[HN Gopher] Engineering students create edible adhesive tape to ...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Engineering students create edible adhesive tape to keep burrito
       wrapped tightly
        
       Author : zdw
       Score  : 181 points
       Date   : 2022-05-21 15:53 UTC (7 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (boingboing.net)
 (TXT) w3m dump (boingboing.net)
        
       | photochemsyn wrote:
       | Looks like fruit leather, which would probably work as well...
       | however, it's unlikely this would be optimal for a non-dry
       | burrito.
        
       | tehsauce wrote:
       | I thought that was just called a tortilla?
        
       | greenthrow wrote:
       | Edible adhesives have been around forever. Another case of poor
       | quality "science" journalism just reprinting press releases
       | without any kind of independent validation or context.
        
         | inglor_cz wrote:
         | What about their taste? Can they feel neutral or do they get in
         | the way?
         | 
         | Edit: interesting that somebody bothered to downvote a mere
         | question. That does not seem to be very hacker-like.
        
           | nobodyandproud wrote:
        
           | rob_c wrote:
           | Wish they would have said. But then is it "safe" to eat a
           | lump of the stuff, fast food standards and all...
        
           | ben_w wrote:
           | Asking about the new one or the old ones?
           | 
           | It would be good to know what the new one tastes/feels like.
           | 
           | As for existing methods... well, could be a thousand
           | different flavours and textures. For example, and obviously
           | this isn't what the people in the article are doing, I often
           | use molten cheese to seal tortilla wraps in my home cooking.
        
         | TheDudeMan wrote:
         | That plus readers upvoting on title alone --> front page!
        
         | rob_c wrote:
         | Good luck chances are commenting on "science" will get the
         | comment deaded by the mods...
        
       | voldacar wrote:
       | Since you have to wet it, I assume it's made of some kind of
       | starch?
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | daniel-cussen wrote:
       | To the other posters, maybe this has merit.
        
       | vinyl7 wrote:
       | I learned how to make Samosas. They used water and flour to seal
       | the pastry, I assume something like that could be used for
       | burritos?
        
         | OJFord wrote:
         | That's common in all sorts of pastry, but that's done pre-bake.
         | A burrito is (bread not pastry and) wrapped post-baking. It may
         | help a little, but probably also unwelcome moistness at the
         | quantity it would take to do anything.
        
       | amelius wrote:
       | Sushi rolls also stay together pretty well, so there's probably
       | more ways to go about it.
        
         | RosanaAnaDana wrote:
         | Burritos stay together perfectly fine if you know how to wrap
         | them and use the right size tortilla for whatever size burrito
         | you are making.
        
         | xcambar wrote:
         | They're called maki, specifically, if we think of the same
         | thing.
        
           | jabbany wrote:
           | Maki is just Japanese for "roll"
        
       | humanistbot wrote:
       | A properly wrapped burrito doesn't need edible adhesive tape.
       | 
       | Edit: Also, does the photo of the tape look a little like mold?
        
         | chefandy wrote:
         | It does look like mold with the added dye. I'm sure they were
         | more concerned with the technical feasibility of using it with
         | food safe dye than how it looked-- which is fine. That's what
         | engineers do.
         | 
         | But that's why culinary school curriculums are a combination of
         | art school and a trade school rather than a branch of applied
         | chemistry, and why industrial food manufacturers employ chefs
         | in test kitchens rather than having food scientists do it all.
         | Aesthetics aren't a technical problem to be overcome-- it's an
         | entirely different mode of reasoning about something. Deep
         | understanding of the underlying mechanics isn't required-- it
         | might actually be a hinderance. I'll bet doctors have an
         | exceptionally hard time with life drawing, for example.
        
         | dpweb wrote:
         | Depending on user (the burrito maker) to perform correctly is a
         | major engineering mistake
        
           | ruined wrote:
           | by that definition, everything is a mistake
           | 
           | burrito is just the word for doing it correctly.
        
         | gdulli wrote:
         | Certain shops I go to consistently do it right. Chipotle does
         | it consistently badly. They might have high turnover due to
         | poor working conditions and can't keep up with training people
         | to do it well. So they'd benefit from this kind of aid.
        
         | vntok wrote:
         | So? Evidently people who properly wrap their tacos "all the
         | time, every time", aren't the target of such an invention.
        
           | deltaonefour wrote:
           | They are targets. You need to think ahead. Learned knowledge
           | is used space. By replacing knowledge with tape you have
           | effectively eliminated millions of gigabytes of memory wasted
           | by thousands of burrito wrappers across the world holding
           | this useless knowledge in their heads.
           | 
           | While current knowledge can't be unlearned the skill of
           | proper burrito wrapping is similar to the skill of dialing a
           | rotary phone or using manual gear shift in a car. The future
           | of burrito wrapping is via tape. You sound like my grandpa
           | telling me how he walk 10 feet to school everyday instead of
           | riding a Segway.
        
