When fusion is considered authentic
One of my favorite types of tacos are tacos al pastor.
Marinated pork, cooked on a vertical spit, topped with a pineapple, shaved into a waiting tortilla below. It's one of the best parts of Mexican cuisine, and comes directly from Middle Eastern Lebanese (and other country's) immigrants to Mexico after World War 1 and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. There's a ton of videos online about the history of tacos arabes and tacos al pastor who all explain it with more research and expertise than I could ever land on.
Finding a decent al pastor taqueria is just a matter of throwing a rock in Los Angeles. . . and only slightly more difficult in other areas. They're arguably the world's most popular taco style, and yet they're barely 100 years old and the origins of the dish are almost entirely from introducing a different culture and cooking style to the country.
In Los Angeles, there's a taco truck with origins from Puebla that serves "tacos arabes" the more "original" version of tacos al pastor, with pan arabes, a thin bread with more in common with pita bread than tortillas.
PBS took a look at the place at the truck down in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles.
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I personally found the tacos arabes to be perfectly fine - maybe there's just too much competition in Southern California. Maybe I'm just too used to the usual corn or flour tortillas, that I didn't especially care for the tortillas arabes, or maybe I was already just too full? They are certainly not bad tacos, but if I'm ever back on Olympic in Boyle Heights, Tacos y Birria La Unica, Mariscos Jalisco and Mariscos 4 Vientos are all down the street, and for me, easier choices.
However, this combination of Lebanese and Mexican traditions leads me someplace more exciting. In South Los Angeles, a guy named Ronnie was (he's having licensing issues and is currently moving to a food truck) is making Mexican corn pita . .. and then cooking meats influenced by both Middle Eastern and Mexican flavor profiles and its absolutely delicious.
From their website:
Camello is built on a real chapter of Mexican history that most people don’t know — the deep culinary influence of Lebanese and Middle Eastern immigrants who arrived in Mexico more than a century ago. Instead of inventing a fusion concept, Camello continues a cultural exchange that already existed: the transformation of shawarma into tacos árabes, and eventually al pastor. Camello honors that evolution but reimagines it through a modern chef’s lens, using Sonoran wheat, heirloom corn, Middle Eastern techniques, and fresh California produce. Camello feels both familiar and entirely new because it reflects a genuine history of migration, adaptation, and shared flavors
I had both the grilled wagyu ara'yes and the labneh chicken al pastor, the chicken was delicious, but the wagyu ara'yes was something special, and I really hope that Chef Ronnie finds a more stable location because this is really exciting food and he deserves a lot more people to try this.
Authenticity doesn't mean anything. Tradition doesn't mean anything. If your cooking relies on a solid foundation of flavors and has a lineage that makes sense, the world will (hopefully) beat a path to your door, or food truck.
