ANDREW LIMBONG, HOST:
Listen, I like my job. It's pretty sweet. But I think Mando Rayo has me beat when it comes to dream jobs because his is taco journalist. He's devoted his life to telling the stories of tacos and the people who make them. He's written books, made TV shows about tacos. And for the last five years, he's hosted a podcast called "Tacos Of Texas," exploring tacos and taco culture across the state. To discuss how tacos fit into this current moment, Mando Rayo, welcome to the show.
MANDO RAYO: Hey, I'm happy to be here.
LIMBONG: All right, like I said, you call yourself a taco journalist, which is not a standard job title.
RAYO: Yeah.
LIMBONG: How do you define that? And when did you decide to turn your love of tacos into a career?
RAYO: It was all about representation, to be honest. It was about, you know - when we talk about food, we have to talk about people, and we have to talk about the community, and we have to talk about the history and the roots of that food, right?
And for me, that's what taco journalism is about. It's not just, like, hey, let me go try these new trendy tacos. But let me go into the cocinas. Let me go into, you know, the backyards of people actually making the food and find out kind of, like, what is that story behind that? And some of that, you know, explores issues that are important to people - around gentrification, around vendor rights, around the political climate we're in. These are just conversations with regular folks...
LIMBONG: Yeah.
RAYO: ...Whether they're cocineras - you know, the women that run kitchens and restaurants - you know, somebody's abuela that really just, you know, has it down on how to make some great corn tortillas.
LIMBONG: There's one episode about how getting a nod from the Michelin guide impacts taco makers in Texas, right?
RAYO: Yeah, that's right. We spoke to Chef Edgar Rico about this. His restaurant, Nixta Taqueria, was awarded a Bib Gourmand by the Michelin guide last year. He won the Texas Chef Award, as well. He has also won the James Beard Award in 2022. Here's what he had to say about what it means to be recognized by these big institutions of the food world.
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EDGAR RICO: I hope, before anything (ph), that it's breaking down barriers for people and hopefully young cooks and future people that want to be on this thing, though, to say that, like, hey, you don't have to have the fancy Michelin star, like, you know, tasting menu, French kitchen anymore to get all these things. You can do it and be true to yourself, true to your culture, and still get to have fun with it, you know?
RAYO: Yeah.
RICO: I think the taco is the funnest thing to kind of get to mess around with.
RAYO: Yeah.
RICO: And there's so many different ways you can make a taco and different styles. And I'm just glad we get to, you know, put it front and center every single day and represent taco culture to the fullest and...
RAYO: Yeah.
RICO: ...Especially here in Texas.
RAYO: Yeah. I love it, love it.
LIMBONG: How he says especially in Texas - I'm thinking, we're in a kind of particular political moment right now - right? - especially in Texas. How can tacos work as a jumping off point to get into those conversations?
RAYO: Yeah, well, you know, I think it is front and center, to be honest, you know? You can't separate the food from the culture, right? And tacos and Latino communities are being impacted the most, especially by ICE raids. And so, you know, the Latino community is being really impacted, especially you can see it here in Texas, especially in 2025.
LIMBONG: But I don't want listeners to get it twisted, right? Latinos aren't a monolith. Latinos have vastly different political views. And how are you using tacos to sort of, like, bridge those political gaps?
RAYO: Yeah, of course. I talked to Victoria Elizondo, who's a chef, a DACA recipient and a dreamer, and as well as Daniel Estrada (ph), who identified as a MAGA Latino. You know, with Daniel, he talked to me about making sure that the right people were immigrating to the U.S.
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DANIEL ESTRADA: I mean, they have, you know, visas and stuff for other countries. If they're going contribute and go to college and stuff, they let them over with no problem, you know? So if they're here contributing, say, getting the food for us or making it, let's get the paperwork together, fill this out. Let's look up your background. Stay.
RAYO: Yeah.
LIMBONG: Yeah. You cover a lot of ground on this podcast. I'm hungry right now, and I can't tell...
RAYO: (Laughter).
LIMBONG: ...If that's 'cause I worked through lunch if I'm...
(LAUGHTER)
LIMBONG: ...Fascinated with your podcast. Yeah. Is that a normal reaction, I suppose...
RAYO: Yes.
LIMBONG: ...For listeners? Yeah.
RAYO: Yes, and, you know, I've done my job. Like with everything, we start with a taco. Let's make you hungry. And let's explore some of these issues that can go - you know, they all have different layers. And that's the thing about the "Tacos Of Texas." It's an entryway into taco culture in Texas, but with that comes the people, the community and the issues.
LIMBONG: That's Mando Rayo. He's host of the podcast "Tacos Of Texas," which you can find wherever you get your podcast. Mando, thanks a lot, man.
RAYO: Thank you, Andrew. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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