             | guerrilla wrote:
             | > using manual gear shift in a car.
             | 
             | Which is useful everywhere but suburbia which is why it's
             | still popular and mandatory in driver's education in
             | Europe?
        
           | rubicon33 wrote:
           | Once you learn how to do it it's very easy, and even helps
           | spread the burrito contents along the inside.
           | 
           | People really should just learn to wrap their burritos it's
           | fun and the dense bottom park provides a wonderful texture.
        
             | jimmaswell wrote:
             | But I assume this invention lets you make much larger
             | burritos for the same size tortilla, which is pretty cool.
        
         | boomboomsubban wrote:
         | The first one? It's colored with dye to be visible, the second
         | one is what the actual tape would look like.
        
         | 2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote:
         | That requires me to learn a skill though (burrito wrapping).
        
         | dheera wrote:
         | Normally when asking for a burrito you tell them the toppings
         | one by one, never all at once. Withholding information is the
         | best way to get an overstuffed burrito and your money's worth.
         | 
         | They're hard to wrap properly, so tape might help.
        
           | RosanaAnaDana wrote:
           | If you are referring to Chipotle as your northstar for what a
           | burrito is, I'm sorry but I'm not sure you are qualified to
           | weigh in on burrito construction?
           | 
           | Chipotle is to burritos as Little Caesars is to pizza. I mean
           | technically maybe(?), but whats the point?
        
             | clairity wrote:
             | > "Chipotle is to burritos as Little Caesars is to pizza."
             | 
             | yah, the best burritos and tacos are from a street cart on
             | the corner or a little hut restaurant, otherwise it's
             | probably manufactured food, no matter what the brand tries
             | to sell you, since the overhead costs (rent, especially)
             | drown out all the other concerns like taste.
             | 
             | i personally wouldn't want this tape on my burrito, because
             | i tear off all the excess tortilla to get a better
             | yumminess ratio.
        
             | JoeAltmaier wrote:
             | Pizza is like sex - even when it's bad, its good.
             | 
             | So, are burritos the same way?
        
             | jimmaswell wrote:
             | I've noticed some variation between locations, but when
             | it's good it's great. It's all fresh, well-seasoned, high
             | quality ingredients. How is it anything comparable to the
             | cheapest pizza you can buy? Maybe Taco Bell but definitely
             | not Chipotle.
        
           | SteveNuts wrote:
           | Double wrap is the key
        
             | Avicebron wrote:
             | this guy chipotles
        
           | stjohnswarts wrote:
           | This is why I prefer ordering with the app, they see the
           | whole list of what you want and don't have to go through the
           | mental effort of wondering how much of what to use as they
           | don't know how many stuffings you want.
        
         | supernewton wrote:
         | I imagine university dining halls often aren't "properly"
         | wrapping their burritos and may be part of the motivation
         | behind this invention :)
        
         | SOLAR_FIELDS wrote:
         | For those curious what a properly wrapped burrito is like: I
         | was taught to do it as follows (worked at a burrito joint, not
         | Chipotle):
         | 
         | - Lay out your tortilla flat with all ingredients on top. Try
         | not to overstuff for the first time you try this because
         | getting it right takes a bit of practice
         | 
         | - Place the tortilla in front of you, ideally positioning the
         | ingredients in a line running perpendicular to your field of
         | vision (straight ahead).
         | 
         | - Take each hand, make the "sign of the horns"[0], except stick
         | your thumb out instead of placing it against your fingers like
         | in the article.
         | 
         | - Gently fold inward the left and right sides of the tortilla
         | about 1 inch/2.5cm (this is slightly variable depending on
         | tortilla size and ingredient stuffing, but a good rule of
         | thumb) using your horn fingers and slide your thumbs under the
         | area of the tortilla closest to you.
         | 
         | - Use your thumbs to push up and roll the tortilla away from
         | you, trying to position the edge being rolled such that it
         | grabs all of the ingredients when you close the burrito. Keep
         | your horn fingers in the tortilla during this step and roll as
         | tightly as possible.
         | 
         | - Once you have rolled the tortilla such that it covers all
         | ingredients, push the top of the tortilla back towards you as
         | tightly as you can before removing your horn fingers and then
         | use your hands to finish tucking and wrapping as tightly as
         | possible.
         | 
         | If done correctly, you should have a wrapped burrito that can
         | be held and eaten without any sort of wrapping or worry about
         | ingredients falling out from either side.
         | 
         | 0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_of_the_horns
        
           | giantrobot wrote:
           | The key is to not overfill the damned tortilla. The top and
           | bottom "flaps" should be able to fold down to the middle of
           | the ingredients. If they can't at least fold down that far
           | your burrito will deconstruct itself mid-meal. I like to
           | create a polar burrito where the bottom flap reaches _past_
           | the ingredient center to give more surface to attach to the
           | side flaps. I 'm ok if the top flap isn't super secure as
           | it's eaten in the first two bites.
           | 
           | An inedible wrap should _not_ be the only thing keeping the
           | burrito together. Biting the burrito will cause it to leak
           | inside that wrap then it makes a mess. Overstuffing a burrito
           | might give you more food but at the expense of the burrito
           | being an entirely self contained unit of perfection.
           | 
           | Also if you've got store bought tortillas stick a damp paper
           | towel between them and microwave them for 10-20 seconds on a
           | plate. You'll get a partial steam and they'll be more pliable
           | and you'll get an easier wrapping experience and a superior
           | burrito over a tortilla fresh out of the package.
        
