[Doches]

It's hard to pick up on as an American, but "French Tacos" actually don't have any genealogy in common with Tex-Mex tacos. They're essentially north African shwarma (lamb kebab, fries, cheese sauce, lettuce shoved in a wrap) re-marketed in a way that doesn't invoke knee-jerk racism from the French mainstream. Calling them "tacos" lets them get away with being exotic, and since the average Français doesn't really have any preconceived notions about Mexico or Mexican food either way it doesn't conjure up any negative associations. Calling them "Le French Tacos" is even more re-assuring -- they're tacos, but 'frenchified', so they must be OK.

But that same light-skinned frenchman would turn up his gallic nose an authentic arabic shwarma, even stumbling from from le bar at 2am. That the only difference between a good shwarma and a good French taco is /maybe/ the choice of cheese makes no difference...

(Source: live in Toulouse, have snarky Lebanese friends)

[boudin]

It's just a variant of kebab and shwarma that gained popularity. Nothing to do with the need to rebrand it because of racism. Shwarma (or kebabs as most people call those) shops fed generations of french studients and party-goers and have been everywhere for decades.

It's kind of funny though, french tacos really took over France in the last decade, I guess because of fast food chain like o'taco. When I left France in 2015 it was unheard of where I was living, now it's everywhere.

[dragonwriter]

> , but "French Tacos" actually don't have any genealogy in common with Tex-Mex tacos.

They have a kind of connection beyond the name, even though neither is a linear descendant of the other. Tex-Mex tacos are a descendant of traditional central Mexican tacos, as also are tacos al pastor; but tacos al pastor are also descendants of schwarma, which French tacos derive from. So they're like cousins by marriage.

[MrDrMcCoy]

I'm interested in the history of food evolution and proliferation like this. Do you know any good places where I can read more about this?

[panda888888]

French tacos are the weirdest food I've ever eaten. Imagine chicken cordon bleu wrapped inside a big burrito-sized tortilla.

[cguess]

Norway is this too. I tried to make actual Tex-mex ground beef tacos for some friends and they were abhorred by it.

[kbenson]

Honestly, one of the the things that worries me the most about possibly moving out of California (being a native) to another state at some point is lack of good Mexican food if I'm not careful about where I move. I'm sure it's much worse in the majority of countries I'd be interested in moving to as well.

[cguess]

Most of the US, in cities, you can find solid Mexican food. Chicago probably has the best "authentic" non-Cali Mexican in the country even. You won't have to worry just might have to hunt a bit.

The rest of the world? Yea you're screwed. I found one place in Berlin that did legit Mexican because it was run by Mexicans (Santa Maria in Kruezeberg) but that's literally the only decent Mexican I've found in the 50+ countries I've visited and trust me, I've looked in all of them.

Good news is you can find the ingredients for good Mexican in pretty much all of them and do it yourself. The hardest to source is proper jalapeños or any dried peppers, but there's usually a speciality shop somewhere that will be able to give you most of what you need. Cilantro can also be a bit of a pain, but it's way easier than it used to be even 10 years ago.

[kbenson]

Yeah, I'm not worried about it in sizeable cities, but me moving out of CA would probably be coupled with being a bit more rural (and that's coming from not living in a "large" city already, as I live an hour north of SF). I can move anywhere in CA or any of the southwest states and probably be within 20-30 minutes of some fairly good passably authentic Mexican food. My confidence in that erodes the farther from the southwest or a large city I am.

We actually cook a few dishes fairly regularly (the pork tinga recipe from America's Test Kitchen is actually amazing, if you're looking for something, and dead simple to boot), but there's something comforting knowing it's easy to get some of your favorite food done well on demand on short notice for those days you really aren't feeling like dealing with making dinner.

[cguess]

Luckily mexican immigrants live all over the US, so if you hunt hard you can probably find some good places, even in rural areas.

[ethbr0]

The sad irony is there are many places with Mexican immigrants, working in kitchens of non-Mexican restaurants, without any Mexican restaurants around.

(Looking at you, Connecticut)

[chrisdhoover]

The worry is real. You cannot find a decent mission burrito afield. It really a local specialty of San Francisco. I suspect the same is true for burritos found in San Diego. And those tacos in Texas, on flour tortillas, well those aren’t tacos at all but incomplete and unfinished burritos. OK if you want to rebrand a half assed burrito and call it a taco go right ahead. And none of it is a sandwich - not burgers, dogs, falafel, shawarma, gyros, burritos or tacos. A taco is not a sandwich

[csdvrx]

That's so fascinating! What do you Lebanese friends think about it? Is it like how Italian American dishes are perceived by italians?

BTW I've tried French Tacos and I LOVE IT! I think it could be a huge success in the US, if tweaked for our meat and cheese tastes, like with brisket and cheddar.

[addcommitpush]

I am not sure how your theory can both explain French people both turning their nose at "authentic arabic shwarma" but cheap kebabs being wildly popular at the same time. They're racist only against the authentic versions of foreign foods?