"Everything you ever wanted to know and more about the beloved taco." ― TODAY Show "A one-stop shop for everything you would want and need to know about tacos." ― Latin Times "Que Rico! The where, what and how of a Mexican staple." ― Travel & Leisure "Epic... an essential read."― LA Weekly "Contains the secrets and origins of popular Mexican foods." ― BBC News "everything anyone might ever need to know about tacos" ― Eater.com "the obsessive, comprehensive guide to Mexico's taco culture... vibrantly designed." ― Eater.com "Tacopedia is the book you need to read" ― Trend Hunter "Tacos aren't my favorite, but this did make me want to eat Mexican food" ― The New York Times Style Magazine "a mouth-watering tour of Mexico's taco culture... Tacopedia doesn't just teach the reader to appreciate the taco - it makes them hungry, too" ― NPR "Phaidon's definitive taco manual" ― The Huffington Post "After reading Tacopedia , we fell in love again, too" ― LA Weekly " Tacopedia is ideal for food lovers, cooks, and anyone interested in Mexican culture" ― Tastebook "While there are many excellent books about Mexican cuisine, nothing comes close to the Tacopedia when it comes to tacos. ...a pure joy to read" ― Food Crafters "stunning photographs... everything you need to know about this Mexican staple" ― Sphere "if you love tacos, or know somebody who does...pick up a copy of this book. It's pretty awesome" ― The Manual "Sandwiches are just a poor relation to tasty Mexican tacos... If you think several hundred pages of taco wordage is overkill then you have not been eating the right tacos" ― The Independent "Tacopedia' has captured the imagination of some of the world's top chefs... Described as the ultimate reference on taco culture, Tacopedia lives up to its description. ...indispensable... Every image adds to the story of the taco... The book's paperback nature emphasizes that it should be used, not shown off" ― Restaurant "brilliant, exhaustive and epic, the only guide you'll ever need to Mexican hand-held heaven ...delicious. A masa-scented masterpiece" ― Mail on Sunday "A wonderful encyclopedia of tacos." ― NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour "It's got just about every scrap of information you might want on tacos. But while it's encyclopedic in that sense, it's certainly not dull... There's history, there are restaurant recommendations, and the book is stuffed with facts like an overfilled tortilla. But most of all there is fun. The book even features an illustrated guide on how to eat a taco." ― Bloomberg.com "Wildly inspiring and easy to use, this compendium of recipes (plus fun maps and food photography) covers every aspect of making what has to be the greatest foods on earth." ― GOOP Deborah Holtz is the Director of Trilce Ediciones publishers in Mexico. Juan Carlos Mena teaches design at the Universidad Iberoamericana at Santa Fe Cuidad de Mexico.
Features & Highlights
Tacopedia is an encyclopaedic tribute to the vibrancy of Mexican taco culture. Explore one of Mexico's most popular culinary traditions through 100 recipes accompanied by interviews, street and food photography, illustrations, graphics, and maps that bring the full story behind each taco to life.
Tacopedia's
highly graphic style will appeal to hip taco lovers, food truck enthusiasts, and serious followers of Mexican cuisine, both young, and young at heart.
Features:– Foreword by internationally renowned chef René Redzepi. – 100 authentic recipes adapted from the Mexican best-seller from fillings and tortillas to salsas and sauces. – Illustrated with 250 photographs, and accompanied by interviews, stories, illustrations, graphics, maps, and more that bring the vibrancy of the taco, and its homeland, to life.
Customer Reviews
Rating Breakdown
★★★★★
60%
(188)
★★★★
25%
(78)
★★★
15%
(47)
★★
7%
(22)
★
-7%
(-22)
Most Helpful Reviews
★★★★★
4.0
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funny illustrations, interviews
I so very badly want to give this book five stars.
It's the closest any book could ever come to explaining Mexican taco culture to an outsider, in all its informal, hyper-local, insanely delicious diversity and variety. I've learned about tacos I never heard about even when I lived there, and there are interviews, quotes, and even social media posts from taco fanatics and chefs that bring deep dimension to the taco. It's loaded with cartoons, maps, funny illustrations, interviews, and other errata that's just delightful. Representative recipes are included, too. It's a fond, rich book-length love letter to a food and its surrounding culture that I love too, and it's inspired me to go on a weeklong taco binge of epic proportions. I wouldn't even necessarily call it a cookbook, as most of its running length is essays, profiles, and description rather than recipes.
However, there are two major demerits.