             | Kaibeezy wrote:
             | Concur:
             | 
             | - Absolutely have to nuke the tortilla or it won't flex. 45
             | seconds with the cheese (UK grated 4-cheese blend from
             | As/co works great) until it just goes melty. Have the
             | fillings ready and work fast, it stiffens right up.
             | 
             | - Don't overstuff. UK "white wraps" are too damn small :|
        
               | cleansingfire wrote:
               | The steamers they use at burrito shops make the flour
               | tortillas soft and flexible so they can wrap, fold, &
               | stretch without breaking, and the steam moistened flour
               | sticks to itself better when wrapped.
        
               | giantrobot wrote:
               | Steamers are well and good but not typically found in
               | people's kitchens. Microwaving pre-packaged tortillas is
               | an easy way to make them burrito-capable. Even "good"
               | packaged tortillas benefit from the microwave treatment.
        
               | giantrobot wrote:
               | With a small tortilla you can eschew structural purity
               | and leave the top of the burrito open. In such cases if
               | the bottom flap can fold up 1/3rd the way from the bottom
               | on the ingredients you're probably good. Then wrap the
               | sides in tightly and plate with the solid "back" of the
               | burrito down. It'll last long enough to serve without the
               | contents spilling. If wrapped well enough you can still
               | eat it with one hand.
        
             | woojoo666 wrote:
             | This was invented by university students, who are known to
             | fill burritos past theoretical limits
        
           | mauvehaus wrote:
           | Do you have a video of this being executed as described? I
           | lack burrito shells and filling, and am having a hard time
           | following your description.
        
             | dekhn wrote:
             | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlirQ2SeGTw and many
             | others.
        
       | throwaway1777 wrote:
       | This is not needed if you know how to wrap a burrito correctly.
       | Keep the training wheels on if you want.
        
       | glitcher wrote:
       | I eat burritos almost daily, and I don't see this as a problem
       | that needed solving. But perhaps it may have usefulness in other
       | creative applications?
        
       | Justin_K wrote:
       | I see the opening pic with a cold, raw tortilla and thought,
       | they're already doing it wrong. Go to a good Mexican restaurant
       | and learn how to prepare food properly, then you'll see this tape
       | is unnecessary. Maybe I'm spoiled in CA but this is a solution
       | vin search of a problem.
        
       | rob_c wrote:
       | Nope. Not eating that even without food dye... Enjoy the
       | chemicals
        
         | SteveNuts wrote:
         | Isn't everything a chemical?
        
           | OJFord wrote:
           | This is quite a boring argument, not really to defend GP's
           | comment, but you know what they meant. There's plenty of
           | 'processed crap' - whatever you want to call it - that I
           | don't want to eat that, fine sure, is no more 'chemical' than
           | the raw ingredients I'm using at home.
        
           | detritus wrote:
           | Ignorance isn't.
        
           | ben_w wrote:
           | Not _strictly_ everything is chemical in nature, just all the
           | things that can physically be swallowed.
        
           | dekhn wrote:
           | bare subatomic particles are not chemicals.
        
             | ihumanable wrote:
             | I'm trying to eat healthy, I'll take a large cup of protons
             | please.
        
       | esjeon wrote:
       | I never knew this was a thing. In CJK, people use rice to make
       | adhesive paste. This sounds like the NASA-ballpen-and-Russian-
       | pencil story.
        
       | MikeDelta wrote:
       | Time to update the list of adhesive tapes on Wikipedia, featured
       | and discussed on HN:
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31043179
        
       | darkblackcorner wrote:
        
       | sedatk wrote:
       | Gastronomy of burrito is strange. Rice in a wrap doesn't sound
       | right to me. Filling but bland. It's probably the worst type of
       | wrap I've had. How it got so popular is a mystery to me.
        
         | heavyset_go wrote:
         | It's cheap filler.
        
         | sydthrowaway wrote:
         | You must be raised outside of california
        
       | schwartzworld wrote:
       | All the burrito places near me steam their tortillas, which seems
       | to make them sticky enough to not require this product.
        
