The demand for ‘authenticity’ is threatening Kansas City’s homegrown, Parmesan-blanketed tacos
By the time Silva, an immigrant from Guadalajara via Omaha, arrived in 1922 to sell insurance,had traveled to the metropolis to work for companies like the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and in meatpacking plants like Armour and Company, where they toiled alongside generations of Italians who had long dominated the industries.
Similar forces were instrumental in creating the Kansas City taco in the mid-20th century. Asked how her father came to use Parmesan, Jean Silva Miller says that “it was the cheese that was around.” But even though the Parmesan-covered taco was borne of Mexican immigrants, becoming a local staple of Mexican restaurants in Kansas City, Missouri, today, demand for more “authentic” Mexican food threatens to wipe it out.
But there was plenty of Parmesan cheese. “The Parmesan was cheap and around,” Lopez says. It should be noted that another Parmesan taco existed in California at the same time as the Kansas City-style taco. Jimboy’s Tacos, based in Sacramento, has been selling its version, with a Parmesan-encrusted tortilla, since 1954. Neither Lopez nor Jean Silva Miller say their parents were aware of Jimboy’s when their families’ restaurants opened.
When it comes to the current state of the taco at P.R.’s Place, Martinez’s voice softens. Although they continue to sell out of tacos and the business still has its steadfast regulars, fewer people line up for tacos at her family’s bar these days. “It’s not the same,” she says. “[Kansas City tacos] take time to prepare. You must have the right corn tortillas, seasoned meat, and toppings. A lot of places want to sell fast tacos.
“All the Yelpers and Food Network fans across the country have put their ‘knowledge’ on things they have zero experience in culturally or emotionally,” he says. “Access to Twitter or Yelp does not make you an expert on how my grandparents made our food.
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