Timeline of the burrito

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The timeline of the burrito documents the use of the burrito, a food made with tortillas and filling found in Mexico and the United States. Hand-held take-out foods like the burrito have a long history. Before the Spanish colonization of the Americas, indigenous peoples were eating hand-held snack foods like corn on the cob, popcorn and pemmican. In Mexico, the Spanish observed Aztecs selling take-out foods like tamales, tortillas, and sauces in open marketplaces. The Pueblo people of the desert Southwest also made tortillas with beans and meat sauce fillings prepared much like the modern burrito we know today.^[1]

Contents 1 16th century 2 19th century 3 20th century 4 21st century 5 See also 6 References

[edit] 16th century

See also: 16th century in North American history

Cuisine preceding the development of the modern taco, burrito, and enchilada was created by the Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican Aztec peoples of Mexico, who used tortillas to wrap foods, with fillings of chile sauce, tomatoes, mushrooms, squash, and avocados. Spanish missionaries like Bernardino de Sahagún wrote about Aztec cuisine, describing the variety of tortillas and their preparation, noting that the Aztecs not only used corn in their tortillas, but also squash and amaranth, and that some varieties used turkey, eggs, or honey as a flavoring.^[2]

[edit] 19th century

1840

Burrito created in 1840s American Southwest/Northwestern Mexico. Spiced meat wrapped in flour tortillas made popular by gold miners who worked with burros. Janey M. Rifkin in Hispanic Times Magazine claims this was the original source of meat.^[3] If true, it would be out of desperation; burro meat is not considered palatable

[edit] 20th century

1923

Alejandro Borquez opens Sonora cafe in Los Angeles (later renamed El Cholo Spanish Cafe)^[4]

1934

Burrito mentioned in U.S. media for first time.

Restaurente del Bol Corona opens in Tijuana, Mexico.

1939

Restaurant Xochimilco opens in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico

1954

Burritos appear on menu at El Tepeyac in East Los Angeles. They are served on plates and offered smothered (with sauce)

1956

At the age of 19, Duane R. Roberts invents the first commercial frozen burrito for Butcher Boy Food Proudcts

1961

Sept. 26: Febronio Ontiveros offers the first retail burrito in San Francisco at El Faro ("The Lighthouse"), and is credited with inventing the "super burrito" style leading to the early development of the San Francisco burrito: the addition of rice, sour cream and guacamole to the basic meat, bean and cheese burrito. Originally a corner grocery store located at 2399 Folsom Street, El Faro got its start when firemen from a nearby station requested sandwiches. Unable to make them, Ontiveros offered burritos instead. Large tortillas were unavailable in the early 1960s, so three six-inch tortillas were used to hold the filling, and sold for one US dollar.^[5][6]

1964

Butcher Boy Food Products begins selling frozen bean and beef burritos, first to American Drive-in restaurants with deep-fryers; then later to school districts, food-service companies, and convenience stores

1965

Mi Rancho market sells burritos in the deli in SF

1969

Raul Duran opens La Cumbre taqueria and offers the first assembly line burrito in SF^[7]

1973

La Taqueria opens in SF

1975

Tia Sophia's in Santa Fe, New Mexico credited with inventing the breakfast burrito^[8]

1980

Butcher Boy Food Products producing over one million frozen burritos a day

1982

Gary Espinoza opens Taqueria Pancho Villa in SF, notable for featuring four distinct salsas: red (secret recipe) and green (cilantro, jalapeño and tomatillo blend) on the tables, and hot and mild salsas added to the burrito itself behind the counter (tomato, onion, cilantro, green jalapeño and salt).^[5]

1987

Santana's Mexican Grill opens; invents San Diego-style "California burrito"

Freebirds World Burrito opens in Santa Barbara, California^[9]

1989

Inspired by San Francisco "Mission-style taquerias", Peter Fox and Eric Sklar open Burrito Brothers in Washington D.C.^[10][11]

