National Burrito Day

Today we celebrate and enjoy burritos, which are made by wrapping tortillas around fillings such as beans or refried beans, meat, rice, salsa, guacamole, shredded cheese, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, and other vegetables. They can be eaten with hands or can be served "wet"—being covered with sauce—and be eaten with a fork. Burrito bowls have all the ingredients of burritos except the tortillas.

Centuries ago, Mesoamericans rolled food such as chili peppers, avocados, squash, tomatoes, and mushrooms into corn tortillas. When the Spanish arrived, they brought wheat and pigs, which allowed for flour tortillas for wrapping and carnitas for filling. The Pueblo people in the Southwestern United States were known to eat tortillas filled with beans and meat sauces.

Burrito is the Spanish word for "little donkey," and the food may be so named because it looks similar to the bedrolls that donkeys carried on their backs. It wasn't until 1895 that "burrito" was first printed, appearing in the Diccionario de Mexicanismos. The definition said, in part, that a burrito was "a rolled tortilla, with meat or other food within, called coçito in Yucatan and taco in the city of Cuernavaca and in Mexico City." At the time, "burrito" was mainly used in the area of Guanajuato in central Mexico and in Guerrero just south of it.

Modern burritos may have originated in the United States, around the Central Valley of California, near Fresno and Stockton. There they were eaten by Mexican agricultural workers, who picked produce in fields and brought tortillas filled with beans and hot sauce with them for lunch. Burritos first appeared on restaurant menus in the 1930s, starting with the El Cholo Spanish Cafe in Los Angeles. They first appeared in print in 1934, in Erna Fergusson's Mexican Cookbook, which included recipes from the New Mexico area. Burritos continued to change over time, with their changes largely taking place in Southern California. In the United States, today's burritos are made with the wide variety of ingredients that were mentioned earlier, while in Mexico, burritos are often filled with only meat and beans or refried beans, being popular in the states of Sonora and Baja California.

There are many other styles and varieties of burritos. What became known as the Mission burrito became popular in San Francisco, after first being served at El Faro restaurant in the Mission District in 1961. The first frozen burritos were sold in 1964. The kosher burrito is made with pastrami and cheddar cheese and was thought up in Los Angeles. A specialty of Denver is the Mexican hamburger, which is a burrito stuffed with a hamburger and smothered with chili sauce. Fried burritos are called chimichangas. Chipotle Mexican Grill, which opened in Denver in 1993, serves some of the country's most famous burritos.

The breakfast burrito may have been invented in 1975 by Tia Sophia's in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It consisted of a tortilla filled with bacon and potatoes, topped with chili and cheese. Currently, breakfast burritos are often made with egg, chorizo, and condiments. McDonald's began serving the Sausage Burrito in 1991; it consists of a flour tortilla wrapped around sausage, scrambled eggs, American cheese, onions, and peppers. Taco Bell launched its breakfast burrito in 2014. No matter what kind of burrito is eaten today or where it comes from, it is sure to bring happiness.

How to Observe National Burrito Day

Celebrate the day by eating burritos! You could eat them at a restaurant or make your own. There are many online recipes you could choose from. You could also try the first printed burrito recipe, which was published in Mexican Cookbook in 1934, or you could make a Mission burrito or a Mexican hamburger. If you eat out today, keep a lookout for National Burrito Day deals, as there are many. Some regional or national chains that have had deals in the past include Qdoba, Chuy's, Blue Coast Burrito, Jimboy's Tacos, Del Taco, Taco Bell, Rubio's, and El Pollo Loco. If you want to eat the highest quality burrito, you could stop at a place that has one of the best burritos in America. You could also eat one at El Cholo in Los Angeles, the first place where burritos appeared on menus, or at El Faro in San Francisco, where the Mission burrito originated.

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