San Francisco burrito is a type of burrito

Burrito

A burrito , or taco de harina, is a type of Mexican food. It consists of a wheat flour tortilla wrapped or folded around a filling. The flour tortilla is usually lightly grilled or steamed, to soften it and make it more pliable. In Mexico, refried beans or meat are sometimes the only fillings...

, originally a Mexican

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

-American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 food, that originated in San Francisco, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. The San Francisco burrito is distinguished from a regular burrito partly by the amount of rice and other side dishes included in the package, and partly by its sheer size. This type of burrito was first created in the city's Mission District, and thus it is also often called a Mission burrito or Mission-style burrito.

As the New York-based writer Calvin Trillin

Calvin Trillin

Calvin Marshall Trillin is an American journalist, humorist, food writer, poet, memoirist and novelist.-Biography:Trillin attended public schools in Kansas City and went on to Yale University, where he served as chairman of the Yale Daily News and was a member of Scroll and Key before graduating...

 described it, "In San Francisco, the burrito has been refined and embellished in much the same way that pizza

Pizza

Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...

 has been refined and embellished in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

." Since its likely beginnings in the 1960s, the style has spread widely through the San Francisco Bay Area

San Francisco Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...

, and variations on it have spread throughout the United States.

The San Francisco-style burrito is a specialty of many taqueria

Taqueria

Taquería is a Spanish word meaning taco shop. In some localities, however, it is used to refer to restaurants specializing in burritos , although tacos and other dishes are often served as well. Originally, Taquerías referred to the stands of street vendors. However, many taquerías today are...

s in the Mission (and the greater San Francisco Bay Area

San Francisco Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...

), who, contrary to their name, usually make more burritos than tacos. The aluminum foil holds a large flour tortilla

Tortilla

In Mexico and Central America, a tortilla is a type of thin, unleavened flat bread, made from finely ground maize...

 which is wrapped and folded around a variety of ingredients. A food critic working for the San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco Chronicle

thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...

counted hundreds of taquerias in the Bay Area, and noted that the question of which taqueria makes the best burrito can "encourage fierce loyalty and ferocious debate".

History

Long-time residents of the Mission District trace the origins of the San Francisco burrito back to the 1960s. The owners of "La Cumbre" Taqueria near Valencia and 16th have been credited as the first taqueria to sell this style of burrito. The creation of the style is credited to Raul and Michaela Duran who sold burritos from their meat market which in 1972 was converted into the La Cumbre Taqueria, and have dated the birth of the San Francisco burrito to September 29, 1969.

However, like most such claims, this is debated by others who claim to remember similar burritos from earlier in the decade. If the claims of the owner of "El Faro" are to be believed, the first San Francisco burrito was sold September 26, 1961 to a group of San Francisco firefighters, using two 6-inch tortillas to play the role of what would later become the large single tortilla. The fact that he did not have—and had not previously considered the need for—larger tortillas suggests that the birth of the San Francisco burrito as we now know it probably did not come earlier than that time.

And yet, the San Francisco burrito does have historical forebears in burritos made elsewhere. Some assert that the original San Francisco burritos were directly inspired by burritos brought by California Central Valley

California Central Valley

California's Central Valley is a large, flat valley that dominates the central portion of California. It is home to California's most productive agricultural efforts. The valley stretches approximately from northwest to southeast inland and parallel to the Pacific Ocean coast. Its northern half is...

 farmworkers into the fields, then reproduced in the city. One restaurant consultant remembered his teen years in the fields this way:

"Freezing cold five AM mornings, the best time to pick lettuce, owners needed a very good cook to attract the best fast crews. We'd get huevos rancheros

Huevos rancheros

Huevos rancheros is a classic Mexican breakfast dish popular throughout much of the Americas consisting of eggs served in the style of the traditional large mid-morning fare on poor farms....

 at five, sweet strong hot coffee with a shot of brandy at seven, then full spicy killer burritos at around 10:30, keep you going till afternoon. I remember the texture of the shredded beef, the heat of the green peppers, and the proper proportion of rice and beans. They were so spicy you didn't need salsa-- but you needed that protein and fiber, couldn't survive without it."

Other burrito researchers trace the burrito's ancestry even further back to miners of the 19th century. The first printed references to burritos came in the 1930s; in the 1950s and 1960s, versions of the burrito spread through the American Southwest and beyond.

But while the Mexican-American burrito began as a wider regional phenomenon, most would agree that the San Francisco burrito emerged as a recognizable and distinct local culinary movement during the 1970s and 1980s. One writer asserts that the San Francisco burrito—a large, compact and quite cheap meal—played a special role for those who lived through the local economic recession

Recession

In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...

 of the 1980s and early 1990s.

