"Creo que las gingas de tu país son mas guapas que las nuestras."
"I think the gringas in your country are more beautiful than ours."
It was a dark and stormy night... and we were hungry. But seriously, the first time I tried gringas, it seemed like the world might end. I was in the car with my buddy Noé driving down the street in Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico City on our way to eat dinner when all of a sudden a freak hailstorm, like none anyone there had seen in their lifetime, came out of nowhere. We took refuge underneath a small tree that sat alongside the street and waited for the storm to pass. All of the fallen leaves and twigs from the tree plastered on the car made it look like a taco sprinkled with chopped cilantro. Water and ice flooded the streets; everything was white. Neza York looked more like New York at Christmas than Mexico at the end of Spring. "Vaya primavera," I said.
When the apocalypse had come and gone, we went out for tacos. But not only tacos, gringas. You have probably heard that gringas means white girls. True. But the word can have another meaning here in CDMX. These are Mexican gringas, and they are gorgeous. Gringas (as a dish) consist of carne al pastor, pineapple chunks and cheese all grilled together in a beautiful, cheesy mass, and sandwiched in-between two toasted flour tortillas. For this post we have the special treat of having a pro taquero show you how it's done.
Shoutout to friend and master photographer Adrián Juárez for illustrating today's post. You can check out more of his work on his website: http://www.adrianjuarezphotography.com/ as well as FB and Instagram @adrianjuarezphotography
And an equally special shoutout to Pizza y Parilla Lily for letting us take photos at their taco post and for making some seriously delicious gringas.
HOW IT'S DONE
Start with the carne al pastor and pineapple, see last week's post on tacos al pastor for more info on where to get carne al pastor at home.
Next add a nice thick layer of cheese on top of the meat on the grill. Mozzarella or Queso Oaxaca can be used (monzzarella was used here).
Now start to mix and turn the meat on the grill as cheese starts to melt and combine.
When you have an beautiful monument of meat and cheese, toast your tortillas until they start to get a little crispy. Then scoop a generous helping onto the tortillas and then place a second tortillas on top.
Now you might be saying, hold up, isn't this just a quesadilla? No. No, it is not. The gringa is defined by carne al pastor, pineapple, and cheese, nothing more, nothing less. The quesadilla is a completely different animal in that they could have any number of different kinds of meat inside, they often contain grilled vegetables, the fold of the tortilla is different, the cheese can be different, etc., etc. I don't think a redhead would appreciate you calling her a blonde, or a brunette a redhead. Same thing applies here. Gringas are special. Enjoy them, treasure them, but don't call them quesadillas.
Serve with Coca-cola Mexicana
Pair with La Vida Contigo, Banda Radial
¡Buen provecho!