When we finally found what we thought was the original burrito, it was very different from the burritos we knew and loved. As we followed the historical trail, and got closer and closer to the source, the burritos became smaller and smaller, and our favorite ingredients disappeared one by one. We were determined to trace its history through the people who know it best-the owners and operators of old burrito places. In late June, I met with Dana Ingersoll, a freelance photographer, and began a cross-country quest for the origin of the burrito. Where did the original burrito come from? What did it taste like? Was it anything like what I knew as a burrito? After all, if a pollo asada burrito could turn into a grilled-chicken Caesar salad wrap overnight, who knew what evolution the burrito went through to become what we know it as today? I decided to find out. This got me wondering about the process of culinary evolution. They were 'wraps,' and they were everywhere-except, it seemed, in Mexican restaurants. Suddenly they weren't being called burritos at all. Then, a couple of years ago, my favorite food evolved into something different. While I was growing up in San Francisco, I knew them by the nickname 'logs,' a term of endearment for a healthful fast food that filled your stomach without emptying your wallet. I did know that burritos were made by wrapping a flour tortilla around any number of fillings, usually meat, beans, rice and salsa. In 1989 I founded Burrito Brothers, Washington's first burrito place, so you'd think that by now I'd be an expert on the subject. Still want a recipe? Here are a few things to put in that burrito:Д«y Peter Fox, The Washington Post В© 4 November 1998 To finish, wrap the burrito in the foil in exactly the same way you folded the tortilla. You might need to poke the ends in a bit to keep tucked.ДҐ. Sometimes it helps to dip a finger in water and run it along the margin first. Seal by pushing everything on top of that last bare margin of tortilla. Now pull the south side (closest to you) over the ingredients, allowing a margin at the far end. Fold over the east and west sides to cover the ingredients by about a third of the way from each end.Д¤. Spoon on some rice, chopped cabbage, a sprinkle of cilantro, and then a generous drizzle of salsa. Next, cover the midsection of your tortilla with a layer of beans and your cheese of choice.

You need the largest tortilla you can find for this - I use 10-inch. Tear off a sheet of aluminum foil just larger than the big flour tortilla you are about to lay on top of it. I like the Rick Bayless tomatillo style.Дў. First, set up your mise en place: your meat of choice, heated refried beans (canned is fine), cooked long grain rice, grated cheese (swiss, jack, cheddar, or a mix) or crumbled queso fresco, chopped cilantro (optional), chopped cabbage, salsa of your preference - homemade is best, but you can use a jarred salsa. Heat your oven to 350В° F and then go to work. The essence is a very large flour tortilla filled up with beans, rice, etc., swiftly folded and then taking on an external carapace of aluminum foil. The steps you will see below are based on this style. This was the prototypical assembly line concept that the Chipotle chain eventually adopted. In his book Arellano describes the вЂњMission StyleвЂќ burrito, which originated in San FranciscoвЂ™s Mission district. However, you can learn a lot from Gustavo ArellanoвЂ™s Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America. Diana KennedyвЂ™s book My Mexico doesnвЂ™t even mention it. border states, its wellspring in Southern California and Arizona. The arc of the story goes like this: a burrito is border food, a hybrid of northern Mexico and the U.S. This makes for a nice taco, but not a burrito. In central and southern Mexico the tortilla of preference is corn. It gets its name from the pack animals, the burros, which delivered them from Sonora when our borders were more porous than they are now.

The burrito's essence is a big hunk of stuff (meat, beans, rice, etc.) wrapped up in a large flour tortilla.

Big city burrito beef machacha recipe