Planet Taco
A Global History of Mexican Food
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Narrated by:
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Robin Bloodworth
About this listen
As late as the 1960s, tacos were virtually unknown outside Mexico and the American Southwest. Within fifty years the United States had shipped taco shells everywhere from Alaska to Australia, Morocco to Mongolia. But how did this tasty hand-held food - and Mexican food more broadly - become so ubiquitous? In Planet Taco, Jeffrey Pilcher traces the historical origins and evolution of Mexico's national cuisine, explores its incarnation as a Mexican American fast-food, shows how surfers became global pioneers of Mexican food, and how Corona beer conquered the world. Pilcher is particularly enlightening on what the history of Mexican food reveals about the uneasy relationship between globalization and authenticity.
The burritos and taco shells that many people think of as Mexican were actually created in the United States. But Pilcher argues that the contemporary struggle between globalization and national sovereignty to determine the authenticity of Mexican food goes back hundreds of years.
During the nineteenth century, Mexicans searching for a national cuisine were torn between nostalgic "Creole" Hispanic dishes of the past and French haute cuisine, the global food of the day. Indigenous foods were scorned as unfit for civilized tables. Only when Mexican American dishes were appropriated by the fast food industry and carried around the world did Mexican elites rediscover the foods of the ancient Maya and Aztecs and embrace the indigenous roots of their national cuisine. From a taco cart in Hermosillo, Mexico to the "Chili Queens" of San Antonio and tamale vendors in L.A., Jeffrey Pilcher follows this highly adaptable cuisine, paying special attention to the people too often overlooked in the battle to define authentic Mexican food: Indigenous Mexicans and Mexican Americans.
Download the accompanying reference guide.©2012 Oxford University Press (P)2013 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Story
The Potlikker Papers tells the story of food and politics in the South over the last half century. Beginning with the pivotal role of cooks in the civil rights movement, noted authority John T. Edge narrates the South's journey from racist backwater to a hotbed of American immigration. In so doing, he traces how the food of the poorest Southerners has become the signature trend of modern American haute cuisine. This is a people's history of the modern South told through the lens of food.
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Best book of the year!
- By PD on 06-12-17
By: John T. Edge
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A Bite-Sized History of France
- Gastronomic Tales of Revolution, War, and Enlightenment
- By: Stephane Henaut, Jeni Mitchell
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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From the cassoulet that won a war to the crêpe that doomed Napoleon, from the rebellions sparked by bread and salt to the new cuisines forged by empire, the history of France is intimately entwined with its gastronomic pursuits. A witty exploration of the facts and legends surrounding some of the most popular French foods and wines by a French cheesemonger and an American academic, A Bite-Sized History of France tells the compelling and often surprising story of France from the Roman era to modern times.
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Great stories, but...
- By David on 01-12-20
By: Stephane Henaut, and others
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Hippie Food
- How Back-to-the-Landers, Longhairs, and Revolutionaries Changed the Way We Eat
- By: Jonathan Kauffman
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Food writer Jonathan Kauffman journeys back more than half a century - to the 1960s and 1970s - to tell the story of how a coterie of unusual men and women embraced an alternative lifestyle that would ultimately change how modern Americans eat. Impeccably researched, Hippie Food chronicles how the longhairs, revolutionaries, and back-to-the-landers rejected the square establishment of President Richard Nixon's America and turned to a more idealistic and wholesome communal way of life and food.
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If you grew up eating health food you'll love it
- By Susie Wyshak on 05-09-18
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Eight Flavors
- The Untold Story of American Cuisine
- By: Sarah Lohman
- Narrated by: Sarah Lohman
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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The United States boasts a culturally and ethnically diverse population which makes for a continually changing culinary landscape. But a young historical gastronomist named Sarah Lohman discovered that American food is united by eight flavors: black pepper, vanilla, curry powder, chili powder, soy sauce, garlic, MSG, and Sriracha. In Eight Flavors, Lohman sets out to explore how these influential ingredients made their way to the American table.
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Great read... Terrible accents
- By S. Macklin on 12-14-18
By: Sarah Lohman
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Barbecue
- The History of an American Institution
- By: Robert F. Moss
- Narrated by: David Holloway
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Barbecue: The History of an American Institution draws on hundreds of sources to document the evolution of barbecue from its origins among Native Americans to its present status as an icon of American culture. This is the story not just of a dish but of a social institution that helped shape the many regional cultures of the United States.
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Great for those that love BBQ.
- By Austin on 01-02-23
By: Robert F. Moss
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Sweetness and Power
- The Place of Sugar in Modern History
- By: Sidney W. Mintz
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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In this eye-opening study, Sidney W. Mintz shows how Europeans and Americans transformed sugar from a rare foreign luxury to a commonplace necessity of modern life and how it changed the history of capitalism and industry. He discusses the production and consumption of sugar and reveals how closely interwoven sugar's origins are as a "slave" crop grown in Europe's tropical colonies, with its use first as an extravagant luxury for the aristocracy, then as a staple of the diet of the new industrial proletariat.
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Dated but still worthwhile
- By Acteon on 11-14-19
By: Sidney W. Mintz
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A Square Meal
- A Culinary History of the Great Depression
- By: Jane Ziegelman, Andrew Coe
- Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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The decade-long Great Depression, a period of shifts in the country's political and social landscape, forever changed the way America eats. Before 1929, America's relationship with food was defined by abundance. But the collapse of the economy, in both urban and rural America, left a quarter of all Americans out of work and undernourished - shattering long-held assumptions about the limitlessness of the national larder.
