First, let me state clearly and openly that the term “walking taco” does not, I repeat, not refer to any of my past girlfriends or wives. Well, maybe one ex-girlfriend but that’s another story for another time.
It’s often been said that when it comes to the finer aspects of cuisine, Americans are sorely lacking. After all, with the prevalence of fast food chains and microwaveable dinners that are so abundant here in the States it’s no wonder that childhood obesity is reaching epidemic portions. To top it off, yesterday was the Fourth of July and Americans all across the land, from big cities and small, one could either take part themselves in a competitive eating eating contest or watch the Grand Daddy of them all from Coney Island on ESPN. What a glorious way to celebrate our independence.
But, as an ignorant American myself, I had never heard the term of “walking taco” before until it came up in a conversation about what some folks were bringing to our annual Fourth of July cookout yesterday. It seems that one of the locals had this to say when asked about what he was bringing to the feast.
Local:” Me? I’m bringin’ me some walkin' taco!”
He could tell by the look in our eyes that we had no idea of what he was talking about and before crude jokes could be made about his wife he quickly explained that a “walking taco” was:
”You gits yerself a bag of Frito’s, some canned chili, and one of them packages of shredded cheddar cheese. You open the bag and dump the chili and cheese in thar and shake it up. If you wants, you can toss in some lettuce and sour cream. Then you can just walk around sticking your hand in the bag and munch on down.”
Only in America.
Note: For you those of you who might have a more sophisticated palate, I'd refer you to the gourmet version of the "walking taco" known as the Frito pie.