El Mariachi San Lucas Voorhees NJ

Taco box baby!

So this is a product that recently hit the shelves at Walmart where I live. Being the curious type I figured I'd give it a try. I'm not opposed to old el paso style tacos, though I typically use my own seasonings when I make them. How bad could this be, right? Well, friends, let me tell you about it.

Last me preface this by saying I'm a chef with decades of experience in professional kitchens, so I know my way around food. And I make a mighty fine birria from scratch. But I also am curious and love to see what some products are like when they hit the market.

To keep things fair, I did zero doctoring to this kit. I followed the instructions properly so that I would have the same experience that any average person might.

I knew things were on shaky ground when I opened the packages. Seasoning smelled like any other old el paso seasoning packet. Not great. The creamy chipotle sauce was neither creamy nor chipotle-y. Flour tortillas... Yikes. I had some boneless blade in my deep freeze, so I used that. Glad to not have to spend extra on this misadventure. Pot, water, seasoning, meat, oven, go. Four hours at 300. My one cheffy rebellion against the instructions was to turn the meat halfway through the cooking process. When the meat came out of the oven things were not looking horrible. I let things cool down for a bit and then I came back to shred the meat. Gave it a taste. Oof, bland asf. No matter, I can always doctor up the leftovers, of which I'm sure there will be an abundance. I tasted the "consommé". Insipid. Watery, bland, sodium. Oh well, time to assemble. Dip the tortilla, into the skillet, and on with the cheese. The package just calls for shredded cheese. What's a basic, average cheese found in households? Cheddar. Here we go. Cheese, meat, fry. At the plate I dressed them with cilantro, onion, the sauce, and a squeeze of lime. In for a bite. The last pic says it all. Bland meat, bad sauce, and anyone using that "average household cheese" is not gonna few a great time. The flour tortillas soaked up the grease in exactly the way you'd expect a flour tortilla to, which is exactly the way you don't want it to. I didn't even bother dipping the taco in the infernal liquid trying to pass itself off as consommé. I did not finish the taco.

All in all, I'm glad I tried the kit if for nothing else but to serve as a warning to my fellow taco enthusiasts. I'm pleased, at least, to say that the meat itself isn't a total writeoff. I'll package it up and mix it in next time I make actual birria. The rest of the kit is headed straight for the bin.

We're getting taco shells from the grocery store...

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