         | JoeAltmaier wrote:
         | Is that what makes them so gummy and disgusting! I never knew.
         | Got one that way takeout, got to my office, tried to unwrap and
         | it stuck to the wrapper and split into a gooey half-stripped
         | burrito and half-gummed wrapper. Dropped the whole mess into
         | the trash can and never went back.
        
       | pengaru wrote:
       | Well that sure looks appetizing.
        
       | izzydata wrote:
       | Edible tape? There are so many pre-existing foods that get sticky
       | when wet. Like seaweed wrap.
        
         | dieselgate wrote:
         | In my personal experience flour tortillas would fall into that
         | category
        
       | danans wrote:
       | I think the Vietnamese invented something similar long ago (rice
       | paper) and it's transparent too!
        
       | almog wrote:
       | I'd guess it might be an upgraded Nori?
        
       | Jason_Protell wrote:
       | A young girl created "Edible Taco Tape" over 20 years ago. Her
       | invention was featured on the Nickelodeon show Figure It Out.
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLFjuVyP_n0
        
         | systemvoltage wrote:
         | A burrito is just a rolled up large Taco. Bring downvotes.
        
           | RosanaAnaDana wrote:
           | You understand neither burritos nor tacos.
        
             | [deleted]
        
             | systemvoltage wrote:
             | Go ahead. Explain yourself.
        
               | RosanaAnaDana wrote:
               | A taco is a small, to be held in the hand, street food
               | predating the Spanish empire in southern Mexico and
               | central america (Parker, 2006). It is composed of a small
               | amount of meat or fish on a corn flatbread, usually with
               | some amount of pico de gallo or salsa, and often with
               | lime over it. Some key elements is that its a 'single
               | ingredient' dish, it be hand held, and it be served fresh
               | (traditionally as street food). Carne asada, al pastor,
               | fried fish, etc. represent reasonable taco fillings and
               | are not 'combined' with other, filler type ingredients,
               | like beans or rice. There is another mexican dish, the
               | tostada which incorporates those ingredients. A tostada
               | is not a taco. A taco needs to be able to be picked up
               | and eaten with one hand. That means it can not be over
               | filled and it shouldn't be. If you want more food, order
               | more tacos.
               | 
               | A burrito is as well a single ingredient food (read: no
               | fillers like beans and rice unless that is specifically
               | the single ingredient in the burrito). The primary
               | difference is that a burrito is usually on flour
               | tortillas and is wrapped to be held with two hands, often
               | having substantially more content than a taco, which is
               | specifically intended to be eaten with one hand.
               | 
               | The biggest criticism I'm raising is the American
               | (outside of border states like CA, AZ, NM, and TX where
               | they don't put up with that shit) tendency to accept
               | cheaper, filler ingredients as primary to the contents of
               | a burrito. This is a serious departure, where in border
               | states and mexico, burritos might come with rice and
               | beans on the side, they are never substituted as primary
               | ingredients.
               | 
               | The broadest point is that there are many many ways of
               | combining some filling, tortillas, and other ingredients.
               | Just because it has those components does not a taco or
               | burrito make.
               | 
               | Parker, 2006, https://web.archive.org/web/20080502160526/
               | http://www.iccjou...
        
               | canjobear wrote:
               | Your argument is based on a prescriptive definition of
               | "burrito" which does not match how the vast majority of
               | English speakers use it. I can make any arbitrary
               | taxonomy work by simply redefining the terms in a
               | restrictive way, but in doing so, nothing is
               | accomplished. It's a form of the "no true Scotsman"
               | fallacy, in this case no true burrito.
        
               | systemvoltage wrote:
               | Holyshit, I concede! This is peak HN :-). Thanks for the
               | lesson honestly.
        
               | ramesh31 wrote:
               | From one taco elitist to another, thank you.
        
               | robonerd wrote:
               | > _The biggest criticism I 'm raising is the American
               | (outside of border states like CA, AZ, NM, and TX where
               | they don't put up with that shit) tendency to accept
               | cheaper, filler ingredients as primary to the contents of
               | a burrito._
               | 
               | But rice and beans taste _good_. Even rice and beans
               | alone is really tasty. Wrap it up in a tortilla with hot
               | sauce and sour cream.. delicious! The meat sweetens the
               | deal, but I can easily enjoy a burrito with no meat.
               | 
               | Whether you call that a burrito or make up some other
               | word for it makes little difference, it is what it is,
               | and it tastes damn good. It tastes great whether you call
               | it a burrito or a _' rice-and-beans wrap with pork'_.
        
               | wl wrote:
               | That burrito definition excludes the Mission burrito, a
               | grievous error.
        
               | dekhn wrote:
               | Think of it like a feature in machine learning- there are
               | many burritos, some of which have the "rice inside" bit
               | and the "beans inside" bits set to one. Burritos
               | themselves exist within wrappspace
               | (https://worldwrapps.com/) which themselves are within
               | the "self-contained food manifold".
        
