In the era of our outsourced waistlines, the taco cart is at the center of cool where-and how-to hosts a party gone amok.
How long have you had those meaty, cheesy taco foods that filled the college town with their scent and taste? Just how much do you value that part of history?
If we trace the evolution of the meat taco to its historical roots in southern Mexico, we find that what began as a practical dish to feed the workers of traditional households has grown into a gourmet category that goes beyond the typical excitement of barbecue, salsa, and guacamole. Today, the mobile, three-wheeled food cart version is all the rage because it is fun, trendy, and easily accessible – it’s the photo-driven food story of a party on wheels.
Certainly, the mobile, often quite fancy, realm has a distinct fun-crew friendly atmosphere. Can you blame them? Here’s a few gourmet tidbits from the past that you can use as inspiration for a taco cart party:
A remembered-from-a-time favorite (not from this list): The tasty taco salad served on carne asada tortillas, with avocado and tomato salsa, and fresh ingredients like diced cucumber, onion, and scallions… it visually celebrates the season and the food from sun and salsa? But it’s also a taco party without limits – and that’s kind of what the mobile party invitations are all about.
A new favorite is the themed event, “Let’s Eat Mexi-Rancho,” that serves a mixture of tacos, burritos and quesadillas. And why not? tacos have become a staple in our solely modern food economy, and a margarita bar is one of the more fun ways to finish a party. But the event doesn’t have to be all about tacos if you don’t want it to. Ideas for other kinds of offerings include chicken, Vietnamese, Belgian, and Japanese tacos, to name a few.
And then, something in the wake of brunch – whether it’s sweet, savory, or plain, fruit, bacon, sausage, or ham – is just a reminder that we haven’t seen many walls here in the 21st century. Our walls are busy places, yes, but more and more people are adding a “food station” of sorts to their spaces. And if you’ve got five or six “food stations,” you can do things like Espresso-style latte’s and specialty dinners with such items as vegetarian Alzheimer’s tartare.
The concept of the food station is not a new one. Several European countries have “food stations” where you can get a snack and maybe buy type of food from a vending machine. It’s become wildly popular in the United States in recent years.
The concept has really caught on in the United States. Such stations can be seen at every school event, every work party and every tailgating. They are a staple of our summertime celebrations. Whenever there is enough people to fill a stadium, these stations are right there.
The 1893 World’s Fair was really the first time that the food station concept became widely popular. The fair was actually the first time that confectionery shops showed up in the United States and they started to put together food carts and popcorn machines.
The fair was the first time that children started getting involved in wholesale candy and sweet products and they created their very own groups to do this. They called them “circus whizzies” and used large crowds to generate business and keep the children happy.
In 1904, a young William realize that the confectionery items were too expensive, so he thought about doing something about this. He created a machine called the “Cornish cracker” and used this to make delicious looking chocolates. He later sold these delicious bars to a major department store chain in New York called Daily, which is now known as the Daily Express.
The Daily Express put together a spectacular display of pastries. One Daily Express article claimed that the display was so winning that the top of the pile was reserved for the pastry covering the winner took home.
The next time you see a Daily Express article, take a pause to read the complete story. It really is amazing!
