Nostalgia for Tacos al Pastor

by Carlos Quesada, Amateur guest blogger from Boston, MA, originally from Mexico City, Mexico

Perhaps one of the saddest things for me when I left Mexico was knowing that I would also be leaving the easy access to these tacos made so fresh, so quick and so deliciously. When I do return to Mexico for quick vacations, the first stop I make is to any taqueria to get my hands on some tacos al pastor.

Tacos al pastor – shepherd-style tacos—are a signature dish and popular street snack in Mexico City. They are legacies, it seem, of the Lebanese natives who brought them to Mexico City in a wave of immigration in the mid-20th century. Others would argue this, as it is known that to celebrate the fall of the Aztec empire and Tenochtitlan, a dish made of pork and tortilla was served to the Spanish soldiers by the tlaxcaltecas.

They are made of pork with chili-soaked pork spit-roasted beneath a dripping, slowly caramelizing pineapple and are usually referred as the “king of the tacos”. Similar to shawarma, gyros, or any other Eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern preparation of spitted lamb and flatbread, tacos al pastor are prepared in a special spit marinated with pork pieces running with the amber juices of the pineapple above. The pastorero works swiftly, slicing off the hottest, crustiest pieces from the mound along with a bit of bronzed pineapple, chopped cilantro, onion and a spoonful of drippings. He quickly sprinkles on diced sweet white onion and dusts the top of the taco with finely chopped cilantro.

Pick up a taco, folding up the slides with thumb and index finger, closing the end with the forefinger. With the first bite, you should get that flavor of roast pork, the perfume of cilantro, the bite of the onion, subtle bitter aroma of chili, and the sweet heady pineapple. One more small bite and the first taco will be gone. The second and third will follow, then you will hail the waiter and ask for more.

Because the special grill and vertical spit are necessary to make the dish, no one in Mexico sees fit – or is logistically able – to make tacos al pastor at home, so they are almost always found in street stands or small restaurants called taquerias. The recipes vary from stand to stand – proprietors are loath to give away their secrets.

One of my favorite places to eat tacos al pastor is El  Huequito (which means “the little hole”), a tiny operation in this city’s Centro Histórico, founded in 1959 and among the first places in the city to serve tacos al pastor. At El Huequito the sliced meat is bathed in a moderately picante salsa of chile de árbol, enhanced with chopped onion and cilantro and rolled up in its small tortilla. Several salsas are available for serious chileros — chili lovers. The meat is juicy and succulent, the smoky grilled aroma lingering until you take the next bite. Washed down with an ice-cold horchata or agua de Jamaica, these morsels are simply divine.

Note: This blog originally appeared on Carlos's wedding website. But how could I not share good taco tips with fellow Amateur palates? Thanks for allowing me to borrow this blog!

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