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| Make breakfast tacos, not war: Texas towns clash on who gets inventor claim | Make breakfast tacos, not war: Texas towns clash on who gets inventor claim |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| There’s a war brewing in Texas. Not over guns, cattle or oil – but over breakfast tacos. | There’s a war brewing in Texas. Not over guns, cattle or oil – but over breakfast tacos. |
| The breakfast taco, for anyone who doesn’t know, has all the ingredients of a great breakfast: egg, bacon, sausage, cheese and beans wrapped up neatly in a tortilla and punctuated with a pop of salsa on top. It’s cheap, typically $1 to $3 per taco, depending on where you go, and it’s portable; a taco can be eaten with one hand. | The breakfast taco, for anyone who doesn’t know, has all the ingredients of a great breakfast: egg, bacon, sausage, cheese and beans wrapped up neatly in a tortilla and punctuated with a pop of salsa on top. It’s cheap, typically $1 to $3 per taco, depending on where you go, and it’s portable; a taco can be eaten with one hand. |
| In Austin, the breakfast taco is a source of citywide pride, from the transcendent migas tacos at Veracruz to the delicious bacon and egg taco from Marcelino Pan Y Vino. Anyone will tell you that Austin is the official home of the Tex-Mex dish. Anyone who isn’t from San Antonio, that is. | |
| This week, food critic Matthew Sedacca wrote about how Austin became the home of the breakfast taco. | |
| “There are few things you are required to eat in order to claim you’ve actually experienced Austin food culture,” Sedacca wrote. “Quite possible the most necessary dish to check off on the culinary passport for your trip in the Lone Star capital, however, is the breakfast taco.” | “There are few things you are required to eat in order to claim you’ve actually experienced Austin food culture,” Sedacca wrote. “Quite possible the most necessary dish to check off on the culinary passport for your trip in the Lone Star capital, however, is the breakfast taco.” |
| And that’s when all hell broke loose. For residents of San Antonio, Sedacca’s words were a declaration of war. | |
| “Easy does it my dear cavacho friend Matthew,” wrote one commenter. “Head 90 miles south to San Antonio where breakfast tacos are king. Just because hip kids found the taco a few days ago after SXSW does not mean ATX owns the taco.” | “Easy does it my dear cavacho friend Matthew,” wrote one commenter. “Head 90 miles south to San Antonio where breakfast tacos are king. Just because hip kids found the taco a few days ago after SXSW does not mean ATX owns the taco.” |
| “Austin is the little red headed brother of San Antonio,” wrote another. “Best BBQ, Tacos and Mexican Food can be found in San Antonio. Everything in Austin is 2nd tier.” | |
| “WHAT A CROCK OF CACA!! GTFOH !!! this is gentrification of the (San Antonio) breakfast taco!!” wrote another commenter, while someone called Adam the Skunk wrote “GOODTACOS DON’T COME FROM GENTRIFIED HIPSTERLAND.” | |
| One can see why San Antonio residents might be upset. Tracing the origin of the breakfast taco is difficult, but San Antonians feel particularly strongly that they were the first to make breakfast tacos “a thing”. Some angry readers voiced that Mexican taco stands were serving breakfast tacos in San Antonio for decades, while other said that the San Antonio chain, Taco Cabana, was the first to popularize the morning treat in the 1970s. | |
| But the outrage didn’t end there. | But the outrage didn’t end there. |
| Someone in San Antonio started a Change.org petition to have Sedacca thrown “out of an unmarked van well outside the boundaries of the state [of Texas]”, and a journalist at Orange County called on anyone who says Austin invented the breakfast taco to “STFU”. On Facebook and Twitter, Texans debated the issue; users began sharing the website whoinventedbreakfasttacos.com, which only offers one page that says in bold black letters “NOT AUSTIN.” | Someone in San Antonio started a Change.org petition to have Sedacca thrown “out of an unmarked van well outside the boundaries of the state [of Texas]”, and a journalist at Orange County called on anyone who says Austin invented the breakfast taco to “STFU”. On Facebook and Twitter, Texans debated the issue; users began sharing the website whoinventedbreakfasttacos.com, which only offers one page that says in bold black letters “NOT AUSTIN.” |
| I took to Facebook to ask my fellow Austinites how they felt about this turf war and what people were saying about their beloved city. Many agreed that the breakfast taco did indeed not originate here – “The truth of the matter is breakfast tacos have probably been around since tortillas have been filled with food and consumed in the AM,” said Mark. | I took to Facebook to ask my fellow Austinites how they felt about this turf war and what people were saying about their beloved city. Many agreed that the breakfast taco did indeed not originate here – “The truth of the matter is breakfast tacos have probably been around since tortillas have been filled with food and consumed in the AM,” said Mark. |
| Saldana, a native San Antonian and current Austinite, says many people feel that Austin perfected the delicacy. Elijah Godfrey, an Austin-based artisan and taco enthusiast said: “Austin ‘inventing’ the taco is irrelevant. Austin made it what it is. Breakfast tacos in Austin are like beer in Ireland or like pasta in Italy. That’s where you go to get the best ones.” His opinion was seconded by Jason Davis, aka Jazz One, a local musician/DJ and taco reviewer: “San Antonio may have invented it, but Austin perfected it,” Davis said. (Underneath Davis’ response, former San Antonian Rachel Mehendale said: “San Antonio may have invented it, but Austin gentrified it.”) | Saldana, a native San Antonian and current Austinite, says many people feel that Austin perfected the delicacy. Elijah Godfrey, an Austin-based artisan and taco enthusiast said: “Austin ‘inventing’ the taco is irrelevant. Austin made it what it is. Breakfast tacos in Austin are like beer in Ireland or like pasta in Italy. That’s where you go to get the best ones.” His opinion was seconded by Jason Davis, aka Jazz One, a local musician/DJ and taco reviewer: “San Antonio may have invented it, but Austin perfected it,” Davis said. (Underneath Davis’ response, former San Antonian Rachel Mehendale said: “San Antonio may have invented it, but Austin gentrified it.”) |
| Not every breakfast taco-loving Austinite feels as pointed about the delicacy. Mike Thompson, native Austinite and amateur taco critic, said: “If you’re truly from Austin, you never make the mistake that Sedacca did. Austinities, native Austinites, are a special breed. And we of all people know what it feels like to have others claim ownership of what you feel is your own. We are loving people.” | Not every breakfast taco-loving Austinite feels as pointed about the delicacy. Mike Thompson, native Austinite and amateur taco critic, said: “If you’re truly from Austin, you never make the mistake that Sedacca did. Austinities, native Austinites, are a special breed. And we of all people know what it feels like to have others claim ownership of what you feel is your own. We are loving people.” |
| Then Mike added: “We should all make tacos – not war.” |