Are you eating your tacos wrong?

My youngest eating her taco--notice the head tilt?

Did you know there’s a right way to eat a taco? Yup. Here it is: hold the taco together in one place with your hands and then to tilt your head to take bites. No taco tilting!

I know, this isn’t rock science. But there are those foods that you can pick out the real eaters from the dabblers. Take thin, chewy New York City pizza slices. I remember getting an education in how to eat a NYC slice when we lived there–always fold it at the sides. (Hey even the Emily Post Institute recommends folding your pizza slice, maybe she’s a New Yorker?) I had moved there from the West where you’d never dream of folding the thick slices.

So maybe it’s no surprise that tacos have their own eating etiquette: the head tilt. This keeps all the yummy fillings intact and from falling out the other side if you try to taco tilt. When our family visited Mexico City a few years ago we bought tacos from a stand in Chapultepec Park and joined others eating our tacos at nearby picnic tables. At the end of the meal, my plate was covered in carne asada pieces (yummy bits of barbecued, seasoned steak). I looked around to see clean plates. Non-taco tilters. My messy plate was a giveaway that I was still a taco novice–well, that and my baseball cap, sneakers and backpack.

So if you want to eat your tacos like a pro, tilt your head, not your taco!

Real Mexican tacos--no cheese, no crisped shells, lots of flavor!