Naco Cuisine

I first encountered the word “naco” a few years ago when it popped up on lots of bumper stickers in Mexico. At first I confused it with “narco” (short for narcotraficante, drug dealer). But then it dawned on me that only someone English who had been trained to say all her “r’s” as “aahs” could possibly do that.

I can’t remember exactly how the bumper sticker read. It was something like “Ser naco es tonto” but it wasn’t tonto but some other slang word. Anyone out there remember? Anyway a Mexican friend kindly explained what a naco was.

He didn’t mention their cuisine though. But they sure have their own way of eating. I’m not going to spoil the fun except to say that this is a useful corrective to the sometimes slightly worshipful attitude of those who live in the States to the everyday foods of Mexicans. Some are great. Some are, well, part of la cocina naca.

So here’s link to a terrific discussion on Chowhound sparked by Kare Raisu who sometimes comments here as Alex.

Thanks to Ruth Alegria for the tip.

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11 thoughts on “Naco Cuisine

  1. Rachel Laudan

    We’ll need to wait for Rodrigo to tell us. In fact, I’ll add a couple more questions. Care to comment on when and why naco cuisine originated? Do nacos think of it as their cuisine or is it just being identified by outsiders? And would I be right in thinking that any true-blooded naco would see a totalamente Palacio fresa as his polar opposite?

  2. rodrigo

    ok, let me tell you for instance, nobody considers itself a naco, people always think worse people than them are nacos… when talking about nacos as a “racist term”… but i would rather use the “culture” term… naco is a person who lacks respect for others in some way…

    sometimes it’s fun to be a naco, and that’s when people call themselves nacos, but that happens more in the upper class when you announce yourself as a naco because you can say bad words or nasty jokes, but in some ocassions not as a living rule…

    so if i say i am a naco, that’s because i act like a naco in parties or stuff but i think i am not a naco as a whole, and perhaps other people think i am… who know’s, and maybe i have a great self esteem but maybe i am a total naco jejeje…. it is a very broad theme… i am going to add a naco category to my blog…. hope you can visit sometimes… i have just started it and i barely have 5 articles….

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