               | serenitylater wrote:
        
               | hbarka wrote:
               | Who else survived from starving in college thanks to Taco
               | Tuesdays? The trick was to make two tacos from one
               | because it was always served with two layers of the
               | flatbread. The flatbread was sometimes corn, sometimes
               | flour, but it was always generously served double layers.
               | 
               | Curious which is the traditional, the soft taco or the
               | hard shell we know of from that franchise with a bell?
        
               | 7speter wrote:
               | Its not supposed to be flatbread though, its a tortilla
        
               | dekhn wrote:
               | Wouldn't you place tortilla in the general flatbread
               | category? Every culture has a flatbread.
        
               | thaumasiotes wrote:
               | > Every culture has a flatbread.
               | 
               | They do? Bread in any form is not a major element of
               | every culture. The Hawaiian equivalent seems to have been
               | poi, which isn't even solid.
        
               | 7speter wrote:
               | I guess now that I looked it up. Wikipedia calls it a
               | flatbread but it has more in common with a biscuit since
               | its unleavened and usually made with lard...
        
               | dekhn wrote:
               | think of leavening (either via yeast or chemical means)
               | and lard as just extra feature bits in the larger
               | flatbread space.
        
               | hbarka wrote:
               | We need to hang out in the park next to a taco truck and
               | hash this out. The least convincing buys a round for all.
        
               | dekhn wrote:
               | historically, tacos were made soft (tortillas) but the
               | tortilla can also be toasted to make it crispy. The taco
               | is definitely one of the "truly from the old world, thing
               | that people ate 4,000 years ago that is not too
               | dissimilar to what you can get from a taco truck today"
        
               | grayclhn wrote:
               | > The biggest criticism I'm raising is the American
               | (outside of border states like CA, AZ, NM, and TX where
               | they don't put up with that shit) tendency to accept
               | cheaper, filler ingredients as primary to the contents of
               | a burrito.
               | 
               | Having lived in San Diego and SF... they do indeed put up
               | with that shit in many parts of those border states.
               | 
               | Fantastic comment, though. :)
        
               | moron4hire wrote:
               | By this definition, eating a slice of New York Style
               | pizza topped with pepperoni in the traditional way
               | (folded in half, standing outside) is a taco. Which is
               | patently absurd.
               | 
               | How 'bout this definition: I'll eat whatever I want, call
               | it whatever I want, and there's not a damn thing you can
               | do about it, because this isn't France and you're never
               | gonna get a law passed on it. As they say in various kink
               | communities, "don't yuck my yum".
        
               | felipemnoa wrote:
               | Heretic! To the fires with you! A taco uses tortillas...
        
               | moron4hire wrote:
               | I actually hate New York Style pizza, and one of the
               | reasons is the crust is so thin and flat.
               | 
               | The other reason being you have to subject yourself to
               | going to New York to get it, and nobody should have to do
               | that to themselves.
        
               | dekhn wrote:
               | I generally agree with most of your assessments and
               | classifications, but: I can definitely eat a tostada with
               | one hand (if it's crispy). To me, a taco is a folded
               | tostada (when I worked at a mexican restaurant, we also
               | had a bowl-shaped tostada ("salad in a bread bowl"). To
               | me, that is a continuum. The ingredients are a bit less
               | important (my preference is al pastor on a steamed soft
               | corn tortilla).
               | 
               | The moment you "wrap" (fully enclose in a tubular way), I
               | think it moves to a different part of the embedded space
               | which includes all wraps (https://worldwrapps.com/). The
               | mission-style burrito definitely has the "rice and beans
               | inside" in addition to the primary (meat, veggie,
               | whatever), this sounds very much like the "in Texas,
               | chili doesn't have beans" argument.
        
               | jhgb wrote:
               | What exactly is a "single ingredient dish" to you? This
               | "Pico de gallo" thing already consists of multiple
               | ingredients -- or so Wikipedia tells me. So does salsa,
               | if I understand it correctly. Your notion of "single
               | ingredient" must be different from mine.
        
               | ghaff wrote:
               | I assume they mean typically a single protein.
        
               | [deleted]
        
               | lostlogin wrote:
               | The 'No true burrito' argument.
               | 
               | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman
        
               | bbkane wrote:
               | This is a great description for the original, most pure
               | definition of taco. However, people interpret foods
               | differently over time and space (just look at what
               | "pizza" has meant for different areas over time), and, in
               | my opinion, this evolution is natural and shouldn't be
               | looked down upon.
        
