Recipe: Tacos al Pastor from the JBF Award–Nominated "Tacos: Recipes and Provocations" Cookbook

After lauded stints as a pastry chef at fine-dining establishments like Alinea and WD~50, Alex Stupak swapped tuilles for tortillas with the opening of his Mexican hot spot Empellón Cocina in 2011. With the Empellón brand now encompassing three restaurants across New York City, the restaurant group's kitchens are serving up some of the metropolis’s best south-of-the-border cuisine. Stupak’s fascination with Mexico’s culinary traditions prompted the genesis of his new cookbook, Tacos: Recipes and Provocations, which was written with former Time Out food & drink editor Jordana Rothman and nominated for our JBF Award for Cookbook: Single Subject. Featuring mouthwatering recipes and lavish photography showcasing the diversity of regional techniques and flavors, the tome is a love letter to all that can be born out of a tortilla press. With this recipe for tacos al pastor (the centerpiece of one of Stupak’s Empellón locations), Stupak and Rothman reveal how to hack the dish for the home cook, including all the necessary salsas, sauces, and accompaniments to get the perennial party favorite onto your kitchen table.

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Maggie Borden is associate editor at the James Beard Foundation. Find her on Instagram.