(from

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

, "shepherd style"), is a preparation of spit-grilled slices of

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved; ...

originating in the Central Mexican region of

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

, although today it is a common menu item found in throughout Mexico. The method of preparing and cooking is based on the

lamb Lamb or The Lamb may refer to: * A young sheep * Lamb and mutton, the meat of sheep Arts and media Film, television, and theatre * ''The Lamb'' (1915 film), a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in his screen debut * ''The Lamb'' (1918 ...

shawarma Shawarma (; ar, شاورما) is a popular Middle Eastern dish that originated in the Ottoman Empire, consisting of meat cut into thin slices, stacked in a cone-like shape, and roasted on a slowly-turning vertical rotisserie or spit. Tradition ...

brought by Lebanese immigrants to the region. features a flavor palate that uses traditional Mexican

adobada Adobada (Spanish for " marinated") is a preparation for many dishes that are common in Mexican cuisine. Adobada is generally pork marinated in a "red" chili sauce with vinegar and oregano, but it can refer to different types of meat and to marinad ...

(marinade). It is a popular

street food Street food is ready-to-eat food or drinks sold by a hawker, or vendor, in a street or at other public places, such as markets or fairs. It is often sold from a portable food booth, food cart, or food truck and is meant for immediate consumption ...

that has spread to the United States. In some places of

northern Mexico Northern Mexico ( es, el Norte de México ), commonly referred as , is an informal term for the northern cultural and geographical area in Mexico. Depending on the source, it contains some or all of the states of Baja California, Baja California ...

and

coastal The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in ...

Mexico, such as in

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, it is known as or . A similar dish also from

that uses a combination of middle eastern spices and indigenous central Mexican ingredients is called .

History

During the 19th century, variations of a vertically grilled meat dish, now known by several names, started to spread throughout the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. The Lebanese version,

, was brought to Mexico in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by a wave of Lebanese immigrants, mainly

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

such as the

Maronites The Maronites ( ar, الموارنة; syr, ܡܖ̈ܘܢܝܐ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant region of the Middle East, whose members traditionally belong to the Maronite Church, with the larg ...

who have no religious dietary restrictions on eating pork. In the 1960s, Mexican-born progeny of these immigrants began opening their own restaurants and combining their heritage with Mexican cuisine. Being derived from shawarma, it is also similar to the Turkish döner kebab and the Greek

gyros Gyros—in some regions, chiefly North America, anglicized as a gyro (; el, γύρος, yíros/gyros, turn, )—is meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie, then sliced and served wrapped or stuffed in pita bread, along with ingredients suc ...

Preparation

Pork is marinated in a combination of dried chilies,

spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices a ...

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuri ...

, and typically

achiote ''Bixa orellana'', also known as achiote, is a shrub native to Central America. ''Bixa orellana'' is grown in many countries worldwide. The tree is best known as the source of annatto, a natural orange-red condiment (also called or ) obtained ...

paste, then slowly cooked with charcoal or gas flame on a vertical rotisserie called a (), the meat is shaved off as the outside is browned, and made into tacos.

Guajillo chile Guajillo may refer to: *Guajillo Acacia, a common name for '' Acacia berlandieri'', a shrub native to the Southwestern United States *The Guajillo chili A guajillo chili or guajillo chile or chile guaco ( es, chile guajillo) is the dried form of ...

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...

, cumin,

clove Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands (or Moluccas) in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring or fragrance in consumer products, ...

, bay leaf, and

vinegar Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting simple sugars to eth ...

are common ingredients, with

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakfa ...

, dried

Mexican oregano ''Lippia graveolens'', a species of flowering plant in the verbena or vervain family, Verbenaceae, is native to the southwestern United States (Texas and southern New Mexico), Mexico, and Central America as far south as Nicaragua. Common names ...

, coriander, and

black peppercorn Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diamet ...

s found in many variants. Meat is thinly sliced off the spit with a large knife into a small corn tortilla and served with finely chopped

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion ...

cilantro Coriander (;

, and diced pineapple. A wedge of

lemon The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China. The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culin ...

lime Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Botany ...

and a

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: ...

are optional condiments. This meat is also a common ingredient in

gringas Gringas (, plural and feminine form of ''gringo'') are a variety of tacos which consist of flour tortillas filled with cheese, al pastor meat, and pineapple. They are then grilled in the same manner as a quesadilla A quesadilla (; ; Mexic ...

, alambres, huaraches,

torta Torta is a culinary term that can, depending on the cuisine, refer to cakes, pies, flatbreads, sandwiches, or omelettes. Usually, it refers to: * cake or pie in South America, much of Europe, and southern Philippines * flatbread in Spain * a ...

burrito A burrito (, ) is a dish in Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine that took form in Ciudad Juárez, consisting of a flour tortilla wrapped into a sealed cylindrical shape around various ingredients. The tortilla is sometimes lightly grilled or stea ...

s, and

pizza Pizza (, ) is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients (such as various types of sausage, anchovies, mushrooms, onions ...

Varieties

In some places of northern Mexico, such as

Nuevo León Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. With a ...

, Durango and Chihuahua, these are usually called if served on corn tortillas, and if they are served with cheese on

flour tortilla A flour tortilla (, ) or wheat tortilla is a type of soft, thin flatbread made from finely ground wheat flour. It was originally inspired by the corn tortilla of Mexican cuisine, a flatbread of maize which predates the arrival of Europeans t ...

s. A similar dish is called , which originated in

in the 1930s from Arab-Mexican cuisine. use shawarma-style meat carved from a spit, but are served in a

pita Pita ( or ) or pitta (British English), is a family of yeast-leavened round flatbreads baked from wheat flour, common in the Mediterranean, Middle East, and neighboring areas. It includes the widely known version with an interior pocket, als ...

-style bread called (). These tacos have been brought by Mexican immigrants to the United States in the past few years and have become popular in cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles, two of the largest Mexican/Mexican-American population centers in the United States. A chicken version marinated in the style was brought back to the Middle East in the early 2000s, and sold as "shawarma mexici". It is typically served in the Middle Eastern style, wrapped with garlic mayonnaise,

dill pickle A pickled cucumber (commonly known as a pickle in the United States and Canada and a gherkin in Britain, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand) is a usually small or miniature cucumber that has been pickled in a brine, vinegar, or ...

, and french fries in a thin flatbread.

References

{{Street food Lebanese Mexican Maronite cuisine Mexican cuisine Pork Sandwiches Spit-cooked foods Taco Pork dishes Mexican pork dishes

History

Preparation

Varieties

See also

References