               | mvid wrote:
               | The pure definition, though, is still the common
               | definition in most of Central America and in Latino
               | communities. Feels odd to erase that correct, active
               | definition because it was used for marketing unrelated
               | things in unrelated places
        
               | sampo wrote:
               | > Feels odd to erase that correct, active definition
               | 
               | I think this is because Americans feel big-brotherly
               | protective (in a creepy way) about their Latin American
               | communities.
               | 
               | Altered versions of e.g. Italian food (e.g. pasta
               | carbonara with cream, deep dish pizza, submarine
               | sandwiches, chicken parmesan), Japanese food (California
               | roll, Philadelphia roll), Chinese food (fortune cookies,
               | General Tso's chicken, beef and broccoli) don't cause
               | similar reactions.
        
               | jhgb wrote:
               | Let me know once people in the US stop referring to meat-
               | filled pastry as "kolace". I was horrified to find out
               | about that. But I wouldn't hold my breath on that one
               | either.
        
               | cleansingfire wrote:
               | The only place I've seen kolatches (sp.) was fifty years
               | ago in the little town of West, TX (and it's not really
               | in West Texas, but more in between Fort Worth and
               | Austin.) Those were pastries filled with various
               | delicious things, including sausage and fruit.) I don't
               | think I've ever seen kolatches anywhere else. I'd love to
               | find more, and learn the difference. They are far from
               | common in the USA sadly.
        
               | selimthegrim wrote:
               | They can be found quite easily in Austin and New Orleans.
        
               | jhgb wrote:
               | I'm not sure I could tell you anything more than
               | Wikipedia can already tell you in my stead. Sausages
               | simply have nothing to do with kolace; kolace are
               | basically sweets. You wouldn't put a sausage in a cake
               | either, I'm sure.
        
               | buildsjets wrote:
               | I sure as heck would put a sausage in a cake, and I do so
               | frequently. It's delicious, and it's called "Pigs in a
               | Blanket."
               | 
               | https://reluctantentertainer.com/buttermilk-pancake-pigs-
               | in-...
        
               | jhgb wrote:
               | Isn't that massively stretching the definition of a
               | "cake"? When I wrote "cake", I meant this: https://en.wik
               | ipedia.org/wiki/Cake#/media/File:Pound_layer_c... -- do
               | you put a sausage in those?
        
               | t-3 wrote:
               | Never heard of 'em. Is it like a pasty?
        
               | jhgb wrote:
               | It's supposed to look like this https://cs.wikipedia.org/
               | wiki/Kol%C3%A1%C4%8D#/media/Soubor:... , but apparently
               | in the US, some people put meat in them, when they're
               | actually supposed to be filled with prune plum spread
               | ("povidla") or some other fruit filling, poppy seed
               | filling, or quark.
        
               | bsg75 wrote:
               | Pasty - a term I did expect to see on HN.
               | 
               | Referring to the Finnish variety or other ?
        
               | t-3 wrote:
               | Yep, I have a lot of family in Copper Country.
        
               | reaperducer wrote:
               | _Let me know once people in the US stop referring to
               | meat-filled pastry as "kolace"._
               | 
               | Kolaches mean different things in different parts of the
               | U.S.
               | 
               | In Chicago, they're often filled with sweet things, and
               | sold by mom-and-pop shops and bakeries.
               | 
               | In Houston, they're mainly for breakfast, with things
               | like eggs, bacon, sausage, brisket, etc. and sold by
               | chains like Shipley's and Kolache Factory:
               | https://kolachefactory.com
               | 
               | Recently, the Houston version of kolaches has made
               | inroads into Chicago: https://www.howdykolache.com
        
               | jhgb wrote:
               | Yeah, and eggs, bacons, sausages, and briskets have no
               | business being in a sweet dish such as kolac (which looks
               | like this: https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kol%C3%A1%C4%8D#
               | /media/Soubor:...).
        
               | reaperducer wrote:
               | That looks like a topless paczki.
               | 
               | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paczki
               | 
               | Paczki Day is almost as big a holiday in Chicago as
               | Casimir Pulaski Day.
        
               | ghaff wrote:
               | I've enjoyed many good breakfast burritos in Austin but
               | won't oder them most places because, as you say, they
               | tend to be stuffed with filler. Tacos can suffer from
               | this too--I'm sure there must be some pork under all this
               | cabbage--but you can usually get rid of some of the
               | filler and there's not as much room to stuff a lot of it
               | in anyway.
        
               | Dylan16807 wrote:
               | > A burrito is as well a single ingredient food
               | 
               | No they're not.
        
             | dgellow wrote:
             | Aren't tacos very different things in different places? You
             | and the person you answer to may be talking past each other
             | if you have a different idea of what a tacos is in your
             | mind.
             | 
             | Just for the anecdote, I'm back from France and tacos there
             | are a weird sandwich. But I've always seen them made using
             | a hard-shell made of corn, that breaks way too easy. And I
             | believe that's considered heretic in the US, so I'm not
             | even sure what you would expect an actual tacos to be!
        
