I like ham. I like cheese. I like rolled tacos. How could I not like ham and cheese taquitos?

One day, while cruising around with Greg looking for something to do, we walked by that taco cart on Mission at S. Van Ness. They were closing up for the day, but while there we checked out the menu. Although I have spent a good amount of time reading Mexican food menus, it’s not uncommon for me to still come across something new. That’s part of the beauty of Mexican food. It is versatile; all the ingredients are there, they just need to be put together. Usually however, the names, while vaguely descriptive, still need some amount of deciphering. Not so in this case. Under the common heading of Taquitos was a description I had never come across before.

“3 Crispy Ham and Cheese Tacos, Lettuce, Sweet Salsa, Guacamole, Sour Cream”

What the hell was this?

Everything else on the menu looked rather normal for a California Mexican food purveyor. Sure there were hamburgers and chicken sandwiches, but there were also burritos, quesadillas, and tortas. Nothing wrong there. Or even odd. All the standards meats were there. Just for whatever reason, a new definition of taquitos was lurking innocently in the menu.

Greg and I wandered off, bummed that it was closed, with me rambling on about the mysterious so-called taquitos. How could they be any good? Wait, how could they not be any good. Ham. Cheese. Tortilla. Fried. That all equals good. Basically it sounded like a rolled quesadilla. Greg and I ended up eating elsewhere that day, but those rolled tacos never left my mind.

Today was the day. A perfect window of opportunity presented itself and I headed straight to the corner lunch spot. I arrived just before official opening time, but they accommodated and fried me up a batch. They were still setting up seats and all, so I took my paper bag of mystery and headed elsewhere.

By the time I got to the inside, it wasn’t a pretty sight. There was a puddle of liquid that had pooled up in the bottom of the bag, presumably from the salsa. The sour cream didn’t look too appetizing and the halved rolled tacos appeared as if they had soaked through. On top, however, was a pleasant surprise: Cotija cheese finely grated covering the whole thing like a fine snowfall. That was a good sign, and I chalked up the somewhat soggy presentation to being the first of the day (not to mention the wait to eat them); if they were truly good, the taste would shine through.

It did; they were delicious. Sweet, not spicy, layers of taste that worked well together. I was worried that being the first of the day would mean that the oil would not be up to temp, but they were fried properly. The ham and cheese components were American as apple pie. A slice of ham and a slice of yellow cheese were rolled up together, fastened with a toothpick and dropped in the fryer. The tacos were crispy; thankfully, the included lettuce had acted as a sort of barrier to what liquid had accumulated.

Ham with cheese is one of my all time favorite combinations. Put the two of them together in anything and it’s bound to be good. Taquitos are no exception. Surprisingly, ham and cheese taquitos are the only rolled taco option on the menu at Taqueria Cazadores. Perhaps it really makes sense that such American ingredients are the only option. Taquitos are pretty much an American construct. I mean, you can get ‘em at Jack in the Box for crissake. When I think of authentic rolled tacos, I don’t think Mexico, I think San Diego. Ham and cheese filled taquitos make perfect sense, after all.