Culture and politics

During the mid- to late-1990s, the Mission District faced increasing rents and property values and an influx of higher-income residents and visitors, particularly during the dot-com boom. During this time, some elements of the San Francisco burrito experience became politicized. One activist disdained the practice of charging extra for chips and salsa, for instance, as an anti-Mexican

Mexican people

Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....

 symptom of gentrification

Gentrification

Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...

. Some taquerias also offer additional types of flour tortillas (for instance, whole wheat or spinach

Spinach

Spinach is an edible flowering plant in the family of Amaranthaceae. It is native to central and southwestern Asia. It is an annual plant , which grows to a height of up to 30 cm. Spinach may survive over winter in temperate regions...

), but this same activist declared, "I will shoot my son and daughter if they ever order a green burrito."

In the end, the rhetoric of burrito politics underscores the role of the San Francisco burrito in both bohemian

Bohemianism

Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits...

 and Chicano

Chicano

The terms "Chicano" and "Chicana" are used in reference to U.S. citizens of Mexican descent. However, those terms have a wide range of meanings in various parts of the world. The term began to be widely used during the Chicano Movement, mainly among Mexican Americans, especially in the movement's...

 culture in San Francisco, as evidenced by an article originally published in the former SF Weekly

SF Weekly

SF Weekly is a free alternative weekly newspaper in San Francisco, California. The newspaper, distributed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area every Wednesday, is published by Village Voice Media, a 16-paper alt weekly newspaper chain that also includes the New York City Village Voice and the Los...

, featuring Chicano Studies professor Jose Cuellar

Jose Cuellar

Jose Cuellar is a professor of Chicano Studies at San Francisco State University. As a saxophone player, he is "Dr. Loco", a nickname given to him by one of his research subjects; in this role, he leads the musical group Dr. Loco's Rockin Jalapeño Band, which plays at a wide range of community...

.

Imitators and descendants

The San Francisco burrito is one of the progenitors of the idea of the wrap

Wrap (food)

A wrap is a sort of sandwich made of a soft flatbread rolled around a filling. The usual flatbreads are wheat-flour tortillas, lavash, or pita; the filling usually consists of cold sliced meat, poultry, or fish accompanied by shredded lettuce, diced tomato or pico de gallo, guacamole, sauteed...

, but wraps were invented in order to accommodate a larger variety of ingredients than the tradition of burritos would allow.

Chipotle Mexican Grill

Chipotle Mexican Grill

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. is a chain of restaurants in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada specializing in burritos and tacos, founded by Steve Ells in 1993 and based in Denver, Colorado...

, Qdoba Mexican Grill

Qdoba Mexican Grill

Qdoba Mexican Grill , is a chain of fast casual "Fresh Mex" restaurants in the United States serving Mexican-style cuisine. The company is owned by Jack in the Box, having been owned and expanded by ACI Capital until 2003....

, Taco del Mar

Taco del Mar

Taco del Mar is a Seattle, Washington-based Fresh Mex fast food restaurant chain that specializes in San Francisco burritos. Since opening in Seattle on June 8, 1992 by brothers James and John Schmidt, it has expanded into over 260 locations in the U.S. and Canada...

, and Moe's Southwest Grill

Moe's Southwest Grill

Moe's Southwest Grill is an American chain of fast casual style Tex-Mex restaurants headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.Moe's was founded in Atlanta, Georgia, in December 2000, by Raving Brands. In August 2007, the brand was purchased by FOCUS Brands...

 are all large national chains which arguably offer versions of a San Francisco style burrito; Chipotle was started by a chef who directly acknowledges the inspiration of Mission taquerias. The New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

-based restaurant chain BurritoVille

BurritoVille

BurritoVille is a New York City-based quick-service food chain serving Tex-Mex cuisine, established in 1992. Until 2008, there were 16 locations in Manhattan, one in Westbury, New York on Long Island, and one in Hoboken, NJ. The menu items consist mostly of various types of burritos and tacos, as...

, which existed from 1992 to 2008, specialized in SF-style burritos. Atlanta was home to one of the first San Francisco-style burrito restaurants on the East Coast, called Tortialls, from the mid-1980s until the early 2000s. Another, called Barberitos

Barberitos

Barberitos is a franchise chain of San Francisco-inspired restaurants based in Athens, Georgia, U.S.A. As of November 2011, 24 Barberitos restaurants are operating in the southeastern United States....

, is based out of Athens, Georgia

Athens, Georgia

Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...

.

