Al pastor
Al pastor, tacos al pastor, or tacos de trompo is a preparation of sliced, spit-grilled meat, usually pork, originating in the Central Mexican region of Puebla where they remain most prominent, though it is a common menu item found in taquerías throughout Mexico. The method of preparing and cooking al pastor is based on the lamb shawarma brought by Lebanese immigrants to the region. Al pastor features a flavor palate that uses traditional Mexican adobada. It is a popular street food that has spread to the United States. In some places of northern Mexico and coastal Mexico, such as in Baja California, taco al pastor is known as taco de trompo or taco de adobada.
A variety of the dish uses a combination of Middle Eastern spices and indigenous central Mexican ingredients and is called tacos árabes.
Name
The name “al pastor”, which literally translates to “herdsman”, “cowherd” or “shepherd” style, comes from «asado al pastor», which can be translated as “spit roast” or “spit barbecue” over an open fire. The asado al pastor, also known as “asado del pastor”, “carbonada” and “asado a la estaca”, was one of the styles for roasting or “barbecuing” meats in the Mexican countryside, the other one being barbacoa. Whole animals, commonly veal, bull, cow, or mutton, or pieces of meat, were skewered with a “spit” or “estaca” and placed over an open fire to be roasted.In the Mexican cookbook Diccionario de Cocina o El Nuevo Cocinero Mexicano en Forma de Diccionario, Manuel Galvan Rivera explains that there are different classes or types of asados in Mexican cuisine:
Galvan Rivera also explains that “carbonada” was another name for an “asado del pastor”:
The asado al pastor was widely prepared in Mexico at countryside festivities, such as rodeos, herraderos, jaripeos and bull-fights, patron saint festivities of the hacienda, or family picnics. 19th-century Mexican writer Domingo Revilla wrote in 1844 and 1845, respectively, that the “banquet” at the herraderos was reduced to asados al pastor and barbacoa of whole calves, bull or mutton, and explained that asados al pastor were more common in Tierra Adentro or the Bajío region, western Mexico, and beyond, while barbacoa was more common in the Mezquital and Apan valleys and surrounding areas in central Mexico.
An anecdote collected by Victoriano Salado Álvarez tells that, as part of a Mexican Independence celebration in 1856, a whole bull was roasted al pastor style in the middle of the Alameda Central in Mexico City, and that among the guests was President Ignacio Comonfort:
History
During the 19th century, variations of a vertically grilled meat dish doner, now known by several names, started to spread throughout the Ottoman Empire. The Levantine version, called shawarma, was brought to Mexico in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by a wave of Lebanese immigrants, mainly Christians who have no religious dietary restrictions on eating pork.By the 1920s, lamb meat was mostly replaced by pork. The Mexican-born progeny of Lebanese immigrants also began opening their own restaurants.
Later, in Mexico City, they began to marinate with adobo and use corn tortillas, which resulted in the al pastor taco. It is unknown when they began to be prepared as we know them today; however, some agree that it was in the 1960s when they became popular.
Preparation
Pork is marinated in a combination of dried chilies, spices, pineapple, and typically achiote paste, then slowly cooked with charcoal or gas flame on a vertical rotisserie called a trompo, the meat is shaved off as the outside is browned, and made into tacos. Guajillo chile, garlic, cumin, clove, bay leaf, and vinegar are common ingredients, with cinnamon, dried Mexican oregano, coriander, and black peppercorns found in many variants. Meat is thinly sliced off the spit with a large knife into a small corn tortilla and served with finely chopped onions, cilantro, and diced pineapple. A wedge of lemon or lime and a salsa are optional condiments. This meat is also a common ingredient in gringas, alambres, huaraches, tortas, burritos, and pizza.Varieties
In some places of northern Mexico, such as Nuevo León, Durango and Chihuahua, these are usually called tacos de trompo if served on corn tortillas, and gringas if they are served with cheese on flour tortillas.A similar dish is called tacos árabes, which originated in Puebla in the 1930s from Arab-Mexican cuisine. Tacos árabes use shawarma-style meat carved from a spit, but are served in a pita-style bread called pan árabe. These tacos have been brought by Mexican immigrants to the United States in the past few years and have become popular in cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles, two of the largest Mexican/Mexican-American population centers in the United States.
A chicken version marinated in the al pastor style was brought back to the Middle East in the early 2000s, and sold as "shawarma mexici". It is typically served in the Middle Eastern style, wrapped with garlic mayonnaise, dill pickle, and french fries in a thin flatbread.