OK, here it is! My epic thread on Mexican antojitos. Antojitos are are Mexican fast food snacks, most are essentially a tortilla with something else, but there are variants and a strict taxonomy. (photos: Wikimedia)

First up, a taco. A taco is a soft tortilla (usually corn, but in parts of the country they use flour) filled with stuff (usually meat) and rolled up. Usually eaten in two or three bites.

There are many, many variants on the taco: al pastor, de tinga, sudados, barbacoa, etc. I’ll defer to the wonderful Netflix series Taco Chronicles for a breakdown:

Also, check out @GustavoArellano ’s book Taco USA to see how tacos (and Mexican food) have evolved north of the border: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/13110703-taco-usa

If you take the tortilla, fill it, fold it and heat it up, then you have a quesadilla. In the north of Mexico they insist a quesadilla has to have cheese (thus the name), in the rest of the country they are filled with anything, and sometimes deep fried.

My favorite quesadillas are de hongos (mushrooms), huitlacoche (corn fungus), flor de calabaza (squash blossom) or rajas con queso. As you can see, quesadillas tend to be vegetarian, but sometimes have chorizo, shrimp, and other meat.

A quesadilla in a flour tortilla is called a burrita, and a quesadilla on a four tortilla with ham and cheese is a sincronizada. These are delicious with some sliced avocados.

If you take a corn tortilla, lightly fry it, lay it flat and then top it with beans and other stuff (beef, chicken, etc.) then you have a sope. A sope made with a thick tortilla is a gordita, a gordita made on a little tortilla is called a chalupa. Gorditas are sometimes stuffed

A sope made on a large, fried, oblong tortilla is called a huarache. These hold a lot more toppings and really need to be eaten with a fork and knife. A stuffed huarache is called a tlacoyo, and these are smaller.

A huarache made with an oblong tortilla crisped up in a comal is called a tlayuda. These are regional to the state of Oaxaca, where they have a version of sopes known as memelas.

OK, now if you fry the corn tortilla a little more until it is crispy, lay it flat and top it with beans plus other stuff, now you have a tostada. I LOVE tostadas. My dad was a huge fan of tostadas de pata, made with pickled cow’s (or pigs) feet. I didn’t love these so much.

If you take a corn tortilla, stuff it, roll it up and then fry until crispy, then you have a taquito. Delicious with cream, crumbled cheese and dipped in smashed avocados. A long taquito is called a flauta.

Lightly fried taquitos, covered in some sort of spicy sauce, and topped with cream and/or cheese are called enchiladas. Covered with mole, then they are enmoladas. Covered in a bean sauce, enfrijoladas.

What about burritos? Well, you all know what those are. I never had a burrito in Mexico until I came to the US. However, they apparently originated in the Mexican border states, some say Ciudad Juarez. I love burritos, but I didn’t grow up eating them.

Not all anojitos are tortilla based, like tortas, pambazos, tamales, guajolotas, etc. But we’ll save those for another thread. Did I miss anything? Buen provecho, and of course top liberally with your favorite salsas.

I forgot chilaquiles! Old tortillas torn into pieces, fried, put in a casserole with meat, salsa, cheese, baked and then topped with raw onions and cream. Basically same thing but all mixed up! https://twitter.com/titulotentativo/status/1300088542031347712