America’s first taco editor

Does being paid to eat, write about, and edit a compendium of the best tacos sound like a dream job? Then you might be jealous to learn that someone else already got the position: José R. Ralat has been named Taco Editor for Texas Monthly magazine.

The magazine has published a guide to the best barbecue in Texas since 20134 (yes, they have a Barbecue Editor). Since tacos are such an important part of Texas culture, it only seems fitting that it receive the same treatment. Ralat is approaching the job with a large list of things he would like to accomplish, and he has already stirred debate with a controversial view: he says that burritos count as tacos.

“I do plan on doing a taco of the week and a taco of the month, but Mexican food in Texas is evolving quickly, and so I’ll be covering Mexican pizza, and Mexican burgers, paletas, burritos—I’m a little scared of those, to be honest. I don’t know what that’s gonna be like. But I consider burritos to be tacos,” he told Helen Rosner of The New Yorker.

Ralat explains that a couple of books have explored the topic and that it is not a new argument, just one that does not get a lot of discussion. Clearing up misconceptions are part of his job as Taco Editor, he believes. In that vein, Ralat notes that “Austin-style” breakfast tacos are a misnomer, as they are no different than any other Texan breakfast taco.