These have become pretty popular in Australian supermarkets over the last 10 years. The burrito version has the same thing with soft flour tortillas. Are they not still common in America?
I haven’t seen taco “kits” for a while, but the individual components are still ubiquitous in American supermarkets. As a kid growing up in the '70s these were the first tacos I ever had, so they’re kind of comfort food for me. In fact, we’re having them tonight. Old El Paso flat-bottomed shells, refried bean schmear at the bottom, ground beef cooked with “taco seasoning” (homemade this time because my pregnant wife is having issues with salt giving her swollen feet), shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, guac, salsa, and sour cream.
Got a few beers and FXX is airing a “Sideshow Bob” Simpsons marathon. Life is good. 
its always funny when someone from back east goes in the hole in the wall taco shops we get here in ca and is totally shocked that they don’t make theirs like home or taco bell …they argue about the shells not being hard and about the size ect … oh the main offense is " no ground beef" finally a few of the places by me came up with “tacos gringos” and ill get asked “you want real tacos or gringos ?”
very few people seem not to know that unless your 3rd or 4th generation Mexican American ground beef in tacos is a good way to be thrown out of the house and or family… the abulita I knew had a daughter in law that dared to put ground beef in enchiladas tacos ect (she was blonde blue eyed from iowa )… I admit she wasn’t the brightest light in the box but everytime something happened it was "what do you expect when you marry a girl who puts hamburger in her cooking? "
One of the younger girls took pity on her and showed her the fine art of carne and pollo asada and tamales and she made Christmas dinner a few months later and grandma said in front of a whole table of people " this is the best xmas present I have ever gotten thank the lord someone finally taught you how to properly cook !"
a few guest choked and waited for the fight but since grandma was 85 and didn’t give a damn and most of us knew it we just hid our faces to keep from laughing and her husband just looked like yes my moms such a bitch
But the grand and great grand kids learned to eat taco bell outside of grandmas house …
Cumin is awesome, though, even if overdone in Tex-Mex. Last year I made a toasted cumin, orange, lime and chile ice cream that sounds disgusting, but it was amazing. We sprinkled minced cilantro over some of it, which was interesting, but not necessarily an improvement. I was trying to mimic the fun of Pulparindo candy, but didn’t have any tamarind.
Yes, they are. Grocery stores now have “real” Mexican canned goods.
Oh, they’re still around. Here it is at Target. Looks like about half the Targets in my area stock it. I’m also fairly certain my local grocery carries it, but I haven’t been in the market for a taco kit, so I’m not 100% sure.
My daughter called me from Munich this morning. She asked if I wanted to have a heart attack. Of course I said no, why did she ask? She said she had just paid 22 euros for a kilo of tomate verde (tomatillo for you Americans)!!! My wife and cuñada had just purchased 20 kilos yesterday and paid 9.50 pesos a kilo. I did the math on the exchange rate, around 22 pesos to the euro, and they cost more than 50 times in Munich than here in Guadalajara!
I asked why she would pay so much and she said she had a craving for carne en su jugo that she’ll fix this weekend when she is at home. I told her she is crazy!
Do the tomatillos need to be fresh for that? At those prices, I think I’d look for canned.
I envy her! When I served my five year stint in China, tomates didn’t exist. I smuggled in some canned tomatillos at times, but they didn’t last very long. I’d’ve been happy to pay 171 CNY for some fresh tomatillos. I did pay about 8 USD for each avocado, though.
Actually, a lot of things didn’t exist, but I smuggled in seeds for those. China has a lot of chiles, but not serranos (I grew them). I tried to grow tomatillos, but they didn’t prosper. Jitomate, no problem, huitlacoche, I didn’t bother growing corn; but I’m proud of my Mexican oregano harvests (much different than American/Italian oregano).
I remember someone telling me that it could be proven that the most popular non Mexican food in Mexico was Chinese/Asian… because it was different but still spicy …
That violates my experience that Mexican food is not spicy.
:dubious:
If I were making Tacos a la American Bourgeoisie, I would just sear the ground meat with onion, garlic and chiles, then add a a couple of tablespoons of sofrito, a tablespoon of cider or white vinegar, and a teaspoon of oregano, and simmer on low for about ten minutes.
I think that someone was mistaken. Other than sushi there is little Asian fare offered compared to Italian. Argentine style steak houses are also very popular.
Oh, good god, you’re now making me crave carne en su jugo.
But, yeah, that’s pretty typical. Any kind of niche item, especially if it’s fresh, will generally command a much higher price, even after adjusting for average wage/living costs, than in the country where it’s an everyday foodstuff. That does still seem a bit high–I’d expect it to be more on the order of 10 euros a kilo. I mean, here in the US, they’re about $0.75 a pound at the Mexican grocery to probably $3 a pound in more upscale stores. Your daughter bought them for the equivalent of $12 a pound. So, actually, now that I think of it, maybe it’s not all that crazy given the niche supply and demand of tomatillos in Munich.
Maybe it’s time to start a business? 
Missed the edit: My similar experience in Budapest one year was trying to find fresh cranberries (or, really, any cranberries). We wanted to do a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner so, of course, we need cranberries for the sauce! Here in the US, a 12 oz package is about $1 or so, and you can even find it on sale for $0.50 during the holidays or with a coupon. When I finally found them, they were on the order of about $7 for the same bag. I needed a couple of bags, so it felt crazy paying $14 for a pound and a half of cranberries, when we didn’t even pay that much for the entire turkey.
As I posted earlier, she works for a large food retailer/restaurant business named Eataly. She has a Masters degree from Bocconi in Milan in Food Management. We have had serious discussions on starting a Mexican food related business in Europe. She has had several offers to partner with people that have solid financial resources.
She is more inclined to something like a large scale tortillerìa or wholesale canned and bottled products. She is starting to tire from all of the travel required in her present job so perhaps there will be an opportunity in the future for running her own business.
doesn’t surprise me, really; tomatoes and tomatillos are native to Mexico and Central America.
I’ve no idea how tomatoes got such a strong association with Italian cuisine.
Here’s a brief history of the tomato coming over from the New World. What I find interesting is that tomatillos actually did come over to Europe, and they were considered interchangeable with tomatoes. I guess the Europeans just didn’t have the fondness for tomatillos as they did tomatoes.
You now know what your daughter needs to do to make her fortune: become a tomate verde farmer.
Allspice can be a good addition to taco seasoning. Be sure to get fresh, whole allspice and grind it yourself.
Here is an interesting tale.