Al Pastor

[chumley]

Yes, I have had the version with the roasted pineapple on it. Delicious!

[bluesman]

You should set this up as a poll. . .

Done!

You're the man D.

Denny's a movin' and a groovin' 

Oh man its good. I get them at Taco Riendo in Philly. Not far from where I work actually.

Bluesman maybe we should go there for lunch when we modify your brewstand.

Now that sounds like a good plan. 

[euge]

We get it served on 5-6 tiny corn tortillas laid out on a plate. A little cilantro, onion and chile.

Cap- "Taco Riendo" is a play on words. Esta' Corriendo or loosely is running into running taco. Maybe running away...?

But Spanish is funny like that.

[phillamb168]

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/gyro-meat-with-tzatziki-sauce-recipe/index.html

This is Alton Brown's recipe for Gyros. If you scroll down you'll see his instructions for doing it rotisserie-style. I know al pastor is typically chunks of meat as opposed to a paste, but I wonder if this wouldn't be closer to the "original" al pastor that came to Mexico from the Middle East? Plus it's all done in a food processor, and I loves me some food processorin'.

[euge]

The paste based sounds like some sort of mass produced product.  Seems to me AB's is an approximation.

[johnf]

Alton's method would be completely authentic for European döner kebab, if that's what he was trying to make.

[phillamb168]

Alton's method would be completely authentic for European döner kebab, if that's what he was trying to make.

Exactly - the Lebanese supposedly brought the idea of al pastor to Mexico, and I was thinking that the "original" would have probably been something along the lines of doner or shawarma.

[tschmidlin]

If it's already ground and then formed into the shape, it should be pretty tender already, right?  That's what I see with sausage if it's ground fine enough.  Maybe with the larger chunks it isn't tender enough, and that's why they use the pineapple.  Pure speculation. 

[euge]

From Wikipedia on Doner kebab

There are two basic ways of preparing the meat for doner kebabs:

    * The more common and authentic method is to stack marinated slices of lean lamb meat onto a vertical skewer in the shape of an inverted cone. The meat is cooked by charcoal, wood, electric, or gas burners. The döner stack is topped with fat (mostly tail fat), that drips along the meat stack when heated. At times, tomatoes, and onions are placed at the top of the stack to also drip juices over the meat, keeping it moist. In Turkey, most restaurants prepare their doner early in the morning, and serve the last portion by the end of the afternoon.
    * In Western Europe and Canada, meat for döner kebab is often industrially processed from compressed ground meat (in essence, a form of meatloaf) containing a mixture of different meat kinds from various animals, making the specific contents less traceable. For that purpose, in Germany the amount of ground meat is not allowed to surpass 60% (Deutsches Lebensmittelbuch).

I think the processed stuff is a bit more ubiquitous at least for gyros. Stacking up all that meat on a skewer is labor intensive, whereas one can simply unwrap something like this in the morning:
http://www.kronosproducts.com/p-meats1.html

It wouldn't surprise me one bit if there was something similar for Al Pastor.

[phillamb168]

For that purpose, in Germany the amount of ground meat is not allowed to surpass 60% (Deutsches Lebensmittelbuch).

[/quote]

It's the Reinheitsgebot of kebab!!!

[euge]

For that purpose, in Germany the amount of ground meat is not allowed to surpass 60% (Deutsches Lebensmittelbuch).

It's the Reinheitsgebot of kebab!!!

What's the other 40%? eeeeeek!

[johnf]

For that purpose, in Germany the amount of ground meat is not allowed to surpass 60% (Deutsches Lebensmittelbuch).

It's the Reinheitsgebot of kebab!!!

What's the other 40%? eeeeeek!

Don't know but it tastes awfully good when you are drunk. Surprised it never caught on in the US.

[tschmidlin]

For that purpose, in Germany the amount of ground meat is not allowed to surpass 60% (Deutsches Lebensmittelbuch).

It's the Reinheitsgebot of kebab!!!

What's the other 40%? eeeeeek!

I suspect it's meat that has not been ground and is still somewhat identifiable.

[euge]

That makes sense. Whew.

I can get a good gyro or souvlaki here at the Greek places but it isn't street food. Though that gives me some ideas.

[capozzoli]

Those Greek gyro logs are more than 40% sheep testicles. Trust me, its true. The rest is other various unmentionable nasty bits.