1990

Taco Bell, Carl's Jr. add breakfast burrito to morning menu

1991

100 burrito establishments in Mission District

Skyline Chili adds burritos to menu

Food editor Patti Jean Birosik publishes The Burrito Book

1992

Taqueria Pancho Villa begins offering "tofu burrito"^[5]

1993

SF Weekly publishes John Roemer's influential essay, "Cylindrical God". Roemer estimates 25,000 burritos consumed daily in San Francisco's Mission District.^[5]

Influenced by San Francisco taquerias and burritos, Steve Ells founds Chipotle Mexican Grill in Denver, Colorado. ^[6]

Taco Del Mar opens in Seattle. Popularizes 1.5 lb "mission-style" burrito"

1994

World Wrapps opens

CSPI analyzes fat content of burritos

Author Hillary Davis publishes the International Burrito cookbook

1997

World's largest burrito stretches 1.09 km, weighing 2041 kg^[7]

1998

Washington Post sends Peter Fox to search for origins of burrito^[12]

1999

Aug: Comic strip cartoonist Scott Adams, CEO of Scott Adams Foods, launches the Dilberito line of frozen, vegetarian burritos^[13]

[edit] 21st century

2002

University of Texas Press publishes Daniel D. Arreola's Tejano South Texas, a cultural geography of Tejano South Texas. The book delineates the South Texas Mexican food region using a "taco-burrito" and "taco-barbecue" line of demarcation. To the west of this line, Mexican food served in a flour tortilla is often called a burrito, due to the influence of the Mexican state of Chihuahua. To the south and east of this line, the same food may be simply called a taco, showing a "Texas Mexican" influence. To the north, the food gives way to barbecue sandwiches reflecting the influx of European, Southern Anglo, and African Americans.^[14]

2003

Charles Hodgkins begins gathering data from 170 taquerias in San Francisco for Burritoeater.com^[15][16]

2005

Burritophile.com launches

Freebirds World Burrito (TX) starts online orders

May: A Clovis, New Mexico Middle school student creates a 30-inch burrito filled with steak, guacamole, lettuce, salsa and jalapeños for an extra-credit assignment project. The large, foil-wrapped burrito is mistaken as a weapon, and armed police officers are sent in, closing down streets and locking down the school.^[17]

Jul: Rubio's (CA) Lobster Burrito lawsuit. Rubio's is accused of selling a "lobster burrito" that contains langostino meat from the squat lobster, an edible crustacean but not a lobster, raising questions about labeling lobster meat.^[18]

2006

Jan: The Burrito Project begins in Los Angeles, California, feeding burritos to the homeless.^[19] In November, the project takes off on MySpace and spreads around the world, and in early 2007, the group is awarded a $10,000 MySpace Impact Award for serving "as an instrument of community action on behalf of the needy."^[20]

Mar:Chipotle Mexican Grill starts "Don't Stand in Line " online burrito ordering system^[21]

Jun: Ryan Daniel Goff gets prison term for Taco Bell burrito extortion"^[22][23]

Jul 29: Moe's Southwest Grill (FL) starts annual competitive burrito eating contest^[24]

Rosemary Gonzales arrested for smuggling drugs inside Taco Bell burrito

Oct. 30: After hearing expert testimony, Massachusetts judge rules that a burrito is not a sandwich^[25][26]

2007

Jan: In honor of Elvis Presley, Taco Villa offers peanut butter and banana burritos.^[27]

Jul: Charles Hodgkins completes his 495th burrito review^[16]

Sept. 22: Competitive eater Tim "Eater X" Janus eats 10.75 burritos in 12 minutes, beating out Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas and winning US$3,000 at the Costa Vida World Burrito Eating Championship in South Portland, Maine. Costa Vida's "Big Kahuna" burritos weighed 18 ounces, consisting of rice, beans, cheese and sweet pork in a flour tortilla. Eric "Badlands" Booker previously held the world record (15 burritos in eight minutes) but did not return to defend his title.^[28][29]

[edit] See also

• Timeline of agriculture and food technology

[edit] References