When people think of cheap, standard Tex-Mex fare, today’s word, along with the taco, is a standard bearer. Unfortunately, outside of the realm of a late-night snack after you have had a few too many drinks or a microwaveable monstrosity when you absolutely have to eat something fast, people do not tend to give too much thought to the burrito. Considering that the burrito has inspired its own legendary creation, subculture, and following, it is finally going to get some recognition here.
Burrito is no ordinary food, nor is it an ordinary word. In fact, the only thing we really know about the word’s origin is that it involves a donkey. Linguistically, the word itself means “little donkey” in Spanish, which is thought to be a reference to the rolled blankets and packs that donkeys carried. However, there is another story which states that the name comes from the fact that the end of a rolled burrito looks like a donkey’s curved ear. Additionally, though entirely false, there is the story of Juan Mendez selling “rolled tacos” (in order to keep the filling warm) carried by his donkey in El Paso during the time of the Mexican Revolution. Whatever the true origin is, there is evidence that Mesoamerican people have been eating rolled burrito-type food for hundreds of years.
From multiple possible origin sources in the 1800s to their first appearance on the menu of the Los Angeles restaurant, El Cholo, in the 1930s and into the present day, burritos have become more than just mere street food. Not only are burritos now classified by their filling, such as Mexican, San Franciscan, San Diegan, and Los Angelan, but they are appearing in more non-traditional ways, such as a breakfast burrito or the smothered burrito, commonly called an enchilada. Though it is nearly impossible to estimate sales of burritos globally, all one has to do to witness the popularity is to look at the numbers of burrito behemoth, Chipotle Mexican Grill: in the last decade, the number of stores has quintupled and company earnings have grown by at least 20% annually- not bad for burritos.
The first known use of the word in English comes from Erna Fergusson’s Mexican Cookbook (1934), where she writes, “Burritos (Little Burros). Mix tortillas..but mold them thicker than usual. Make a depression in the middle of each and fill with chicharrones.” Several decades later, in 1962, differences between varieties start to appear, as Mulvey & Alvarez explain in Good Food from Mexico, “Burritos in the northern part of Mexico and in the southwestern part of the United States are quite different. Now a popular dish in many restaurants and taco stands in California and Texas are northern burritos, which are made by folding a flour tortilla around a mound of re-fried beans, seasoned to taste with chili.” Beyond historical quotes, perhaps the best quote is a modern one from Jarod Kintz’s 2011 book, This Book is Not FOR SALE, where, for a burrito fan, he correctly philosophises, “What’s the halfway point on a burrito called? Sadness.”
