What? The last item is not on your vacation agenda?
It’s funny, because as Thanksgiving approaches, Taco Bell seems to take on somebody in your household has a fondness for an enchilada smothered in a thin red sauce and grated cheese. The chain, the first to realize that America’s lack of collective attention could result in an ever-changing menu, reintroduced the Enchirito on Thursday for a limited time. A very limited time, like until November 30th.
Enchirito is making a comeback — I would say “triumphant return,” but can a food do anything triumphantly? — on the menu after winning a poll that pitted the enchilada-burrito mix against another blast from the past: the Double Decker Taco, the dish that I assume inspired the “Saturday Night Live” parody, “Taco Town. In the end, the Enchirito won 62% of the votes in the Taco Bell Rewards app, and the Double Decker was decent enough not to claim voter fraud.
The Enchirito debuted in 1970, and the dish seems to come from another era. His approach to fusion is lean: he takes a flour tortilla and the stuffing of seasoned beef, beans and diced onions, then buries it with red sauce and a light sprinkle of cheddar cheese. Compared to the calorie-thrilling thrills that have entered the fast food world since the 1970s – like Pizza Hut’s pie with baked hot dogs in the crust, or Taco Bell’s cereal killer, Cap’n Crunch Bites – the Enchirito seems downright restrained. I would even say modest. Still, all I could think was: This thing needs more cheese.
Last month, Taco Bell also brought back Nacho Fries, which gave the restless chain an excuse to create two more dishes. Or, really, one and a half. The first is a Taco Bell with a 7-layer dip but with, you know, Nacho fries. Seasoned fries serve as the base, topped with ground beef, black beans, diced tomatoes, sour cream, guacamole, shredded cheddar and two types of sauce, a hot nacho and a creamy chipotle. The pleasures of the dish lie in its contrasts: the fresh against the hot, the spicy next to the creamy, the fried against the fresh, the impious of salt against the impious of fat. If you served this to Saint Nick instead of cookies and milk, his feet would swell to the size of cantaloupes.
I really liked this dish. My feet look normal. So far.
However, Taco Bell couldn’t stand alone enough with the 7-layer Nacho fries. He repackages the dish as a burrito, following the great tradition of stuffing fries into a pocket-size bite, whether it’s a pork gyro or a Primanti Bros. sandwich. The fries instantly become soft, of course. But, worse, the burrito erases some of the beautiful contrasts, especially between ingredients of different temperatures. Following the rules of thermal balance, the hotter ingredients transferred their heat to the colder ones, making it a convenient, portable but ultimately lukewarm and unsatisfying dish.
I’m going to stick with the 7 layer Nacho fries. I wonder if I could get away with putting it on the holiday table instead of a casserole of potatoes?
