Residents of Mexico City who made the easy drive to Cuernavaca for a short getaway this past weekend were treated to a feat of culinary gallantry: the creation of a taco acorazado measuring 80 meters (262 feet).
According to the Cuernavaca City Council, the “City of Eternal Spring” in Morelos state broke the Guinness World Record by surpassing the previous record of 78 meters set last year. A public notary, Hugo Salgado, certified the mark, but organizers said they won’t purchase space in the record book due to costs.
Over 400 people — including veteran chefs, young people studying for careers in the food industry and volunteers — worked together Sunday for two hours to assemble the massive taco acorazado, a regional specialty that translates to “armored taco.”
Originating from Cuernavaca, the generously filled taco features a large, thick corn tortilla base layered with red rice and various guisados — stews that typically include meats, vegetables and sauces. Classic accompaniments include cactus, bell peppers and potatoes.
“I feel very happy,” said Estefanía Guerrero, a gastronomy student at the University of the Valle de México. “I really liked being part of this. We had to have a lot of communication and teamwork so that it wouldn’t break.”
The culinary masterpiece — whose length was equal to about 88 yards on a U.S. football field or about six standard-sized ADO buses placed end to end — was created in front of the historic Palacio de Cortés. The former residence of Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés reopened in 2023 as a museum after being damaged in the 2017 Puebla earthquake that claimed 370 lives in central Mexico.
The construction of the taco was accompanied by live music, cultural performances and enthusiastic crowds. With temperatures reaching 28 degrees Celsius (82 Fahrenheit), students from local high schools played string instruments and performed folkloric dances.
Antonio Vázquez, an organizer affiliated with businesses that produce masa (tortilla dough) and tortillas, said more than 20 restaurants participated in the event.
“It’s important to mention that we achieved the title of the largest taco acorazado, but we are not going to buy the page in the [Guinness] record book because it costs thousands of dollars,” Vázquez said.
The lengthy taco featured a wide variety of traditional and innovative fillings, including hard-boiled egg, mole, Milanese (a thin cut of meat, often pork, that is breaded and pan-fried), chicharrones (fried pork rinds), huauzontle cakes, fish strips and chicken. Huauzontle is a high-protein, edible plant related to quinoa and amaranth.
With its history rooted in providing sustenance for workers at the beginning of the 20th century, the taco acorazado has become a symbol of Cuernavaca’s identity — along with the city’s lush gardens, historic haciendas and year-round pleasant climate.
With reports from El Sol de Cuernavaca and México Desconocido
