There's more than one way to eat a burrito -- whether that's on a plate with a knife and fork, held in one hand with foil around it, or utilizing disgusting burrito behavior by sucking its contents out from one end. There are also lots of ways to make a burrito.

Traditionally and historically, the burrito is an unfussy, simple food, and a way to inexpensively get in a lot of calories and carbohydrates. "Its name, meaning 'little donkey,' is thought to refer to how the tortilla wraps around its fillings like a pack on a burro's back," said renowned Latin-cuisine chef Richard Sandoval in an interview with The Takeout. "Early versions were simple -- flour tortillas filled with staples like beans, meat, or cheese."

Mexican migration brought burritos into the United States, and variations sprang up based on the influence of many cultures, regional tastes, and the availability or preference of particular ingredients. The burrito started out simple, but has grown complex over the last century or so, to the point where "burrito" is an umbrella term for a whole matrix of related dishes, and refers not just to beans and cheese in a tortilla, or to the overstuffed style of this delicacy that was invented in San Francisco's Mission district and is now sold at Chipotle.

To learn all about varied burrito styles, we sought out a few experts. Helping us out are Sandoval, LA Times columnist and "Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America" author Gustavo Arellano, and Ohio State University cultural anthropology doctoral candidate Andrew Mitchel, whose studies focus on Mexican food in American cities.