What Kind Of Meat Is Al Pastor?

Tacos are just one of the many culinary wonders that come from Mexican culture, but Al Pastor tacos are one the oldest and one that serves as a beautiful example of cultures blending through food. These pork-filled tacos have a specific preparation and influences outside of Mexico.

Al Pastor tacos are generally filled with thin pieces of marinated pork that were cooked on and shaved off of a vertical spit. Cooking the meat this way makes it so that the fat drips down and gives the slices a crispy exterior. That's right, there's more than one way to ensure a juicy piece of meat comes off a slow turning rotisserie. 

The taco is also topped with pineapple, onion, and cilantro, traditionally. As with other types of tacos and their preparations, these toppings and the marinade can vary by the region of Mexico where the Al Pastor is being made.

The cut of meat used for Al Pastor tacos is usually a boneless pork shoulder ,and the meat's marinade can often include spices like cumin, achiote paste (which contains seeds, spices and herbs), different types of dried chilies like guajillo, and citrus like orange or pineapple juice to balance the flavor. While the ingredients used to make Al Pastor tacos are heavily rooted in Mexican culture, the way in which they are cooked comes from a different culture. Let's dive into how the pork shoulder landed itself in a vertical roaster.

The vertical rotisserie that Al Pastor meat is cooked on is known as a trompo, but it did not originate in Mexico. Around the 1930s, Lebanese immigrants made their way to the country. Thousands settled in Mexico and even opened restaurants where they began selling shawarma in tacos, calling them tacos arabes. Shawarma is a Middle Eastern dish made by stacking marinated meat on a vertical, slowly rotating spit and slicing from as it cooks. However, shawarma is traditionally made using lamb, though it can also be made with pork or chicken as well. (Be sure to check out The Takeout guide on making restaurant-style chicken shawarma at home!)

Blending the cultural influences together, Mexican people used pork instead but took on the cooking style. In fact, the name Al Pastor actually translates to "Shepard style," referring to the Middle Eastern immigrants who brought this style of cooking with them to Mexico.

Taco fillings run abundant; whether your tortilla is filled with beef, chicken, pork, bell peppers and cheese, fish, or shrimp, the many options are enough to make any mouth water. However, Al Pastor tacos are the only kind that turn meat roasting on its head.