Mexico has one of the most extensive street food cultures in Latin America, and Forbes named Mexico City as one of the foremost cities on the world in which to eat on the street. The taco is the best known and the most popular of Mexican street foods, and the first to be embraced north of the corundas into the United States.
A taco simply is a folded tortilla with some kind of filling. Mexican street taco fillings vary from one region to another. The fillings for tacos vary widely and most taco vendors have a specialty, the most known are al pastor and bistek. There are also tacos for more adventurous people that are filled with beef eyes, brains or tongue. Taco vendors are usually distinguished from other street food vendors by having a large block of wood called a tronco, on which meat and other fillings are minced with a cleaver. Tamales are one of the most popular street foods in the world.
They feature a filling and are wrapped in corn-based masa dough and steamed in corn husks. Tamales come in sweet and savory versions, some spicy and some bland. Versions with pork or chicken with a salsa or mole sauce are the most popular along with a version called ‘rajas’ which are strips of poblano chili pepper and cheese. Camotes are a traditional food present in Central and Southern Mexico. This Mexican street food is closely related to the holiday Dia de Muertos, or Day of the Dead.