The Tribune's Person-of-The-Year: In Valley Food and Culture, It Once Again Involves The Taco...

By PATRICK ALCATRAZ
Editor-In-Chief

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - This year will go down in border history as a time of unbridled violence with no seeming end in sight. Blood fills area streets. When gauging the lifestyle from top to bottom, we are forced to conclude that the Year 2010 will stand as a bridge from something bad to something worse. Such is the historical fate of the region. So, when we went looking for our Person-of-The-Year, we came up empty. From gardeners, to drug dealers, to politicians to other public servants, what we saw was a vacuum of success and no sign of promise. Things will not change in 2011 on those failing fronts. Silver linings this far south on the ragged national map continue to chase the illegal, the wrong and the criminal.

But the one positive that hangs on like a Godsend is the trusted taco. They may be too fat, too greasy, or too cheap in some taquerias, but they rarely fail to handle even the farmworker's appetite. So, for that reason, we are honoring the many, many Valleyites who labor daily in preparing the meats, greens and salsas so that all of us - yeah, you, too! - can amble out to scarf on a half-dozen at taquerias that beg for architectural explanations or a bit fancier restaurants that offer air-conditioning and table service.

The taco, however, cannot be beaten.

It is there come Hell or high water, drought or hurricane, tough times or gunfire. In a select few places, an order of tacos will get you a helping of rice and beans, and at times even a drink. Such is the tradition of this tasty folded, rolled, or corn or flour morsel. The taco is the star; the taco maker is the honoree here.

Every day of the year, from Rio Grande City to the west and Brownsville to the east, women rise to bathe and comb their hair before heading out to manage the ubiquitous taquerias. The day begins with breakfast tacos, with eggs and cheese and bacon and ham and chorizo and crazed combinations for the tougest of culinary daredevils.

Through days that come with 110-degree temperatures and passing rainstorms and dust clouds that would fell a healthy camel, these women do their kitchen impulse without complaint, readying the fare for the ever-fattened masses. They are the border culture's brightest stars, the ones no outlaw would rob, the ones the church venerates in silence.

It has been a wonderful year for tacos, better than last.

Enjoy yours today...

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