Are tacos actually Mexican food? I thought they were first made by Americans.
First made by natives of the Valley of Mexico, apparently; the Aztecs ate them with fish as the primary filling. The Spanish named them “taco”. The US innovation might have been the “hard shell” version, where the corn tortilla is deep-fried.
Tacos are definitely Mexican in origin. But Americans have made them into something different. A real taco is seasoned meat in a warm corn tortilla. Maybe with a little garnish like a bit of onion.
I like to oil fry my corn tortilla and put some diced onion and a sprinkle of cheese on it. That seems acceptable to the Mexicans I know.
But the flour tortilla or the hard shell corn tortilla tacos are ‘American’. As is the habit of shoving a salad on top of the meat.