               | ghaff wrote:
               | >But I've always seen them made using a hard-shell made
               | of corn, that breaks way too easy. And I believe that's
               | considered heretic in the US
               | 
               | Certainly not heretic. You'll find hard-shell corn tacos
               | in pretty much any US grocery store. They do break easily
               | but they're what I would tend to use for a taco with
               | ground beef. Otherwise, I'd usually use soft corn.
        
               | stjohnswarts wrote:
               | I usually get two, break them up and make a taco salad,
               | much easier to eat and less likely to ruin a shirt. If I
               | can't set up that situation I get the soft tacos.
        
               | robonerd wrote:
               | In America, hard-shell tacos are simultaneously heretical
               | and popular. It's polarizing, like pineapples on pizza.
        
               | lordnacho wrote:
               | Marmite is polarising, you can legitimately like or
               | dislike it. What you're suggesting is inflammatory
               | legitimisation of an abhorrent practice.
        
               | sitkack wrote:
               | Marmite hard shelled tacos, with shrimp
        
               | mmastrac wrote:
               | And pineapple?
        
               | s0rce wrote:
               | and nutella
        
               | emodendroket wrote:
               | Honestly the disdain for them is a _little_ silly when
               | they're not that different from a tostada (in fact, Taco
               | Bell, in their failed foray into Mexico, called their
               | tacos "Tacostadas" to give Mexican customers the idea).
        
           | pwython wrote:
           | I've never had a taco with beans & rice, but I guess that
           | could be a thing.
        
             | RosanaAnaDana wrote:
             | No. It isnt.
             | 
             | That's a tostada. There are words for these things. A
             | tostada is made and served completely differently.
             | 
             | Second, beans and rice have no place in a burrito and
             | Americans who accept this from their burrito manufacturers
             | have been being scammed for decades.
        
               | johnfn wrote:
               | I mean, if we're really going down this line of pedantry,
               | it seems prudent to point out that burritos were first
               | created in the United States, so that would indeed be
               | authentic.
        
               | shkkmo wrote:
               | That would be some bad pedantry since the origin of the
               | burrito is complicated and not nearly as clear as you
               | suggest, the best bets place it's origin in an area
               | currently split by the US-Mexico border.
               | 
               | You might be thinking of the hardshell taco, which is a
               | US invention.
        
               | stjohnswarts wrote:
               | I think people can make whatever concoction they
               | want...Vegetarian tacos often have rice and beans. You
               | are free to declare your regional definition of
               | taco/tostadas the only true religion, but that won't make
               | it true :) .
        
               | shkkmo wrote:
               | Burritos are highly regional and come in many different
               | forms. There is no *one true burrito" and anybody to
               | tries to argue there is is trying to elevate one region's
               | definition over the others.
               | 
               | Arguably, tostadas are defined more by the form of the
               | flat, crispy torilla than by what you out on top of it.
               | 
               | Beans and/or rice presence in a burrito is a regional
               | distinction. Personally, I don't like the all meat
               | burritos that are standard in many areas.
               | 
               | And once you travel beyond mexico you will realize there
               | is a whole range of food that overlaps with those
               | categories. Is a baleada a burrito, a taco, or it's own
               | separate thing?
        
               | grayclhn wrote:
               | A "wrap" is the generic term for food wrapped in
               | something vaguely large-tortilla-like. Just because
               | people somewhere call something a burrito doesn't make it
               | true.
        
               | shkkmo wrote:
               | You are just flat wrong here. The world clearly agrees
               | that burritos can have beans and pizza can have
               | pineapples. If you try to limit the meaning of "burrito"
               | you are simply not accurately conveying what the word
               | means. In addition "traditional burritos" have long
               | included a wide variety of ingredients, including beans,
               | though usually not with as many ingredients per burrito
               | as a "mission burrito".
        
               | Melting_Harps wrote:
               | > Burritos are highly regional and come in many different
               | forms. There is no *one true burrito" and anybody to
               | tries to argue there is is trying to elevate one region's
               | definition over the others.
               | 
               | You're not kidding, I'm from SoCal and we have the
               | largest Mexican population due to proximity and I grew up
               | going to Baja for cheap weekends with my family and got
               | to eat lots of Mexican food--it wasn't really my thing,
               | and I do not like corn in general, but once in a while
               | was fine.
               | 
               | So, I thought I had a solid idea of what Mexican food
               | was, and being from SoCal it's not uncommon to see things
               | like fries inside of a burrito as the most 'white-people'
               | option, which oddly I'm a fan of especially hashbrowns.
               | 
               | Then I moved to Colorado and realized that what I had
               | been eating was strictly localized to the Pacific side of
               | Mexico, all the stuff I saw that was called Mexican was
               | like nothing I had ever seen before. Recently I went back
               | after leaving Boulder and I ordered a burrito not
               | thinking much about it when I visited a friend and he
               | chose a spot nearby to meet up for drinks. I totally
               | forgot that the Mexican population in Colorado is mainly
               | from the border with Texas and some from the Gulf area so
               | what came back was this monster drenched in sauce.
               | 
               | I asked if they messed up my order, but he said that all
               | burritos come like that unless specified otherwise, which
               | apparently is quite common in the Mid-west--this is
               | contentious but I think CO is definitely the mid-west and
               | it's culture reflects that as I mainly lived in SoCal,
               | Colorado and Hawaii when I've lived in the US.
               | 
               | Honestly, it was like a big enchilada, which I could only
               | stomach 1/2 of as it was way too much for my palette.
               | 
               | I think a gyros and kabab resembles a burrito the most to
               | anything else, both which I enjoy way more as their is a
               | greater emphasis on lots of pickled things with
               | intriguing sauces--a garlic-heavy tzatziki makes
               | everything taste better.
               | 
               | But honestly the thing is it's a staple found in just
               | about any culture and cuisine: meat and veg wrapped in
               | wheat based outer layer.
        
