Netflix’s latest culinary docuseries is a celebration of tacos and the people who both make and eat them. The Spanish language series Taco Chronicles, which comes by way of the streaming titan’s Latin American division, offers a look at six styles: al pastor, carnitas, canasta (“basket tacos”), carne asada, barbacoa, and guisado (stews).
Each episode covers the origins of the taco style, the traditional methods of preparation, and notable permutations. While the emphasis is mostly on the old-school versions of each taco, the show does not dismiss newfangled and/or fancy iterations — the carnitas episode even showcases a restaurant that prepares a gyoza version of the stewed pork dish, topped with micro greens. A lot of screentime is also devoted to mini profiles of the taqueros who are considered masters of their styles, as well as the farmers who grow the best ingredients and the craftspeople who make the pots used to cook the food. The show skips around to different regions of Mexico in each episode; popular Los Angeles restaurants Sonoratown and Guerilla Tacos are also briefly profiled in the carne asada and guisado episodes, respectively.
With gorgeous food photography, sweeping drone footage of bustling cities, dramatic scoring, and a format that mixes commentary from food experts with short profiles of chefs and restaurateurs, Taco Chronicles does feel quite a bit like Chef’s Table and its excellent new spinoff Street Food. The big difference here is that Taco Chronicles also has omnipresent narration from actors personifying the tacos.
“I am colorblind — I don’t care where you came from or if it is Champagne or beer in your bloodstream,” the narrator says during the al pastor episode over shots of late night revelers refueling at Mexico City taco stands. “I’m authentic, like you.” During a segment in the carnitas episode about the vessels used to braise the meat, the narrator chimes in, “People fight over which pot is best to cook me: copper or steal.” And since the guisado chapter covers all the different types of stews that are placed inside tortillas, that episode actually has multiple narrators representing the different fillings. The conceit is a bit goofy, and yet it’s never all that distracting and definitely gives this show its own flavor.
All six episodes of Taco Chronicles run under 30 minutes, so it wouldn’t be hard to marathon watch the entire series in one night. But if you’re looking for one or two to check out, consider watching the al pastor episode, which features some of the best food photography in the entire series, and the canasta episode, which offers an affectionate look at bicycle vendor culture in Mexico’s major urban areas.
• Taco Chronicles [Netflix]
• All Food TV Coverage [E]