Some of you may be asking, “what are tacos al pastor?” Lucky for you, I am going to show you!

The traditional way to make tacos al pastor is to take a thin slices of marinated pork and pile them on top of each other.

Next, the meat is placed on a large TROMPO, which literally means “spinning top.” In many–but not all– cases, a pineapple and onion are placed on top of the spit, the meat then spins around in front of an open fire until begins to cook through. When the outer layer of meat is grilled, the taquero (the person preparing the tacos) cuts off layers of meat so that inner layers cook as well. As he cuts the meat, it falls off the trompo in small pieces directly onto the tortilla that taquero holds with his other hand.

As you can see, being a taquero requires more skills than one might think! The taco is then served with finely chopped onions, cilantro, pieces of pineapple and either salsa verde or roja.

The English translation of al pastor is “in the style of the shepherd.” Mexican shepherds adapted the Lebanese style of spit-roasting lamb, using pork instead, and al pastor tacos became a beloved Mexican food the world over.