A user of the infamous pictures website Imgur, was tired of fake tacos around the Internet so he decided to show the world what tacos really look and taste like:
Hi, imgur. I have seen a lot of posts and recipes which involves (fake) tacos and every time I see one of these, I cannot but to feel sad about all the people outside Mexico who will never, ever, in their sad sad lifes feel the tasty glory of eating an authentic true Mexican taco.
This, my dear friend, is the real deal, el "pedo de verdad" (the true fart, as we say). I once went to Cancún and saw an American couple asking what were these tacos made of and the waitress was confused as that's a question no one ever makes, you don't question a taco, you ask for a taco and eat it... Let's say this is the "default" taco, the taco by excelence... you can certainly go anywhere in the country, ask for a taco and 90% chance you'll get this... I present to you Tacos "al pastor". There are tons and tons of kinds of tacos all over Mexico, but this is like the "universal" taco, so I will just talk about it.
What it is made of? Again, that's a question no one ever ask, since the recipe is kept deeply into secret by the taqueros (taco makers). Most certainly every taquero has it's own personal/local recipe, but in general terms, Tacos al pastor are made from spiced pork meat. The kicker is the way you cook the meat. This, right here is the "trompo" ("spin" or something like that), it's called like this because of its shape and because once in the taco machine, the taquero spins it to get it cooked evenly. Basically it's a long spear like thing, in which you stack the pork meat.
The trompo is cooked in this device. We usually refeer to this as the "trompo" too, but to avoid confusion let's just call it "the trompo machine". The taquero places the trompo into this, start the fire, which comes out of the white grid block, and then he starts spining the trompo so the meat gets cooked evenly all along the surface.
Now, this is our friend, our ally, not the chef we want but the taquero we deserve. The taquero is a well respected figure in our country, since not anyone is allowed to make tacos, mostly because not anyone has a trompo machine and preparing a trompo requires a lot of meat. So when we make parties, nobody is allowed to make tacos, you don't make tacos, you hire a taquero so he shows up at your home with the taco machine, the trompo and a large supply of sauces, and whatever you need to eat tacos. This is basic Mexican etiquete. NO "HOMEMADE" TACOS AL PASTOR, that's why we often get ofended by any "homemade tacos" recipes.
This is our hero in action, as you can see the techinque is pretty unique, one hand to slice the meat, and the other to catch the meat with the tortillas (btw real tortilla is soft, not crusty, a crusty tortilla is not a tortilla anymore, is a "tostada" but I might save that for another post if you will). The white/yellow thing in the high end of the spear of the trompo is a pinneaple, we call it "pilón" and if a taquero ever offers you the pilón, you're not allowed to say no, you just accept it and eat it and take that as a sign from the gods, you're the choosen one. Really, it's a priviledge.
When you go to a restaurant with your friends (3 or more, 2 if you both feel greedy) you can order a kilogram of "carne al pastor" (al pastor meat) with or without cheese and hen the waiter/waitress will bring a big plate at your table, with the meat in it, and a tortillero (a plate designed to hold the tortillas) and some sauces, lime, onion & coriander. Everything you and your friends need to make some tacos.
This is what some tacos al pastor look like, as you can see there are two sauces on them, green and red, we call them just like that, by the color. The green one, normally is the hottest one, but again, every taquero has his own recipes so most certainly it will taste different from taquero to taquero, so you gotta just try a little bit of each and decide which one you'll use.
Sorry, I couldn't find any picture of a true taco with cheese, but basically every taquero chooses it's own cheese, sometimes manchego cheese, sometimes "de hebra", but never... ever... and please get this... never.... cheedar, that's prohibited by law, I'm pretty sure. Also no lettuce, that's also a sin. Another thing is that, if you order your tacos with cheese, you're allowed by the taquero to order your tacos with double tortilla, this because the cheese makes the tortilla weak, so a double tortilla will make it easy for you to eat your taco. That's all you need to know, for now. As I said, every state in Mexico has it's own taco tradition so there's way more to learn about tacos and Mexican food and Mexican etiquete, but this is the very basic stuff you need. So next time you come to Mexico you will be allways invited to try some tacos, just remember, we don't question tacos, we eat them.
Taco cat tax, please notice he's mad because he's wearing a fake taco costume.