[dropcap size=big]W[/dropcap]e lost our taco poet laureate. Jonathan Gold’s death Saturday, and the outpouring of reactions that followed, underscored his legacy in the world of cultural criticism, food writing, and journalism. Gold’s impact on the taco lifestyle is as pervasive and intoxicating as the smell of carnitas when you step in through the Broadway entrance of the Grand Central Market.
The self described Belly of Los Angeles helped to articulate taco making and eating in ways few had before. Or as Jonathan Gold would put it: “Taco should be a verb.” Here are the most perfect quotes Jonathan Gold wrote or said about the most perfect food.
"Your favorite truck is as much a part of your identity as your favorite ranchera singer."
"A taco, it could be argued, is the basic unit of consumption in Southern California, the parcel of corn and spice and animal whose masters line our boulevards, a food whose reach extends from the meanest barrio streets to the heart of Beverly Hills. When we move to New York or Paris, it is tacos that haunt our dreams; when we are hungry after a night of dancing, it is the taqueros who nourish us, who appear precisely where and when we need them the most."
"Tacos - can we ever have enough tacos in our lives? I didn't think so. Because when the taco is right, the birds start to sing and the stars shine more brightly and you have the impression that everything is right with the world, which is a lot of happiness for a buck and a quarter, a buck-fifty tops. A perfect taco is a gift to the universe."
"Entire religions have been founded on miracles less profound than the Ensenada fish taco."
"My theory is that taco eating is … it’s almost a verb. Taco should be a verb. The tortilla’s hot. The meat’s hot. They combine. The sauce is sloshed on it. And then you’re almost eating it in one continuous motion, from the way it comes from the grill, to the guy, to the counter. I know it’s overly romantic."
No. It’s not, J. Gold. It’s perfectly romantic. May a choirs of taqueros come to greet you. May they speed you to taco Paradise.
RELATED: Jonathan Gold, Ambassador of L.A. Cuisines, Has Died