- The book is cheap. Dull, rough stock, an odd, floppy cover, and construction that doesn't inspire confidence. It's a damned shame that this didn't come with a hard cover and wasn't printed on the glossy stock that its vibrant colors, cartoons, and photography demand. This is the sort of paper novels and so on are printed on - and not the nice first-run hardcovers, but more like that of a paperback. This is a book that will never be used in the kitchen. because a grease splot would soak through the next five pages.
- The recipes are hit or miss: Many of the included recipes skip steps, assume familiarity with Mexican techniques, and vaguely mention techniques that many Americans will not know. I've been cooking this stuff for years, but a newbie Mexican chef would be up a creek with many of the recipes. This book has so much content that's not recipes that this matters less than it might in a book that was primarily a cookbook, but it's still disappointing.
That said, the book is still worth every penny; it's a true delight, to be savored like a novel. It's just that it'd be worth every penny of $5-7 more too, if that'd buy paper stock worth a damn and a hard cover. I can overlook the recipes, but the construction lops off a star.
Also: I want the Tacografia map as a poster-size print to frame on my kitchen wall.
58 people found this helpful
★★★★★
4.0
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Kind of messy design and printed on super cheap stock
Just got it. Kind of messy design and printed on super cheap stock. But this sprawling hot mess of a book is, so far, a very enjoyable read. Wish they had used more Mexican Spanish terms for various items like equipment and ingredients. In spite of my criticisms, those involved (writer, editor, translator, etc.) have done a great job on what must have been a massive project.
17 people found this helpful
★★★★★
5.0
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I LOVE this book
I LOVE this book. It is a glorious, colorful, celebratory explosion of food, culture, history, recipes, lore, images, and much more. It is rich with insightful information. It is loaded with great recipes: I have a truly huge cookbook collection with a strong core on Mexican food. I am also a taco addict, having been raised in LA's Lincoln Heights and then SF's Mission District. I have a number of good books addressing tacos (Rick Bayless and Tacolicious come to mind...), but this book jumped way to the top: the section on birria alone was my reason to buy it, with excellent background on and recipes/methods for this. The classic pork al pastor is quite excellent...but since we don't eat pork, the reference to using other meats/poultry/fish with this same method was a welcome revelation. There is so much excellent content on sauces, salsas, taco-relatives including flautas/taquitos, enchiladas, quesadillas, tortillas and more....touching on all without ever losing the taco focus...it is awesome.
BUT, PLEASE NOTE: this is a very "non-linear" book in terms of organization, and how many recipes cross-reference to others, and with a wildly exuberant graphic presentation and layout....it is fun, colorful, encourages exploration, packed with tidbits, essays, images and more...so, IF you need a very traditonal, logical, methodical, exacting layout , THIS MAY NOT BE FOR YOU! I am saying this to warn folks in advance so they don't trash the authors with low-ratings for the author's wonderfully creative and fun approach to this iconic street food. You may have to dig around a bit to get into your subject/recipe of interest: the book is designed to engage you that way, and it is way cool! It effectively uses graphics, pop-up text inserts, photos etc to convey info. It is fun, but delivers a load of valuable info.
I have only one (rather huge) criticism: while I much aporeciate the aesthetic of the rather rustic page stock, the cover, as another reviewer noted, is inexusably flimsy and that extends to the binding as well. The book invites heavy use but with heavy use it is likely it will fall apart and need a huge rubberband to hold together: this is VERY disappointing considering the usual high-quality of Phaidon publications, even in softcover. (Yo...author, Phaidon...what gives with this?)
Because the content is exceptional, I give it 5 stars despite this flaw. That is my story and I'm sticking to it. Oh, if you need a more tame and rather less thoroughly insightful bunch of taco recipes with a traditional layout, try Tacolicious or Rick Bayless...or just Google up some recipes.. Tacopedia is way more than recipes, but those it provides are excellent, especially for cooks comfortable in the kitchen or adventurous beginners.
16 people found this helpful
★★★★★
1.0
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wow, do I hate the design of this book
i am a cookbook collector and serious cook and I was looking forward to this but wow, do I hate its design. Way over-designed to be hip and not at all useful to me. Starts text on one page and does not finish the sentence until four pages later. Recipes printed in small black text against bright-colored low-contrast colored paper. Skip this if you are intending to cook from it.
13 people found this helpful
★★★★★
2.0
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Not really a cookbook. And definitely not a hardcover!
Completely disappointed in this book, but maybe I had unrealistic expectations. The book is listed as a hard cover, but it is really more akin to a paperback with a slightly more rigid binding and cover. Not at all what you'd normally expect from Phaidon. I also expected that this was going to provide a significant amount of taco related recipes, but its really more of a culinary travels book than a recipe book. If you're looking for primarily a recipe book for tacos, this isn't the book for you. Consider instead the Tacolicious cookbook; definitely more recipe oriented.
