If there is one thing Texans know, it’s that the taco is king. So no wonder taco journalist Mando Rayo has built an award-winning podcast around it.
Tacos of Texas, hosted by Rayo, has just launched season 5. He spoke with Texas Standard on what to expect in the new season. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Texas Standard: So the first episode just launched. Tell us about this new season.
Mando Rayo: Yes. Oh my God. This one I got so excited about because I heard about these kids, these middle-schoolers, actually having a class on making salsa right on their own. And then what they do is they sell it out at the school bus after school.
So we visited with Ojeda Middle School out in Del Valle Independent School District in the outskirts of Austin. We went in and they showed us kind of the magic of how salsa plays into the class. They also learned skills around teamwork and getting comfortable with each other, entrepreneurship.
Man, it was the sweetest day at an elementary school.
Del Valle students work on salsa. Courtesy of Tacos of Texas
Student (in clip): Yeah, like the first time we made salsa, it was… Even if you didn’t know the person that you were making it with, it was easy to like actually do it with them since you knew, you learned what to actually kind of do. So y’all could work together and figure it out.
Instructor Efrain Garza (in clip): So some of the things that we try to teach here is just general economic lessons in terms of business plans, advertising, how it affects people, just kind of general life lessons that these students usually don’t get in a typical classroom. And then we also teach things like responsibility and whatnot, because we’re working with knives, we’re working with peppers, stuff like that.
We work outside and they’re kind of responsible for their own garden beds in our garden, stuff like that. So it’s just a lot of like little things that they need to know, especially in this world where they’re bombarded with so much, so young, but they just… We don’t have the time to teach in a typical classroom.
Sounds wonderful and with all her lemonade stands, I’m happy to hear about a salsa stand. What would you say the theme is for this season?
Mando Rayo: You know, it’s kind of funny cause I often think about that. You know this season we actually go deep into more one-on-one interviews.
So I think when you think about like what I just mentioned, the middle-schoolers – Ojeda Middle School and entrepreneurship and making something out of nothing… And I think that that’s really kind of at the core of the season, cause we talk to different taqueros and taqueras, makers, cocineras, around, you know, what it takes for them to be successful.
And so we went deep. We have a lot of one-on-one interviews this season, and we do definitely go into the field. We went out to Georgetown, Texas for El Grandpa’s Mexican BBQ. They do this Hidalgo-style lamb barbacoa.
And so when you think about kind of what it takes to run a business… We talked to Edgar Rico, out of Nixta Taqueria in Austin, around the Michelin guide and kind of what it means to be Mexican and Mexican-American listed in this very prestigious guide.
And then we also talked to Chef Kirk out of San Antonio. They’re originally from Laredo and kind of we dive deep into like, okay, we know about Tex-Mex and we know about Mexican, but let’s really dissect that, right? Cause a lot of people kind of blend those things sometimes.
So for us, it’s about understanding kind of the roots of that and what are those dishes.
Chef Kirk (in clip): So I would say for Tex-Mex, you got the puffy taco. You got the tamales but with the chili con queso on top.
Mando Rayo (in clip): Tamales with chile con queso.
Chef Kirk (in clip): Yeah. Um, I would say you got the, what was the other… The carne guisada, of course. You can’t go wrong that. That’s very traditional Tex-Mex. You got brisket tacos, you know, you got that cowboy meats – Tex-Mex.
And then I would say the last one, I, think that maybe something along the lines, like, uh, chalupas, tacos dorados – flautas. You know, because in Mexico it’s more known as “tacos dorados.” And in Tex-Mex I would say they’re known as flautas.
Mando Rayo: And then as well as like, you know, Chef Rick Martínez, he just published his latest book called “Salsa Daddy.” And so it’s kind of like full circle, right? Starting with the Salsa Club, and then with Chef Rick Martínez around the many ways of making salsa.
Rick Martínez: The thing that I think is so amazing, and it’s changed the way that I cook for myself, because when you make a salsa you’re basically doing meal prep, right? You’re cutting really flavorful ingredients now. It’s contained in one little jar or container.
So now that can become a soup base, it can be your base for rice or for beans, it can be a marinade for meats, it can be a glaze for barbecue. like you can cook it down, fry it, and then, you know, it’s a dipping sauce or a barbecue sauce. It’s just like, to me, it’s like endless what you can do with it.
