Gringas
A gringa is a Mexico City taquería specialty of al pastor pork and melted cheese sandwiched between tortillas, usually flour, and heated on the griddle until the cheese melts. It sits halfway between a taco and a quesadilla.
Description
A gringa is built by laying al pastor meat and cheese, typically Oaxaca, manchego or both, on a hot tortilla, covering it with a second tortilla and heating it on the comal until the cheese melts and holds everything together. Larousse Cocina, in its Diccionario enciclopédico de la gastronomía mexicana, describes the base as a freshly warmed corn tortilla and mentions a variant on wheat-flour tortillas with pineapple, as in tacos al pastor; in most taquerías today the flour-tortilla version is the standard. The dictionary identifies the dish with Mexico City. Larousse classifies the gringa as an antojito, the broad Mexican category of snacks and street dishes, and places it squarely in the taquería repertoire. Because the meat is shaved from the same trompo used for tacos al pastor, a gringa carries the same achiote-and-chile seasoning, softened by the melted cheese.
Origin of the name
The best-known story, told by the El Fogoncito chain of taquerías and repeated by the newspaper La Opinión, credits two American exchange students studying Spanish at UNAM who frequented the restaurant's original branch in the Anzures neighborhood of Mexico City in the 1970s. Disliking corn tortillas, they asked for al pastor on the flour tortillas the kitchen used for quesadillas. Other customers began ordering lo de la gringa, the American woman's order, and the name stuck. The account comes from the restaurant itself, which claims to have invented the dish, and has not been independently confirmed; La Opinión names the students as Sharon Smith and Jennifer Anderson. According to the newspaper, El Fogoncito opened in 1970 on Leibnitz street, in a neighborhood popular with students, which fits the story's setting.
Serving
Gringas are cut in halves or quarters and eaten like tacos, topped with salsa and often a little pineapple from the trompo. According to La Opinión they now appear on the menus of many restaurants and taquerías that sell al pastor.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 400 g cooked al pastor pork, chopped and kept warm
- 200 g Oaxaca cheese, shredded
- 100 g manchego or Monterey Jack cheese, grated
- 8 small flour tortillas (about 15 cm)
- 1/2 cup chopped grilled pineapple
- Chopped onion and cilantro, salsa verde or roja, lime wedges
Steps
- Heat a comal or large skillet over medium heat.
- Lay a tortilla on the comal, cover it with a quarter of each cheese and top with a quarter of the meat.
- Place a second tortilla on top and press gently.
- Cook about 2 minutes, until the bottom is spotted and the cheese begins to melt, then flip and cook 1 to 2 minutes more.
- Cut into halves or quarters and serve with pineapple, onion, cilantro, salsa and lime.
Where to try it
- El Fogoncito, Mexico City: Taquería chain that claims to have created the gringa at its original Anzures branch.
- Al Pastor Papi, San Francisco, California
- Diego Taquería, San Pedro Garza García
- El Huequito, Mexico City
- El Super Taco, Mexico City
- El Tizoncito, Mexico City
- El Vilsito, Mexico City
- La Flamita Mixe Taquería, Oaxaca
- La Onda, Mexico City
- Súper Taco Tomás, Guadalajara
- Tacos Al Pastor Puebla, Oakland, California
- Tacos El Charro, Monterrey
- Tacos El Chilanguito, San Jose, California
- Tacos Providencia, Guadalajara
- Tacos Tamix, Los Angeles, California
- Tacos Tomás, Veracruz
- Taquería Los Alteños, Zapopan
- Taquería Minerva, Guadalajara
- Taquería Tacomer, Oaxaca
Reviews
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See also
References
- "Gringa". Larousse Cocina. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "Conoce el origen de las famosas gringas al pastor". La Opinión. Retrieved 2026-10-10.