             | systemvoltage wrote:
             | Yes, besides that, it's essentially the same thing.
             | 
             | Rice and beans are served on the side with Tacos.
             | 
             | If you've worked in a Taco truck, you'd know that it's
             | exactly the same ingredients going into both. Your spoon
             | goes into the same buckets. Meat is grilled in the same
             | way. Tacos may have corn tortilla or flour, we can quibble
             | about that.
        
               | martyvis wrote:
               | Wait.
               | 
               | How is the the corn in a corn tortilla not flour? If the
               | corn (which might be maize) is milled then it has become
               | flour. Maybe instead of flour you meant wheat.
        
               | Melting_Harps wrote:
               | > If you've worked in a Taco truck, you'd know that it's
               | exactly the same ingredients going into both. Your spoon
               | goes into the same buckets. Meat is grilled in the same
               | way. Tacos may have corn tortilla or flour, we can
               | quibble about that.
               | 
               | Pfft, Roy Choi flipped the taco game: corn vs flour is
               | less interesting than kimchi or oi muchim inside of a
               | taco. Honestly, I think both are amazing and Korean and
               | Mexican food match so well. It's definitely a uniquely
               | SoCal thing, but to be honest after having Kogi I can't
               | eat tacos without Korean based ingredient and enjoy it
               | anymore.
        
           | CamperBob2 wrote:
        
           | hownottowrite wrote:
           | Watch the Taco Chronicles on Netflix then reconsider your
           | life choices.
        
           | mauvehaus wrote:
           | A taco is type 3 - taco. A Burrito is type 6 - Calzone.
           | 
           | This is all clearly laid out here: https://cuberule.com
        
             | jwdunne wrote:
             | Interesting. The cheesecake here is nothing like ones found
             | in the UK, which would be classified as toast!
        
             | Kyro38 wrote:
             | You made my day, thanks bro
        
             | hrnnnnnn wrote:
             | "Language is use, nerds."
             | 
             | https://existentialcomics.com/comic/268
        
               | mauvehaus wrote:
               | Thank you. That was excellent!
        
               | tialaramex wrote:
               | I want to be clear: Both the logical structure (let's
               | decide which things are sandwiches using these rules) and
               | its negation (no, it's a sandwich only because people say
               | it's a sandwich) are great, and both are good lessons. I
               | upvoted both :D
               | 
               | We would all do well to be able to apply this same
               | thinking, and not just to classifying a burrito.
        
             | triyambakam wrote:
             | That was wonderful, thank you
        
               | mauvehaus wrote:
               | I found it here, and am happy to bring a smile to your
               | face by bringing it back up for anyone who missed it :-)
        
           | eyelidlessness wrote:
           | I will never downvote food taxonomy hot takes, no matter how
           | wrong they are.
        
           | throwingrocks wrote:
           | I too enjoy trolling on HN.
        
           | bumby wrote:
           | _An entry in the Diccionario de Mexicanismos says that a food
           | item called a burrito, consisting of a rolled tortilla filled
           | with meat and other ingredients, was popular in the central
           | Mexican state of Guanajuato. The same food was eaten in areas
           | like Yucatan and Mexico City, where it was known as a cocito
           | and taco, respectively._
           | 
           | https://www.portablepress.com/blog/2018/04/history-origin-
           | bu...
        
         | cnasc wrote:
         | Came here to post this on reading the title. I remember this
         | episode vividly
        
       | SemanticStrengh wrote:
       | Not all heroes wear capes
        
       | annoyingnoob wrote:
       | What you need is a bigger tortilla or better technique. A
       | properly filled and wrapped burrito is already sealed enough to
       | hold by hand to eat.
        
       | andix wrote:
       | If you do a burrito properly, it stays wrapped.
        
         | dieselgate wrote:
         | Ya was thinking it's not really a necessary innovation as well
        
       | jesuslop wrote:
       | This gives a more tight monad implementation
        
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       (page generated 2022-05-21 23:00 UTC)