About Me
My name is José R. Ralat, two-time James Beard Award-winner, Texas Monthly taco editor, one of the leading voices on tacos, taco culture, and Mexican American food and culture in the U.S.
I also wrote the award-winning American Tacos: A History and Guide, now in its second revision. Click the button below for more.
The Taco Editor Is Born
How I Created a Job That Had Never Before Existed
I initially pitched the job of taco editor, while I co-editing Texas Monthly's 2015 taco feature. I saw a need for the role of chronicling the stories of the food, its culture, and its people before they were memories. I was tenacious in reaching my goal to be the first taco editor in the country and serious about chronicling the stories of the food and the people behind the food. So freelanced for several publications, including Texas Monthly, until I felt I had matured in knowledge and writing style to make one last pitch. In 2019, I was finally hired as the first official full-time taco editor that year. It's been a dream come true, but it's also been a lot of work. I know I can only do this job as long as others will share their stories.
My determination to overcome such obstacles, really any obstacles, is a defining characteristic. I fight for myself, yes. More importantly, I fight for the people and for the culture.
I'm More Than a Taco Editor
Aside from my work documenting Mexican cuisine and the people behind the food, I write about culture and travel, including profiles on stores, tailors, other fashion, barbecue, and visiting international destinations. A few of the articles I've written in those subjects are below.
American Tacos 2.0
Everything a food history book should be: illuminating, well-written, crusading, and inspiring a taco run afterwards. You’ll gain five pounds reading it, but don’t worry—most of that will go to your brain. — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times
About the Book
Tacos may have been created south of the border, but Americans have made this Mexican food their own, with each style reflective of a time and a place. American Tacos explores them all, taking us on a detailed and delicious journey through the evolution of this dish.
In search of every taco variety from California to Texas and beyond, Ralat traveled from coast to coast and border to border, visiting thirty-eight cities across the country.
He examines the pervasive crunchy taco and the new Alta California tacos from chefs Wes Avila, Christine Rivera, and Carlos Salgado. He tastes famous Tex-Mex tacos like the puffy taco and breakfast taco, then tracks down the fry bread taco and the kosher taco. And he searches for the regional hybrid tacos of the American South and the modern, chef-driven tacos of restaurants everywhere. Throughout, he tells the story of how each style of taco came to be, creating a rich look at the diverse taco landscape north of the border. Featuring interviews with taqueros and details on taco paraphernalia and the trappings of taco culture, American Tacos is a book no taco fan will want to take a bite without.
José Ralat is the ideal guide to what has become an American staple, the U.S. taco: a taco with a unique history and diversity of flavors here in el norte, or Mexico afuera. In this book, we learn of the importance of tacos in relation to cultural respect and appropriation. Ralat's work expands the taco canon. — Steven Alvarez, assistant professor at St. John's University and creator of the "Taco Literacy" course
Awards
I'm a Two-Time James Beard Award Winner! It's a shock to me too.
I won two James Beard Award Foundation media and journalism awards, the highest recognition in food journalism, for my work at Texas Monthly in 2022 and 2023. Specifically, the awards for my Tex-Mexplainer column. The winning 2022 installments were Nixtamalization Is the 3,500-Year-Old Secret to Great Tortillas; Live a Little and Try Crunching on Chapulines, or Roasted Grasshoppers; Forget Everything You Think You Know About Mole. The 2023 installments were Tetelas Are the Tasty Triangles You Need to Try Right Now; Birria Is the Greatest Threat to Taco Culture—and Its Savior; Trompo Tacos Are So Much More Than Tacos al Pastor.
Both were surprising honors. They are testaments to the growing respect for Mexican cuisine and stories of the cooks, chefs, and taqueros who share their food with the world. My hope is that this attitude is permanent and that other journalists working in the same field will also receive the plaudits they deserve.
Speaking Engagements and Appearances
I have been a featured speaker, panelist, and presenter on tacos, Mexican food, food culture, and food trends at a range of events, conferences, galas, symposiums, universities, and more. If you want an authoritative speaker, engaging panelist or are interested in featuring a thought leader, I'm your man.