A family that does taco night every week is one of the easiest households to shop for, because the ritual already has a fixed cast of tools and a fixed list of chores. Someone warms the tortillas, someone makes the salsa, someone chops the onion and cilantro, and someone small wants a job. The best Christmas gifts for a taco night family make one of those jobs better, or give one of those people a tool of their own.
One gift for the whole household beats a stack of small ones. Think of it as an upgrade to Tuesday.
Gifts for the tortillas
The tortilla is the part of taco night most families buy in a bag, and the part where a gift makes the biggest difference.
A tortilla press and a bag of masa harina. Masa harina is masa, the dough made from corn that has been soaked and cooked in an alkaline solution, usually limewater, dried and ground into a flour that is reconstituted and used like fresh masa. With a press, a ball of that dough becomes a round corn tortilla in a few seconds, and the kids will want to run the press every week. Put the bag of masa harina in with it so the first batch can happen on Christmas weekend.
A comal. A smooth, flat griddle used in Mexico, Central America and parts of South America to cook tortillas, toast spices and sear meat. Home comals are usually heavy cast iron. It earns its place on the stove the rest of the week too, for quesadillas and charred peppers.
A tortilla warmer. A cloth or insulated warmer keeps a stack soft and hot on the table while everyone builds their first round, and it ends the habit of wrapping them in a dish towel.
For families who make flour tortillas, how to make flour tortillas on a wooden board covers the rolling.
Gifts for the salsa
A molcajete. The molcajete is the Mexican mortar and pestle, traditionally carved from a single block of volcanic basalt. It is used to crush and grind spices and to make salsas and guacamole, and a salsa ground in one has a coarse texture a blender does not give. It also goes to the table as a serving dish, which suits a family meal.
A citrus press. Taco night runs through limes: in the salsa, on the meat, over the finished taco. A sturdy handheld press gets every drop out and keeps seeds out of the salsa.
Squeeze bottles for crema and hot sauce. Two or three plain bottles let everyone dress their own taco without passing a spoon down the table.
Gifts for the table
A turntable for the toppings. A lazy Susan in the middle of the table puts the onion, cilantro, cheese, salsa and pickled onions within reach of every seat, small arms included. Quick pickled red onions are the topping most families add once and keep.
A set of colorful serving bowls. Mismatched, bright, sturdy enough to survive a seven-year-old. Taco night is a loud meal, and the bowls can be too.
A note to go with the spread: toppings sit out while everyone eats, and the CDC’s guidance is never to leave perishable food out more than 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F. Ground beef for the filling should reach 160°F.
Gifts that give the kids a job
Children who cook with their family want a real task, and taco night has many that need no sharp knife at all.
Kid-sized tools. A child’s nylon or serrated kitchen knife, chosen for their age, for soft things like tomatoes and avocado halves an adult has already pitted. A small apron. Their own lime squeezer.
A job list. Tearing cilantro leaves, mashing avocado, pressing tortillas, squeezing limes, setting out bowls. Write it on a card and put it in with the tortilla press, and the gift includes a promotion.
Any knife work with children works best with an adult beside them and a stable board under the food. Teaching kids to use a knife goes through the grips and the ages, and the adults on avocado duty can read how to cut an avocado safely.
On giving a cutting board
Taco night is a chopping night. Onions are diced, cilantro is minced, tomatoes become pico, limes are cut into wedges, and the meat is sliced and chopped small at the end. All of it happens on a board, often with two or three people crowding the same stretch of counter. It needs to be big, steady and good enough to bring to the table as part of the spread.
The WONAMU. acacia cutting board fits that routine. Acacia is a true hardwood, denser and heavier than bamboo, so the board stays put while an adult dices an onion next to a child pressing tortillas. At 12 × 9 × 0.6 inches it holds a pile of chopped carne asada or a full set of prepped toppings.
Its perimeter juice groove catches lime and tomato juice and the juice from sliced meat. It arrives in gift-ready packaging with a cotton care cloth, so the family’s gift needs no wrapping.
Keep raw meat on its own board or plate, as the CDC advises, and use this one for the produce and the cooked meat that comes off the comal. For a lighter second board, the WONAMU. bamboo cutting board is the same 12 by 9 inches.
The carne asada street tacos guide shows the slicing and chopping that board was made for.
The short version
Give a taco night family something that improves one of the weekly jobs: a tortilla press with a bag of masa harina, a comal, a molcajete for salsa, a turntable for the toppings, and a few kid-sized tools with a list of real tasks. Then give the household the board all that chopping happens on, heavy enough to stay put with three people at the counter and handsome enough to carry to the table.
For more gifts a whole household can share, see Christmas gifts for couples who cook.
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WONAMU. makes an acacia cutting board for everyday chopping — 12 × 9 inches, acacia, with a perimeter juice groove. Available on Amazon.
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