Tacos are the most well-known Mexican dish in the world, and surely the first thing that comes to mind when people think of Mexican food. However, there is a type of taco whose preparation is different from all the others; this taco can even resemble another type of food like Kebabs, gyros, and shawarmas. Do you know which one it is? We are talking about the delicious taco al pastor, this type of taco that, although found throughout the country, is more emblematic of Mexico City, and yet today we will discover that it is neither so chilango (originating from Mexico City) nor completely Mexican.
This type of taco originated in the 1920s when Lebanese and Syrian migrants arrived in Mexico in search of a new and better life. Thus, along with them, they brought their rich food and their traditional Shawarma, which is made in a pita bread with lamb meat and different spices for seasoning.
This dish began to evolve and it was then that the children of the first Middle Eastern migrants gave a twist to this dish. The lamb meat was changed to pork, the bread for the corn tortilla, and as expected, the spices changed to achiote and of course chili. If you have had the opportunity to order some in Mexico, you surely got the obligatory question –¿Con todo? ¿Piña? ¿Cebolla?– because they are typically also eaten with pineapple, onion, and cilantro, although of course, that depends on your tastes. And as a final touch, a few drops of lime and a little green salsa to finish preparing this delight.
Another thing that catches the attention of these tacos is the way they are served, if you have been to a taquería that offers al pastor tacos, you surely noticed that it is prepared on a trompo of marinated pork meat and next to it is the skilled taquero, because it really takes practice for the pineapple and onion to fall just into the taco.
Throughout Mexico, you will find taquerías with their red trompo of al pastor meat, each taquero has their own recipe to marinate the meat, and then it is slowly cooked with each turn of the trompo.
Whatever the secret recipe of the place may be, it cannot be denied that these tacos are among the favorites of Mexicans, thanks to the mix of that golden meat flavor with pineapple, lime, and its little salsa.
If you want to try another recipe with al pastor meat, we recommend that you try the following recipe:
The al pastor gringa
Another way to eat al pastor meat that we love is in the form of a gringa, a name that arose because some American students living in Mexico City, who did not like to eat tacos with corn tortillas, one day asked the taquero to make the taco in a flour tortilla that already had cheese inside. They loved it and kept coming back to ask for the same, just like many other customers. As time went by, this became more popular and that's how the famous al pastor gringa came about.
Preparing one is very simple, just take a flour tortilla, fill it with cheese and the al pastor meat as if it were a quesadilla. To finish, you can add onion, pineapple, cilantro, lime, and salsa of your choice.
