Mexican-American cuisine (also referred to as faux Mexican on this website) is wrought with confusion.  And this post will do nothing to fix that.  Rather, in an effort to shed light on the confusion, I hope to generate awareness for the problem at hand and further gather support to help fix this issue that plagues our post-Mexican-American-cuisine-invaded nation. 

The American Heritage dictionary defines burrito as, "A flour tortilla wrapped around a filling, as of beef, beans, or cheese."  Fair enough.  Wikipedia further confuses things by adding that "ingredients such as spanish rice, beans, lettuce, salsa, meat, guacamole, cheese, and sour cream" can also be a part of this strange concoction. 

Summing up all the knowledge contained on the internet, a burrito is a bunch of stuff wrapped in a flour tortilla.  Fine.  Moving on. 

The dictionary defines fajita as, "A dish consisting of strips of marinated meat, poultry, or vegetables that are grilled over an open fire and served in a tortilla, usually with spicy condiments."  Wikipedia adds, "Popular condiments are sour cream, guacamole, salsa, pico de gallo, cheese, and tomato."  It goes on to say something about how the inclusion of rice and/or beans is tantamount to sacrificing children over an open pit fire, i.e. rice and beans = burrito. 

So again, summing up the internet's knowledge of the subject, a fajita is a bunch of stuff wrapped in a flour tortilla.  BUT NO RICE OR BEANS.  IF YOU ADD RICE OR BEANS, MAY THE GODS EAT YOUR SOUL. 

What about tacos?  That's easy:  "A corn tortilla folded around a filling such as ground meat or cheese."  And what does Wikipedia say?  It can also have "salsa and vegetables such as cilantro, onion, cabbage, tomato, or lettuce." 

So a taco is a bunch of stuff shoved into a folded corn tortilla.  Corn tortilla.  Not wrapped.  Key difference. 

Taking things one step further, the dictionary says a quesadilla is "A flour tortilla folded in half around a savory filling, as of cheese or beans, then fried or toasted."  I didn't know the dictionary could use opinionated words like "savory."  Wikipedia says you can also add meat and other ingredients.  The main difference between a quesadilla and a burrito is that a "the quesadilla is cooked after being filled or stuffed, while a taco or burrito is filled with pre-cooked ingredients." 

So a quesadilla is a bunch of raw stuff shoved into a folded tortilla and cooked. 

I'm noticing a pattern here.  Mexican-American food is all exactly the same, but with different names to denote teeny tiny differences.  Wikipedia thankfully has a list of several other tortilla-based foods, including the chalupa, the enchilada, and the taquito, all of which are some unimaginative yet delicious combination of meat, vegetables, and cheese wrapped or folded in a tortilla shell. #food