If It Looks Like a Duck and Quacks Like a Duck, It’s Not a Taco
These are actual, real tacos. Photo credit: StockFood / Greg Rannells
In what may be the food world equivalent of the emperor wearing no clothes, late last week Taco Bell revealed that it is testing a new “biscuit taco,” a piece of fried chicken wrapped in a biscuit “taco shell.”
Calling it a “taco” was a move Grub Street smartly and immediately decried with the headline “Taco Bell Is Just Folding Biscuits in Half and Calling Them Tacos.”
Exactly. But this seemed familiar. Very familiar.
Ah, yes: Quote-unquote burgers. Do two packed-rice patties sandwiched around a meat patty reallyconstitute a burger?
Quote-unquote lobster rolls: If it’s wrapped in ramen, is it still a lobster roll?
Quote-unquote pizza: Is a pizza-shaped rice patty topped with tuna and fish eggs still a pizza because it’s flat and round?
The answer is no.
When you put fried chicken into a biscuit bun and top it with jalapeño honey or “country gravy,” as Taco Bell is doing, you have a twist on Southern food, yes, but it is not a taco.
Let’s recap, in case anyone’s feeling forgetful:
A taco=corn or tortilla wrapper folded around fillings.
A burger=some sort of patty, typically beef, tucked into a flour-based bun.
A pizza=some sort of flour-based dough, with fresh tomatoes or tomato sauce and at least a sprinkling of cheese on top. (And yes, we will accept “white pie” alternatives.)
Call it a mashup, a cronut, a newfangled creation, whatever, but don’t just put your entire order at Popeye’s into one (admittedly fantastic) bite and call it a taco.
