Tacos are everywhere in Mexico. On almost every street corner, a taquería invites locals and visitors alike to stop for a quick and flavorful meal. Walking through Mexico City, I have noticed that taquerías open for long hours, with people grabbing tacos at all times of the day. The smell of roasted meat, fresh tortillas and spices fills the air, and the options seem endless, from tacos al pastor to trompo rojo de pork belly to bistec (steak). Watching cooks slice meat from the trompo (a rotating spit similar to a vertical rotisserie, where the meat is stacked and cooked slowly), I realized that every taco stand is a small window into the city’s daily life and culture.
In this manner, tacos are more than food. They are stories. In Mexico City, the most popular taco is al pastor, created in the 1960s when Lebanese immigrants brought shawarma to Mexico. Mexican cooks adapted it, replacing lamb with pork, marinating it with achiote (a bright red-orange spice made from annatto seeds that adds color and a slightly earthy, peppery flavor) and local spices, and cooking it on a vertical trompo, making tacos al pastor an icon of Mexican cuisine.
