The Geography Of Tacos Al Pastor
The Geography of Tacos al Pastor.
The origin of the first taco is not really known. It is very likely that they were invented by Mexican sliver miners in the 18th century. The word taco refers to the small charges that the miners would use to excavate, these “tacos” were pieces of paper that they would wrap around gunpowder and insert them in carved holes in the rock face. Tortillas however, date back thousands of years, corn tortillas were the bread of the Mesoamericans, apart than providing sustenance, they were torn into pieces and use as utensils to scoop other kinds of food. Depending on the filling most tacos are made with grilled or steamed soft tortillas. There are different types of tortilla depending on the corn used to make them; blue, yellow, red, etc.
Tacos Al Pastor (Shepard’s Style Tacos) are made from thin strips of pork meat previously marinated in a combination of different spices, chiles and pineapple then stacked onto a vertical rotisserie called trompo where they are slow-cooked with a piece of pineapple on top. When the meat is ready, it is sliced off the spit and served on small corn tortillas. It is then topped with finely chopped onions, cilantro and a slice of pineapple. It can also be accompanied with some lime juice and hot salsa.
Although this cooking method has ancient roots in the eastern Mediterranean, grilling a vertical spit of stacked slices of meat and cutting it as it cooks was developed in the 19th century in Ottoman Bursa (Turkey). This cooking method was first introduced to Mexico by Lebanese immigrants in the 1920’s; they brought with them shawarma, or gyros, their famous technique of spit-roasted meat, mainly lamb. The technique was copied by Mexican taqueros who substituted the lamb for pork and added the pineapple on top which didn’t really catch on until the 1960’s and soon they became a national favorite. Today Tacos al Pastor can be found anywhere in Mexico from the smallest street stand to the most expensive
The origin of the first taco is not really known. It is very likely that they were invented by Mexican sliver miners in the 18th century. The word taco refers to the small charges that the miners would use to excavate, these “tacos” were pieces of paper that they would wrap around gunpowder and insert them in carved holes in the rock face. Tortillas however, date back thousands of years, corn tortillas were the bread of the Mesoamericans, apart than providing sustenance, they were torn into pieces and use as utensils to scoop other kinds of food. Depending on the filling most tacos are made with grilled or steamed soft tortillas. There are different types of tortilla depending on the corn used to make them; blue, yellow, red, etc.
Tacos Al Pastor (Shepard’s Style Tacos) are made from thin strips of pork meat previously marinated in a combination of different spices, chiles and pineapple then stacked onto a vertical rotisserie called trompo where they are slow-cooked with a piece of pineapple on top. When the meat is ready, it is sliced off the spit and served on small corn tortillas. It is then topped with finely chopped onions, cilantro and a slice of pineapple. It can also be accompanied with some lime juice and hot salsa.
Although this cooking method has ancient roots in the eastern Mediterranean, grilling a vertical spit of stacked slices of meat and cutting it as it cooks was developed in the 19th century in Ottoman Bursa (Turkey). This cooking method was first introduced to Mexico by Lebanese immigrants in the 1920’s; they brought with them shawarma, or gyros, their famous technique of spit-roasted meat, mainly lamb. The technique was copied by Mexican taqueros who substituted the lamb for pork and added the pineapple on top which didn’t really catch on until the 1960’s and soon they became a national favorite. Today Tacos al Pastor can be found anywhere in Mexico from the smallest street stand to the most expensive