I’ve done a bit of run of the mill research on the history of the burrito, which really is a Cal-Mex thing, because this stuff always fascinates me. Apparently its origin was in Tijuana (Mexico’s food culture is street and family, not restaurant) where this guy would bring his little burro (burrito) into town with these tortilla wrapped savory items. It kind of indicates that the stuffed tortilla doesn’t really have anything to do with resembling a donkey or your ride home. In California the culture of the burrito seems to have begun around 1923 in Los Angeles at El Chollo which turned the idea into a local favorite. El Chollo is still there by the way. Fast forward 80 years; I’m living in an affluent beach town surrounded by wealthy gabachos. One of my favorite lunch places was Amigos Tacos in Manhattan Beach. They are serving up lengua and bucha tacos and burritos (tongue, hog maw) and I’m thinking who in this town besides me actually orders this stuff? And then one day at lunch this gang of day laborers in paint and plaster spattered T-shirts rushes in. And then it happened again. Now I get it. So here is my take on tongue in adobo. It took me a long time to figure out the adobo that it cooks in but now I think I have it down. If you want to make tacos instead, well you can go there. The filling is the same.

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