My Search for the Ultimate Taco

My favorite meal of all time just might be the taco.  I’m not talking about the tacos in a box from the grocery store or a deep fried taco with American cheese from a well known fast food chain, although these may be great for a drinking binge hunger. 

The perfect taco.

I will only eat tacos the way they were meant to be eaten, like in the streets of Mexico.  I came across these tacos about 4 years ago when a local taqueria open up by us and they offered a Taco Tuesday.  All tacos were $1, so I tried it out.  It was quite possible the best stuff I’ve put in my mouth. 

They offered al pastor (a delicious mixture of pork and pineapple), chorizo, cow tongue, steak and chicken tacos. All were incredible and included a heaping portion of meat then topped with simply onions, cilantro, and radishes.  

After going to the taqueria  for about 7 months, I was shocked one Tuesday when I arrived and found they closed, where was I supposed to get my tacos? I craved them now.  Another taqueria opened in the same shop a couple months later, but was never the same and they lasted maybe a year.  I searched all around town.  Any small hole in the wall taqueria I saw, I would stop in and get some tacos.

Then, while doing some shopping a couple miles from my house, I noticed a Mexican Superstore called El Morelia Super Mercado in Bridgeton, Mo.  I decided to stop in and see what it was all about, as soon as the doors slid open there in front of me was a taco bar in the lobby selling street tacos with about 20 toppings to put on them. 

I hadn’t made it in the store yet, and I already loved this place.  I entered the store, and I was immediately overwhelmed with my newly found Mexican Mecca!  What aisle to go to first?  There’s fresh produce, fresh Mexican bakery, a specialty Mexican meat market, and every grocery item you would need for a Mexican feast.  You can even buy snake skin boots, cowboy hats, and sombreros.  

After perusing the store for awhile I picked up some Al Pastor and chorizo from the meat department and all the fixings to make my own street tacos at home.  On my way to the check out, I noticed a container with these giant freshly made pork rinds or chicharones.  These aren’t your regular pork rinds, these are the size of a small blanket, it’s like a deep fried pork snuggie.  

It ends there, my friends.  My cravings for tacos are now satiated by a quick trip down the road to my favorite place of all.  Some tortillas, radishes, cilantro, onions, and skirt steak or al pastor, and I’m in taco heaven again.