Trends and the Burritofication of Everything
Originally written as a trial assignment for a freelance position with LA-based Foodbeast.com. It got me the "job"!
Despite being logical, rational people, we seem to take no issue with spending time and money on what we know to be ridiculous trends: towering, confetti-colored Black Tap milkshakes; saintfully healthy-looking avocado toasts, replete with an adjacent latte art-ified beverage; colorfully stacked Milk Shop maracon ice cream sandwiches.
But by ‘we’, I’m only addressing people living and eating in places like San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. When ‘we’ were over juice shots and moving on to cronuts, most of the country hadn’t yet had so much as a simple cold-pressed green juice! In the case of many food trends - particularly those requiring specific expertise, equipment, or less-commonly sourced ingredients - our peers in tertiary cities and rural towns may never even get close to tasting/Instagramming vegan frozen fruit-soft serve or lavender-earl grey-infused cake donuts.
It’s conflicting, then, when “Corporate America” eventually makes their usual grandma-on- Facebook move and tries to ‘cash in’ on a food trend: thereby bringing something like ramen burgers to Tulsa while simultaneously guaranteeing the novelty burger’s death in Los Angeles. Most of the time however, the corporate copy is one of those ‘limited time only!’ or ‘available only in select locations” sort of deals, meaning that we don’t have to worry about some punk in West Virginia getting his hands on a cotton candy-flavored macaron.
But the latest “Burritofication” trend (or is it ‘burritoization’? Calling all linguists!) has an actual shot at making it to home plate instead of getting picked off at second, like so many others. The concept started with the Sushi Burrito in California; either by Los Angeles’ Jogasaki food truck or by San Francisco’s fast-casual Sushirrito® concept (both opened in January 2011). From there, the Sushi Burrito - essentially an oversized, handheld maki roll with customizable fillings - rapidly caught on: first in food hubs like New York, (Uma Temakeria); but soon popping up on the menus of sushi restaurants across the country (you can find sushi in every single state). Today, at least one restaurant in nearly every U.S. state serves a “Sushi Burrito” (exceptions: the Dakotas; Rhode Island; Vermont; West Virginia; Alaska).
Although Japanese sushi, Vietnamese pho, and Korean barbecue are the most common victims of Burritofication, one can also find “Burritofied" Thai curry, Indian tikka masala, Chinese fried rice, Filipino sisig, and Malaysian carrot salad. Korean-fusion burritos (fillings range from kimchi and bulgogi to Korean-Mexican fusion) are also spreading inland, though to a lesser extent - perhaps because Korean cuisine has room left yet to grow accepted as commonplace.
Some states serve “burritos” with a taste of some local specialty. El El Frijoles in Sargentville, Maine is known for its Spicy Lobster Burrito, which features traditional Mission-style fillings (locally sourced) and Penobscot lobster cooked in “secret sauce” (mostly butter). In New Orleans, Jamburritos serves up the Cajun Burrito, which manages to hold a staggering amount of bayou mainstays: Andouille sausage, shrimp, chicken, rice, and peas, all covered with Creole Etouffée sauce.
But this is America and the Internet, so clickbait-y one-upmanship inevitably ensues, and does so with all sails to the wind. One-upsmanship in the food world tends to produce MadLibs results: Papalote in San Francisco serves the ‘Soulrrito’, a burrito stuffed with soul food: mac n’ cheese, yams, collard greens, and tri-tip steak. Wyoming-based chain Taco John’s gave the breakfast burrito “the TJ treatment”, which I guess means stuffing a flour tortilla with fried chicken, fried potatoes, sausage gravy, and hot sauce.
Then Panda Express wanted in - and debuted an ‘Orange Chicken Burrito’ in Los Angeles. It was a frightening thought: the outcome could be a disgusting success in the same way that Taco John’s breakfast burrito probably is. The result, however, surprisingly, pleasantly, resembled more the original ‘mass market’ interpretation of the ‘Sushi Burrito’ - the ‘flyover state version’, if you will - essentially a Chipotle operation with seaweed paper and sushi fillings.
Which brings us full circle: if folks in Jacksonville, Florida and Fayetteville, Arkansas are eating Sushi Burritos, is the burritofication trend over for the culinary elite? Should Uma Temakeria and Sushirrito be worried?
The answer, I believe, is a resounding no (but with caveats). Chipotle’s initial success was in large part due to customers’ ability to customize orders, which fast food retailers like McDonalds lacked at the time. The sushi burrito allows customers to order sushi ‘safely’ - by dictating exactly what goes into their ‘sushi’, rather than being surprised when anago turns out to be eel, or when the sushi chef places wasabi under the fish without your knowledge or authorization. Sushi, while certainly democratized to the point that you can order a California roll pretty much anywhere, still remains somewhat aspirational. Kendall and Kylie Jenner consistently list Nobu Malibu as a go-to. Tourists clamor for reservations at Tokyo’s Sukibayashi Jiro (of “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” fame), where tasting menus start at around $300 USD. In neighborhoods like TriBeCa and Lincoln Park and West Hollywood, people who wouldn’t dare touch or even look at sushi twenty years ago are buying salmon-avocado rolls at Whole Foods for dinner.
Whatever you want to call it, Burritofication has probably done more good than harm to sushi and other ethnic cuisines, but only when executed properly - i.e. by allowing customization and by celebrating the globalization of food. It shouldn’t necessarily be interpreted as ‘cultural appropriation’ or as a sign of disrespect to foodie purists - after all, it’s gotten us to a point where people in places like West Lafayette, Indiana and Newmarket, New Hampshire are enjoying temaki for lunch - we’re just calling it a “Sushi Burrito” instead.