Tacos in Tlaxcala

Tlaxcala, Mexico's smallest state, is widely credited as the birthplace of tacos de canasta, the steamed basket tacos sold by bicycle vendors across Mexico City, and keeps a maguey-country tradition of insect tacos such as maguey worms and escamoles.

Overview

The name of the state itself comes from the Nahuatl tlaxcalli, the word for the corn tortilla, and Tlaxcala's taco identity rests on two pillars. The first is the taco de canasta, a humble workers' food that its emigrants turned into a fixture of Mexico City street life. The second is the pre-Hispanic larder of the pulque-producing highlands, from maguey worms to ant larvae, which Tlaxcala shares with neighboring Hidalgo, Puebla and the State of Mexico.

Tacos de canasta

Larousse's gastronomic dictionary, as cited by Excélsior, places the origin of tacos de canasta in San Vicente Xiloxochitla, a community in the municipality of Nativitas. Their forerunners, called tacos sudados (sweated tacos), were lunches that women packed for field hands on the haciendas of the Tlaxcala and Puebla valleys in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: warm tortillas wrapped around simple fillings and bundled in cloth inside wicker baskets.

From the 1950s, people from San Vicente migrated to Mexico City and took the trade with them, selling from baskets strapped to bicycles at busy corners during breakfast hours. The basket is lined with paper, plastic and a thick cloth, and hot oil or lard flavored with garlic, onion and chile is poured over the tacos before it is closed, so they steam and soften. Classic fillings are mashed potato, potato with chorizo, chicharrón prensado in adobo, refried beans and shredded meat in adobo. Excélsior reports that most families in San Vicente have taken part in the trade for generations.

The town celebrates with a Feria del Taco de Canasta on the first Sunday of December, when vendors give tacos away. In August 2024, more than 150 Tlaxcalan basket-taco vendors gathered on Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City and set a Guinness World Record for the greatest variety of tacos de canasta, with 186 distinct fillings counted. In February 2023 Dulce María Silva Hernández, a federal deputy from Tlaxcala, asked federal authorities to begin registering a designation of origin for the dish and to recognize Tlaxcala as its creator.

Insect and maguey tacos

Maguey worms, larvae that live in the leaves of certain agaves, are roasted or fried and eaten in corn tortillas, often with guacamole that helps them stay put. Escamoles, the larvae of a native ant, are harvested during a short spring season and are expensive for that reason; they are commonly fried in butter and served with tortillas. México Desconocido groups both among the indigenous tacos of the pulque zones of central Mexico, and pit barbacoa with pulque-based salsa borracha belongs to the same tradition.

Signature tacos

• Tacos de canasta
• Tacos de gusanos de maguey
• Tacos de escamoles

Reviews

See also

• Tacos de canasta
• Tacos de barbacoa
• Tacos in Mexico City
• Tacos in Puebla
• Tacos in Hidalgo

References

1. "De Tlaxcala para el mundo: La verdadera historia de los tacos de canasta". Excélsior. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
2. "Pueblos que son la cuna del taco en México". Food and Pleasure. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
3. "En bicicleta y con la tradicional salsa, más de 150 taqueros de canasta de Tlaxcala rompen Récord Guinness". Uno TV. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
4. "10 dishes with pre-Hispanic heritage from Tlaxcala". Xcaret Blog. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
5. "¡Para tacos, sólo México!". México Desconocido. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
6. "Propone diputada denominación de origen para los tacos de canasta". Expansión Política. Retrieved 2026-10-10.