Over the past couple of years, birria tacos have wholly swept the nation, becoming a culinary phenomenon seen all over social media.
From Instagram to TikTok, this dish has gained immense popularity across the country.
As this famous Mexican dish continues to gain global recognition, many are becoming curious about what makes a birria taco.
Birria tacos are a Mexican taco dish consisting of stewed meat tucked into tortillas soaked in the broth of the meat. This broth, also known as consomé, is often served with the birria tacos. The consomé acts as a dipping sauce for the tacos, which is part of the dish’s appeal.
This article is going to explain the history of birria tacos and their sudden rise to fame, as well as detail how to make birria tacos, along with several recipes to check out.
The History Behind Birria Tacos
Birria, the meat used in birria tacos, is a dish that was born in Jalisco, Mexico.
When the Spanish conquistadors first came to Mexico in the 1500s, they brought a variety of spices and animals from Europe.
This transfer of goods from Europe to the Americas was known as the Columbian exchange, which is responsible for the meat used to make birria.
Goats were one of the animals brought to Mexico by the conquistadors.
Unlike the other animals, the goats were a complete nuisance. They began to overpopulate very quickly, and as a result, they devoured most of the crops planted by the natives.
To bring this problem to an end, the natives in Mexico began to use goats for meat. Since goat meat was considerably tough and pungent, the natives got creative with preparing it.
By using an array of aromatic and delicious spices and cooking it either underground or in kilns, the natives eventually cultivated the dish now known as birria.
The spanish term “birria” is used to describe immaterial things without value or quality.
While birria has its longstanding history in Jalisco, birria tacos weren’t spotted until the 1950s in Tijuana, Mexico.
A taquero named Don Guadalupe Zárate opened a taqueria business in Tijuana, where he sold both traditional tacos and birria.
The birria he sold was initially made of goat, but he swapped it for beef to yield more meat per cost.
Following this switch, Zárate was told to add liquid to his birria. He slow-cooked his birria in a richly flavored broth, leading to the creation of consomé, the red, fatty liquid that the tacos are famously dipped in.
Zárate’s version of birria, referred to as Tijuana-style birria, is the most commonly used in restaurants and food trucks to make birria tacos.
When Did Birria Tacos Take Off?
Birria tacos took off slowly at first. After Zárate’s taqueria, birria tacos emerged again in the ’80s, beginning at Tacos Aaron, which is credited as the first taqueria that served quesabirrias, a popular version of birria that pairs cheese with this Tijuana-style meat.
In 2015, two Mexican-American men named Oscar Gonzalez, and Ruben Ramirez opened Birrieria Gonzalez in Los Angeles.
What first began as a food stand quickly turned into a food truck as the tacos served at Birrieria Gonzalez began to gain a fanbase.
A year later, in 2016, Teddy Vasquez, a friend of Gonzalez and Ramirez, opened up Teddy’s Red Tacos after learning the art of making birria in Tijuana.
Following the success of Birreria Gonzalez and Teddy’s Red Tacos, along with a 2018 Instagram post credited to kickstarting the dish’s internet fame, birria tacos began to appear on menus all across the country.
How To Make Birria Tacos
To make these delicious tacos, you need to start with a cut of meat.
While goat is the traditional meat used to make birria, many food trucks and restaurants opt for beef, lamb, or sheep instead as it tends to be more palatable and less expensive.
To give the dish its signature flavor, you will need some traditional Mexican peppers such as ancho chiles, guajillo chiles, and chiles de Arbol.
Most recipes call for all three chiles, but some call for just two. You will also need an array of spices and herbs, such as smoked paprika, oregano (preferably Mexican), cumin, black peppercorns, and salt.
Tomatoes, garlic, onion, cinnamon sticks, vinegar, coriander, and bay leaves are also used to create the meat’s sauce.
Making the sauce requires submerging the dried chiles in hot water and then blending them into a sauce with the other ingredients once they are softened.
This sauce is then added to the meat in either a dutch oven, a slow cooker, or an instant pot, where it cooks until the meat is tender and soft enough to shred.
To make the tacos, you will need to put your tortillas into the top layer of broth fat created by the birria. Then, cook the tortillas in a pan or grill and place pieces of shredded birria on top of the tortillas.
Once the bottom is crispy, fold the other side over and finish cooking on both sides.
Birria tacos are then topped with chopped onion and cilantro and are served with a wedge of lime on the side. Some restaurants and food trucks will give you the option of adding cheese to your taco, as well.
Garnish your tacos with some onion and cilantro and pour some of the consomé into a cup. Dip your tacos into the consomé before you dig in and enjoy.
For exact recipes, check out the following resources:
YouTube Videos
Views On The Road:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc_XH70lBs4
Cooking Con Claudia:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-93hC2w-Xo
Recipe Blogs
Conclusion
Birria tacos are a traditional Mexican dish with origins from Jalisco and Tijuana.
The dish consists of tacos consisting of stewed meat, tortillas soaked in the fat of the broth, and a side of broth, also known as consomé, for dipping.
Over the past couple of years, birria tacos have become an internet sensation, earning them a spot on many restaurants and food truck menus throughout the country.
Sources
- Today: How to make the best birria tacos; what are birria tacos
- Vallarta Eats: The Origins of The Birria Taco
- Eater: How Birria Became America’s Hottest Taco Trend in 2020
- Laist: How Tijuana Tacos Became LA’s Hottest Food Trend
- Mashed: What You Didn’t Know About Birria Tacos
- LA Times: Where to get beef birria, and a haircut. Seriously.
- Wikipedia: Birria
- Wikipedia: Columbian Exchange
- Wikipedia: Agriculture in Mexico
More Mexican Foods
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Jorge Garcia is the founder of AmigoFoods, where he has spent over 20 years helping readers discover authentic Latin American and Spanish cuisine. Raised in a Cuban-American household, Jorge learned to cook at the hands of his mother and grandmother, carrying forward generations of family recipes. That heritage, backed by his family’s four-generation history in the Latin food industry, inspired him to launch AmigoFoods in 2003. With more than 1,000 published articles on recipes, ingredients, and food culture, Jorge’s mission is simple: make authentic Latin cooking approachable for home cooks everywhere while honoring the traditions behind every dish.