Some New York establishments advertise "Cal-Mex" or "San Francisco style" burritos. Two chains of Boston taquerias (Anna's Taqueria

Anna's Taqueria

Anna's Taqueria is a chain of fast-service Mexican-fusion restaurants in the Boston area.-Overview:Anna's is modeled after U.S. West Coast style Mexican cuisine, specifically the Mission-style or San Francisco burrito. Its menu offers only four core items: burritos, tacos, quesadillas and Mexican...

 and Boca Grande Taqueria

Boca Grande Taqueria

Boca Grande Taqueria is a chain of Mexican restaurants in the Boston, Massachusetts area.-Overview:Boca Grande has locations in Boston's Kenmore Square, Brookline's Coolidge Corner neighborhood, in Cambridge on Massachusetts Ave between Porter Square and Harvard Square, on First Street just outside...

) are directly modeled after a local Bay Area chain, and other burrito businesses also cite the influence of San Francisco burritos.

Burritos made in the San Francisco style can be found in other cities across the United States.

A small chain of establishments have been appearing in the UK under the name "The Mission" selling Mission-style burritos in Oxford, Reading and Bristol.

Production

Two key technologies that made the San Francisco burrito possible are the large flour tortilla

Tortilla

In Mexico and Central America, a tortilla is a type of thin, unleavened flat bread, made from finely ground maize...

 and tortilla steamers, which together increase the flexibility, stretch, and size of the resulting tortilla. The tortilla steamer saturates the gluten-heavy tortilla with moisture and heat, which increase the capacity of the tortilla to stretch without breaking. This in turn allows for the size of the San Francisco burrito. Corn tortillas, the original indigenous pre-Columbian

Pre-Columbian

The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...

 form of the tortilla, cannot achieve either the size or the flexibility of the flour tortilla, and thus cannot be used to make a San Francisco burrito. A few San Francisco taquerias grill the tortillas instead of steaming them, using heat and oil instead of steam; and a few grill the finished product before the final step of wrapping it in aluminum foil.

The aluminum foil wrapping, which is present whether the customer is eating in the restaurant or taking out, acts as a structural support to ensure that the tortilla does not rupture. One of the main difficulties of the San Francisco burrito is the issue of structural integrity

Structural failure

Structural failure refers to loss of the load-carrying capacity of a component or member within a structure or of the structure itself. Structural failure is initiated when the material is stressed to its strength limit, thus causing fracture or excessive deformations...

, but skilled burrito makers consistently produce huge burritos that do not burst when handled or eaten. A successful large burrito depends on an understanding of the outer limit of potential burrito volume, correct steam hydration, proper wrapping/folding technique, and assuring that excess liquid has been removed from the burrito ingredients prior to inclusion.

Most San Francisco burrito purveyors use a modified assembly line

Assembly line

An assembly line is a manufacturing process in which parts are added to a product in a sequential manner using optimally planned logistics to create a finished product much faster than with handcrafting-type methods...

. Most or all possible burrito ingredients are laid out in a mise en place

Mise en place

Mise en place is a French phrase defined by the Culinary Institute of America as "everything in place", as in set up. It is used in professional kitchens to refer to organizing and arranging the ingredients that a cook will require for the menu items that he or she expects...

 of metal serving containers, heated from below, and in front of a counter. The preparation area is shielded by glass or plastic from the customer. Workers move the tortilla along the counter, quickly scooping successive ingredients onto the tortilla. They then fold and tighten the tortilla around the large bundle of ingredients, and wrap a sheet of aluminum foil around the completed burrito. Some taquerias mix the ingredients together on a grill just prior to placement in the tortilla.

The basic ingredients of the San Francisco burrito include the large flour tortilla, Spanish rice

Spanish rice

Mexican rice, also known in US as Spanish rice, is a side dish made from white rice, tomatoes, garlic, onions, parsley, cilantro and other ingredients. One common preparation is to sauté the rice in a skillet until golden brown, then simmer it in chicken broth or stock...

, beans (frijoles, usually with a choice of refried, pinto or black), a choice of a single main filling, and the customer's choice of salsa

Salsa (sauce)

Salsa may refer to any type of sauce. In American English, it usually refers to the spicy, often tomato based, hot sauces typical of Mexican and Central American cuisine, particularly those used as dips. In British English, the word typically refers to salsa cruda, which is common in Mexican ,...

, ranging from hot to mild. Most taquerias also offer a "super" burrito which includes a choice of meat and all of the available non-meat burrito ingredients. This usually includes sliced fresh avocado

Avocado

The avocado is a tree native to Central Mexico, classified in the flowering plant family Lauraceae along with cinnamon, camphor and bay laurel...

 or guacamole

Guacamole

Guacamole , is an avocado-based dip that originated in Mexico. It is traditionally made by mashing ripe avocados with a molcajete with sea salt. Some recipes call for limited tomato, spicy Asian spices such as white onion, lime juice, and/or additional seasonings.-History:Guacamole was made by...

