The third volume of Netflix’s irresistible docuseries Taco Chronicles is Cross the Border, where the series follows its adoration for the history and influence of tacos from Mexico to the United States. Joining Chicago in Volume 3 as a destination city for Mexican people, their traditions, and complete taco authenticity are New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Diego, Dallas, and San Antonio.
TACO CHRONICLES: CROSS THE BORDER: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: “Don’t you recognize me? I’m the one and only. I’m the carnitas taco.” It’s a longstanding feature of Taco Chronicles that narrator Mauricio Pimentel speaks in the first person voice of the food on offer, and here it’s the simmered pork deliciousness of carnitas, a foundational style of Chicago’s taco scene with roots in the Mexican state of Michoacan.
The Gist: “Look,” Pimentel continues, “even if the taco leaves Mexico, Mexico never leaves the taco. Welcome, people, The Windy City.” To kick off its third volume and first to feature American cities, Taco Chronicles travels to Chicago, where over one hundred years of Mexican immigration has helped establish a rich tradition of taco styles and flavors. Over shots of homemade salsas and mixtures of onions and cilantro being drizzled over sliced carnitas or brothy birria, we meet the proprietors of neighborhood places like Carnintas Uruapan and Birria Zaragoza, before cutting to an animated sequence that traces Mexican influence in the city back to the early 20th century and people who found work in the city’s vast network of meatpacking plants. And that promise of employment inspired a diaspora that brought with it the food traditions of regional Mexico.
Chef and restaurant owner Rick Bayless is on hand to link that history to the specific flavors and styles at work today in Chicago neighborhoods like PIlsen, Little Village, and Archer Heights, as well as the longstanding outdoor scene of the Maxwell Street Market, where proprietors like Gilberto Ramirez of Rubi’s got his start bringing the flavors of home to his new country. We also go inside Carnitas Uruapan, where we meet founder Inocencio “El Guero” Carbajal and watch as the simmered and sizzling, crispy and soft carnitas meat is stacked in a hot box to entice the customers who order it by the hunky slice and delicious crumbled morsel.
To make an authentic taco requires many things, including technique, knowledge, a sense of tradition, and time spent in perfecting the eye test. But it’s also about the flavors and traditions that start at home, or as Pimentel puts it, “the special arts and incantations” that inform a family’s particular mole recipe. Are you getting hungry yet?
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The first two volumes of Taco Chronicles are well worth a watch, with deep dives into regional Mexican favorites like pastor, barbacoa, suadero, cochinita, and guisado tacos. Netflix also features the Emmy-nominated Chef’s Table, which recently issued a volume focusing on pizza chefs around the world, as well as options like Heavenly Bites: Mexico and the revealing Chinese food traditions of Flavorful Origins.
Our Take: “The mentality of the immigrant that comes to towns in the north, to Chicago, to New York, getting here is a real struggle, right? So, once you’re here, you think “Wow, I’m here now,” you’ve got to turn up the gear.” As Regino Rojas of Revolver Taco Lounge describes, it’s a journey for an immigrant just to reach his destination, let alone make a living once he’s there. And it’s one of the strengths of Taco Chronicles: Cross the Border that it connects the personal narratives of the business owners and taqueria proprietors it profiles with where their hard work has upheld the distinct flavors and food traditions of the old country. In Chicago, grabbing a plate of carnitas (simmered pork), or eating birria (marinated goat meat from Jalisco) or chilango tacos a la Mexico City is as natural as ordering an Italian beef dipped with hot and sweet (yes, chef!) In Cross the Border, each of those tastes and styles common to the city are aligned with revealing personal narratives and placed in a larger cultural context, all in a run time of under 30 minutes. Figure in some fun animated history lessons – The shape of America really does resemble a pig, if you think about it – and Taco Chronicles has delivered another hit to its ongoing and passionate tribute to one of the world’s ultimate street foods.
Sex and Skin: Nada!
Parting Shot: “Yes, we are the taco,” Rubi’s proprietor Gilberto Ramirez says with pride. “And the world wants tacos.” Pair that sentiment with a man in a pickup window waving to the camera, and you might soon be next in line for a plate.
Sleeper Star: Our sleeper stars must probably be all of the happy customers at places like Carnitas Uruapan, La Chaparrita, and Birrieria Zaragoza who are seen stuffing tacos into their mouths with the ardor of people who understand Chicago’s embarrassment of riches when it comes to authentic taco traditions.
Most Pilot-y Line: Ramirez of Rubi’s, well known for his “Yes! Yes! Yes!” call for service, speaks about the food traditions of his home country with irrepressible joy and energy. “Our culinary art is immensely beautiful,” he says, surrounded by the kitchen bustle and trompos of Rubi’s in the Chicago neighborhood of Pilsen. “We have all sorts of things. We’re a wonderful country.”
Our Call: STREAM IT. But be sure to bring your appetite. Taco Chronicles: Cross the Border moves easily between cultural history, personal stories, and the enduring and unique flavors of Mexican food tradition as it reveals the allure of tacos in Chicago.
Johnny Loftus is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift. Follow him on Twitter: @glennganges