Taco Tuesday: Al Pastor

Estos si son tacos y no chingaderas ♥`w´♥

La carne al pastor is the result of a careful blend of many spices, such as achiote, pepper, chiles, paprika, and many more, applied to multiple layers of steaks for marinating, which are then stacked one over the other in a vertical metal stick to form what is known as el trompo and cooked sideways with an open flame.

Only the outer side is seared, and el taquero cuts thin slices of it which fall straight into the tortilla, along with a slice of pineapple that helps tenderize the meat further, as well as provide a wild mix of sweet and spicy tastes we mexicans love.

these are small taquitos, so they serve as a full meal or a snack no matter what, and can be enjoyed with both salsas verde and roja, minced onions, coriander and lime juice everywhere, no city nor pueblo is safe from having at least one tacos al pastor stand~

Los Tacos de Cabeza

Tortilla wraps offer a myriad of posibilities, of recipes and of course flavor in the filling. And oh boy, I can not do justice to these in a single post, so let’s have a weekly taco talk, ok? Ok.

Let’s start it off with the steamy meat delight of tacos de cabeza: made with the steamed meat from a whole cow’s head. All of the meat.
Tongue, eyes, cheeks, ears, brains, snout, you got them all.

Because it is cooked by steam, the meat conserves more of its nutrients and avoids the added fats from oils, as well as being prone to overcooking and burning. The meat is elastic and soft, since there’s an abundance of collagen that doesn’t quite break down while cooking.

A common dish for late night dinners, los tacos de cabeza can be eaten at taco stands all over the country, since there is always at least one, no matter how small the town may be. As such, local butchers will normally have the heads reserved for them, so if you want to make your own, for a huge fiesta (one head alone can easily feed about 30 people) you gotta request the head in advance to them.