Tex-Mex: Exploring the history and new terms of Texas-Mexican food

Chef, Food Writer, and Filmmaker Adan Medrano will walk us through the history, recipes and research to define Texas-Mexican food.

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September 19, 2023

Traditional Barbacoa and Beyond

From Sunday morning traditions to more modern takes on barbacoa, we’re taking a deep dive into barbacoa in Central Texas.

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