What Taco means
Taco is a Mexican antojito name of Spanish origin meaning "plug, wad". It comes from Spanish taco (plug, wedge, wad). It is pronounced TAH-koh, and it is most associated with the whole country.
In Spanish taco meant a plug, peg or wad of material long before it meant food. The story that it comes from the paper-wrapped powder charges called tacos in Mexican silver mines is plausible but unproven, and the rival derivation from Nahuatl tlahco (half, middle) is equally unproven.
About this origin. The etymology is uncertain, disputed, or the name is a modern brand rather than an old word. The reading above is the best-supported one; food writing repeats stories that the dictionaries do not confirm.
This is a site about what Mexican words mean, so there is no recipe here. For the name itself: Antojito means "little craving". These are the masa-based street foods named for their shape more often than their filling: a sope is a small mound, a huarache is a sandal, a gordita is a fat little one, a tlacoyo is an oval patty.