11 people found this helpful
★★★★★
3.0
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No Tortilla recipe???
Just received and quickly read through- this is a "pedia' for tacos (and therefore corn tortillas are critical, yes?) which the book celebrates at length. Am I missing something or is there no reference to "How to make" good tortillas? The process of making masa, and the history of how corn developed into masa to make tacos possible is covered in minute detail... but the are no details or even rough instructions on how to make great corn tortillas out of masa... unless i am missing something this is a massive gap.
5 people found this helpful
★★★★★
2.0
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disappointing
I was hyped to order this and assumed it would be a comprehensive review of taco-like dishes throughout Mexico (hence the title "Tacopedia"). Instead this book is largely composed of frequently tedious or overly cute anecdotes which added little to my knowledge of this wonderful cuisine. In addition the ratio of actual recipes to the lengthy text is quite small and its very hard to read the recipes as they are printed in black type on dark pigmented pages. Lastly to have an entire book on tacos with literally one recipe on corn tortillas that requires ingredients and time that no typical home cook is likely to have at hand, is inexcusable. The tortilla is critical to a great taco and to have no realistic instructions on how to make this is inexplicable. This feels much more like a diary kept as the writers toured Mexico eating various types of cuisine and is primarily designed for hipsters intent on showing off their knowledge rather than people interested in actually cooking. Two stars only because scattered between the overly long text are a few useful nuggets and a small number of interesting and useful recipes.
4 people found this helpful
★★★★★
5.0
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Food origin, histories and differences of tacos made from different states in Mexico
This is an encyclopedia, cookbook and food guide on where to get different kinds and types of tacos, quesadillas, burritos, tlayudes and enchiladas. Anything that has to do with a tortilla and making made from scratch is the way to go. I would say that this is an entertaining, educational food guide to prepare anything that involves with tortillas of any size and main ingredients. Then it is filled with different types of toppings, proteins (meats), salsas and other unique ingredient to make a signature taco coming from a particular state in Mexico. So each chapter introduces the State and how the taco is typically prepared. Some unique ingredients that goes with it. 8 to 10 great taco stands and restaurants to get a particular tacos. And 3 to 5 recipes to make tacos at home.
I would this book is almost like a primer, encyclopedia, cookbook and a food guide in 1 book. If you have travelled to any state of Mexico by visiting to unique places of interests, and tried out their food. You will be amazed that this book brings you back those food memories when you were there. Or sometimes, you have seen videos about particular tacos sold in the United States especially in Texas, California either SoCal or NorCal sells certain tacos for customers who have tried them. This book features authentic recipes - you can try them.
So far I have tried birria tacos especially most interested and made the Lamb Stew or what they call Borrego de Birria con Consomme from the state of Jalisco. The birria recipe is so authentic, and decided to make those crunchy tacos like the ones at San Diego, California. So this food truck makes their birria de res con consomme. But their spin on making their signature tacos is when they pan-fry their birria tacos with cheese to make melting, and the tortillas crunchy. Then serve their birria with it and comes with chopped onions, cilantro, pickled onions, carrots and sliced radish. Then you dip these tacos with the birria con consomme'. OMG!, they are so yummy, delicious, hot - ouch , crunchy and messy.
This book helped me out finding what really is an excellent tacos. I can try other recipes like the pork rinds with salsa tacos, al pastor, carnitas and many others.
If you are interested making authentic Mexican tacos, quesadillas, salsas, guacamole, tlayudes, enchiladas, fish tacos, Mixiote and many more - this is the book for you.
3 people found this helpful
★★★★★
5.0
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This is a great book full of information and usable recipes
It really is a definitive book on the taco. It is the one that I give friends who are interested in tacos and tacos recipes. It is very readable and a fun read. Not dry or boring at all. I am something of any expert on Mexican food and Tex-Mex and I found it informative. And the recipes that I have done from the book all turned out well.
3 people found this helpful
★★★★★
5.0
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LONG OVERDUE TREATISE ON THE VERY ART OF MOVING THE MOUSTACHE
Lavish coffee-table book about Mexico's favorite street food. In my opinion, the very soul of the Nation, for love of tacos is the only thing all Mexicans agree upon!
So, if you're not Mexican and want to learn about it, this is the book to start with. And if you are, and think you know your gastronomic ethnicity -well, think again and read the book.
Actually, you don't need a book to enjoy tacos. Only if you eat alone!
SPOILER ALERT: No Tex-Mex, "hardshell", fast-food franchised tacos surveyed here. Only the real thing.
