California Burrito

The California burrito is a San Diego invention from the late 1980s, born in the city's Mexican-American carne asada taco shops rather than in any single kitchen. Its exact origin is contested and, in the words of food historian Gustavo Arellano, "we don't really know." Santana's in El Cajon claims to have first added fries to a carne asada burrito in 1987 and brands itself "home of the California burrito"; the owner of Roberto's instead credits a relative at Lolita's in Bonita, who is said to have copied a regular customer's habit of opening his burrito and stuffing in his own fries. Either way it spread through the Roberto's-style family of taco shops, feeding surfers and students who wanted something big, cheap, and fast; the earliest known print reference dates only to the mid-1990s.

First the give of a soft flour tortilla, then the chew and char of grilled steak, then — the surprise that makes it — the crunch of fries that have gone half-crisp, half-soft soaking up beef fat and guac. It eats hot and heavy, salt and smoke and cooling avocado all in one fist-sized bundle.

Two textures do the work. The carne asada — skirt or flank steak — is marinated in citrus, then grilled hot and fast so the surface browns through the Maillard reaction, building the savory crust and smoke that define the meat. The fries are the engineering: cut potato, blanched and fried so the exterior starch dehydrates into a crisp shell while the interior stays fluffy. Rolled hot into the tortilla, that shell partly collapses as it drinks up rendered beef fat and the moisture from guacamole and salsa, which is why the fry has to go in crisp — a soggy fry from the start would simply disappear. No rice or beans means nothing dilutes the fat and salt; the burrito is essentially steak-frites folded into a tortilla.