, cheese

Cheese

Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....

 (queso), and sour cream (crema).

For meat fillings, almost all San Francisco taquerias offer a choice of stewed or grilled chicken (pollo or pollo asado), grilled beef steak (carne asada

Carne asada

In Mexican cuisine, "Carne asada" is an item that consists of thin beef steak. The meat can be marinated by rubbing with olive oil and salt or with spice rubs such as lemon and pepper or garlic salt, lime, or Worcestershire sauce, before being cooked on a grill. The meat can be served alone or...

), barbecued pork (al pastor) and braised shredded pork (carnitas

Carnitas

Carnitas, literally "little meats", is a type of braised or roasted pork in Mexican cuisine.Pork carnitas is traditionally made using the heavily marbled, rich 'boston butt' or 'picnic ham' cuts of pork...

); many also offer additional ingredients, including pork stewed in green chile sauce (chile verde), beef stewed in red chile sauce (chile colorado), Mexican sausage (chorizo

Chorizo

Chorizo is a term encompassing several types of pork sausages originating from the Iberian Peninsula.In English, it is usually pronounced , , or , but sometimes ....

), beef tongue (lengua), stewed and shredded beef (machaca

Machaca

Machaca is a dish prepared originally most commonly from dried, spiced beef or pork, then rehydrated and pounded to make it tender. The reconstituted meat would then be used to prepare any number of dishes...

), stewed beef head (cabeza

Cabeza

Cabeza, sometimes cabeça, is a Spanish word meaning "head". In Mexican cuisine, it is used to describe the meat from a roasted head of a cow, served as a taco or burrito filling....

), beef brain (sesos), beef eyeball (ojo) and prawns (camarones). Many taquerias also offer vegetable or tofu

Tofu

is a food made by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into soft white blocks. It is part of East Asian and Southeast Asian cuisine such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, Vietnamese, and others. There are many different varieties of tofu, including fresh tofu and tofu...

 fillings to accommodate their vegetarian customers. Other fillings offered in San Francisco taquerias include birria

Birria

Birria is a spicy Mexican meat stew usually made with pork, goat, lamb, or mutton, often served during festive periods, such as Christmas, New Year's Eve, Mother's Day, and weddings. Originally from Jalisco, it is a common dish in some Mexican food establishments...

 (goat meat), camarones diablos (extra-spicy shrimp), carne deshebrada (shredded beef with red chile sauce), carne molida (ground beef), chicharróns (fried pork rinds, stewed), barbacoa

Barbacoa

Barbacoa is a form of cooking meat that originated in the Caribbean with the Taíno people, from which the term "barbecue" derives. In contemporary Mexico it generally refers to meats or a whole sheep slow-cooked over an open fire, or more traditionally, in a hole dug in the ground covered with...

 (marinated lamb, sometimes pork is substituted), pescado (fish, usually fried or grilled tilapia

Tilapia

Tilapia , is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the tilapiine cichlid tribe. Tilapia inhabit a variety of fresh water habitats, including shallow streams, ponds, rivers and lakes. Historically, they have been of major importance in artisan fishing in Africa and the...

 and sometimes salmon

Salmon

Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...

), picadillo

Picadillo

Picadillo is a traditional dish in many Latin American countries and the Philippines that is similar to hash...

 (ground beef with chopped chiles and tomatoes), mole

Mole (sauce)

Mole is the generic name for a number of sauces used in Mexican cuisine, as well as for dishes based on these sauces...

 (chicken stewed in a chile and chocolate sauce), and tripas

Tripas

Tripas, in Mexican cuisine are the small intestines of farm animals that have been cleaned, boiled and grilled. Tripas are used as filling for tacos, then dressed with condiments such as cilantro, chopped onions, and chile sauce. They are also served with Pico De Gallo and...

(beef tripe).

Many taquerias also provide corn tortilla chips to accompany the burrito as a side dish, along with free salsa. There are also "salsa bars" at many local establishments, allowing the diner to use different kinds of salsa to customize and enhance the taste of their chosen burrito.

Eating style

According to Andrea Schulte-Peevers and Sara Benson in their 2006 travel guide Lonely Planet California, it is customary for diners eating San Francisco burritos to forgo utensils entirely and to eat the burrito with their hands, tearing the foil gradually down as they eat from above, but keeping the foil on the bottom to continue to support the structure of the uneaten portion. Adding salsa to the burrito before each subsequent bite is a popular practice.

External links

• Burritoeater - comprehensive guide to San Francisco taquerias
• Burritophile - user-driven taqueria review site