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Not entirely accurate title
- By Robert on 06-07-17
By: Jane Ziegelman, and others
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The Taste of Conquest
- The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice
- By: Michael Krondl
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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In this engaging, anecdotal history of food, world conquest, and desire, a chef-turned-journalist tells the story of three legendary cities, Venice, Lisbon, and Amsterdam, that transformed the globe in the quest for spice.
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Not that bad.
- By EmperorTab on 10-19-08
By: Michael Krondl
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Milk!
- A 10,000-Year Food Fracas
- By: Mark Kurlansky
- Narrated by: Brian Sutherland
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Mark Kurlansky's first global food history since the best-selling Cod and Salt; the fascinating cultural, economic and culinary story of milk and all things dairy - with recipes throughout. According to the Greek creation myth, we are so much spilt milk; a splatter of the goddess Hera's breast milk became our galaxy, the Milky Way.
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Horrible narration nearly kills Kurlansky
- By Scarlatti's Muse on 05-15-18
By: Mark Kurlansky
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Indian Givers
- How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World
- By: Jack Weatherford
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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After 500 years, the world's huge debt to the wisdom of the Indians of the Americas has finally been explored in all its vivid drama by anthropologist Jack Weatherford. He traces the crucial contributions made by the Indians to our federal system of government, our democratic institutions, modern medicine, agriculture, architecture, and ecology, and in this astonishing, ground-breaking book takes a giant step toward recovering a true American history.
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All things Jack Weatherford
- By Robert on 06-03-10
By: Jack Weatherford
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The Big Oyster
- History on the Half Shell
- By: Mark Kurlansky
- Narrated by: John H. Mayer
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Before New York City was the Big Apple, it could have been called the Big Oyster. Now award-winning author Mark Kurlansky tells the remarkable story of New York by following the trajectory of one of its most fascinating inhabitants, the oyster, whose influence on the great metropolis remains unparalleled.
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history of the oyster in America
- By Andy on 01-01-20
By: Mark Kurlansky
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The United States of Beer
- A Freewheeling History of the All-American Drink
- By: Dane Huckelbridge
- Narrated by: Corey Snow
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Huckelbridge shows how beer has evolved along with the country - from a local and regional product (once upon a time, every American city had its own brewery and iconic beer brand) to the rise of global megabrands, like Budweiser and Miller, that are synonymous with US capitalism. We learn of George Washington's failed attempt to brew beer at Mount Vernon with molasses instead of barley and of the 19th-century "beer barons", like Captain Frederick Pabst, Adolphus Busch, and Joseph Schlitz.
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History Humanized
- By Dave on 06-25-16
What listeners say about Planet Taco
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kyle P. Dalton
- 11-02-20
A Worthy Story
Well researched and fascinating, but I wish I had read it instead of listening. The reader is downright languid, and his monotone approach saps the text of too much of the obvious passion of the author.
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- Scott Dolan
- 05-29-19
Good review of Mexican food, needs a better reader
This is a pretty interesting survey of the history of Mexican food, especially of the last hundred years or so, with particular interest in Mexican food as it exists in public places (in restaurants, and as a commercially manufactured product). Lots of interesting discussion of the way that the cuisine has changed over time and how those changes have informed ideas of perceived "authenticity", as well as other historical and sociological insights.
My one complaint, and it felt like a substantial issue, was that the narrator, while having a a pleasing voice to listen to, seems to have almost NO understanding of the pronunciation of Spanish and Mexican words. I can forgive the occasional bad vowel or confusion about letters like j, h and g, and I'm certainly not saying an English speaker has to imitate an accent or pronounce every word perfectly, but this guy has clearly had so little exposure to Spanish that he pronounces a huge percentage of the words flat-out wrong. Accents on the wrong syllable, incorrect vowels (o for a, for example), transposed or added letters, and of course all the usual mistakes that we English-speakers usually make in Spanish, but oh man, on almost every word! It was distracting and cringe-inducing. Additionally, he would often pause strangely before the foreign-language words, as if he was screwing up his courage to attempt the difficult task just ahead of him, and giving the reader a little heads-up that he knew he was about to mess something up.
There were also some factual errors that I noticed, like translating "naranjo" as "orange". ("Naranjo" is the orange *tree* that produces the fruit, not the fruit itself.) Not a huge deal on its own, but incorrect details like that give me doubts about the rest of the research and scholarship.
All and all, a fun and interesting book, but it would have been a much better listen with a narrator who had more ease and familiarity with speaking Spanish.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Denise Favela
- 02-05-24
Excellent text, horrible narrator
It is an excellent historical overview and is very informative, but I struggled to keep up with the horrid pronunciation of the narrator. How are readers of audio text hired? Sometimes, I had to listen multiple times bc the name of a city, etc, was so poorly pronounced that I was completely lost.
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- Sheri
- 03-14-14
Good book, horrible narrator
What didn’t you like about Robin Bloodworth’s performance?
This interesting book about the history and globalization of Mexican food was ruined for me by the narrator's mispronunciation of Spanish, French, and even English words. I don't think he has ever heard Spanish spoken and would basically make it up as he went along. I almost crashed my car when he said "pan dulce" with the Italian "ch" sound, or when he pronounced "diario" like the English "diary" with an "o" at the end. And when talking about the Zapatistas in Chiapas (mispronounced as well), he said that they covered their heads with "baklavas" - I assume he meant "balaclavas" and not the sticky pastry. There are some English words that may be unfamiliar for many Americans but as a professional narrator, he should know how to pronounce "affluent" and "eponymous".
For this reason, I would not recommend this audiobook to anyone. The print book, yes.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Eve
- 08-06-21
I want my credit back!
A white man calling incredible, and celebrated Mexican dishes “peasant food” over and over again, does not sit right w me! If you’re telling a story of someone else’s culture, that is not your own, have a bit of humility! I couldn’t even get through the first chapter.
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