Michelin’s Star Taco Makes us not only Need to Buy Tires but also Flight Tickets

Tilly Sung
3 min readMay 18, 2024

--

Reminds me the purpose of Michelin Guidebooks is to tell people to buy more tires to enjoy the best meals everywhere. Now, it’s beyond tires, we fly across an ocean to enjoy the meals and culture.

An overhead view of the Tacos El Califa de León taco stand, in Mexico City, May 15, 2024.
Fernando Llano/AP

Michelin gives a star to a taco store owned by an average person, like you and me, showing a profound message that food is the best way to demolish social status; simple ingredients invented by an indigenous culture and made by a persistent cook, proving the genuine side of humans, and the influence of food has people accept one another’s difference.

This prestigious accolade shows a message that food symbolizes the beauty of ‘delicious’ equality. Daily accessible ingredients can make world-class cuisine. They are not rare mushrooms that people risk their lives to get on a cliff or meat that comes from specific parts of animals.

There are no solid rules to judge food, especially its ancient cultural background, innovative human creation, and generational connections.

Food is an essential energy to balance out a daily life. We indulge in caramel with the chocolate chip flavor of ice cream when we’re upset. We celebrate with deep-handed Old Chicago pizza at a party when great things happen.

No matter what kind of emotion, food is always the most cheerful spotlight with its mouth-watering appearance, alluring smell, and predictable but still exciting happiness.

Breaking down the set of delicate utensils, fancy chandeliers, etiquette of table manners, and a line of servers, Michelin Star shows us its profound taste in food.

The ingredients are pure and simple, and the cook makes food sticking to traditional ways. It makes us appreciate more in life, accept diversity in people, and respect the indigenous influence of passed-down culture.

A customer finishes squeezing lime juice on his tacos at the Tacos El Califa de León stand, in Mexico City, May 15, 2024.
Fernando Llano/AP

As the owner said, “Our secret is the simplicity and fresh ingredients.” Hand-made tortillas have uneven thickness showcasing the dedication of cooks toward their food. We can taste the diligence and confidence of the owner who has been making four types of tacos for two decades.

Food is the best way to preserve a culture and bring people from different walks of life to have the same topics to talk about. Everyone can order Michelin’s Star food by passing out a big bill or scraping out all the coins inside their pockets.

Backpackers, local people, or businessmen can all use their hands to unapologetically send the simple deliciousness into the mouth, standing beside the counter, sitting on plastic chairs, or wandering in the park.

The combination of culture and human creation displays the delicious harmony in simple foods. Micheline puts them on the menu to encourage people to embrace the same food ordering in different languages.

--

--

Tilly Sung

I'm a passive misery who breathes mental illness. But now I'm studying in the Neuroscience of Mind and Bran program. This is my journey.