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FijiFlavors · Mexico City
Tacos of pork seasoned with a chile adobo, roasted on a vertical spit (the trompo), and served in a corn tortilla with pineapple, onion and cilantro. They descend from the tacos árabes brought to Puebla by Middle Eastern immigrants and took their current form in Mexico City taquerías.
Traditional dish from Mexico City, Mexico City
Also known as: taco al pastor, tacos de trompo
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Tacos al pastor — Mexico City, Mexico
Tacos al pastor are made from thin slices of pork marinated in a dried-chile adobo and stacked on a vertical spit called a trompo. The spit turns in front of a heat source; the taquero slices off the outer, browned layer directly onto small corn tortillas, and often tops them with a piece of pineapple roasted on the top of the trompo.
The vertical-spit technique arrived in Mexico with immigrants from the former Ottoman Empire, especially Lebanese, in the early decades of the 20th century. In the 1920s and 1930s, in Puebla, they began selling what were called tacos árabes: spit-roasted meat served in an Arab bread similar to pita.
In Mexico City, from the 1950s and 1960s, local taquerías swapped lamb for pork, added the chile adobo and started serving the meat in corn tortillas with pineapple. Two taquerías in the capital claim to have created this version; sources do not agree, and the safest statement is that it originated in Mexico City taquerías of that era.
Today tacos al pastor are found across the city, from street stalls to neighborhood taquerías, and have spread throughout the country. In the north, a similar preparation is called tacos de trompo or adobada. It’s nighttime, stand-up food, ordered by the piece at the trompo.
Mexico City , Mexico City
The version with pork in a chile adobo, corn tortilla and pineapple became established in Mexico City taquerías in the 1950s and 1960s, evolving from Puebla’s tacos árabes.
Thinly sliced pork; dried-chile adobo (such as guajillo and ancho), spices, vinegar and, in many recipes, achiote; pineapple; small corn tortillas; chopped onion and cilantro; lime and sauces.
With your hands, on small tortillas, usually two folded together. On top go onion, cilantro and, if the customer wants, a piece of pineapple, salsa and lime. They are ordered by the piece, eaten standing at the trompo or seated in taquerías.
All year round, especially at night. It’s one of the most ordered tacos after work and on weekends.
Your questions
They come from the tacos árabes, created in Puebla by Middle Eastern immigrants in the 1920s and 1930s, featuring spit-roasted meat. In Mexico City, in the 1950s and 1960s, the meat became pork with a chile adobo, served in corn tortillas.
Pineapple roasted on the top of the trompo became a hallmark of the Mexico City version. The exact reason is not known; the piece of fruit balances the heat and the fat of the meat.
Tacos árabes, from Puebla, use meat without a chile adobo and are served in Arab bread. Tacos al pastor use pork in a chile adobo, corn tortillas and, generally, pineapple.
Flavors of Mexico
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