Did you know that this amazingly flavorful variety of taco only came about because of immigration?

Tacos al pastor are my go-to taco order at any of the excellent taquerias in Chicago. Every place does it slightly differently, but the spice blends are always interesting, the flavors always bold and complex, and they always make me extremely happy.

I’m not sure when I learned about the origin of al pastor, but I remember thinking that it made a lot of sense. So many of my favorite foods have stories like this, stories about people leaving one home and finding a new one, and adapting old recipes to a new place: things like chop suey, tempura, tikka masala, banh mi (and klobásníky!), dishes that only exist because a group of people left one place and landed in a different one. Many of these dishes came about because of colonialism, of course! But the resulting fusion is still fascinating to me, and usually still delicious.

It’s something that’s been on my mind a lot in recent weeks, as more horrifying news about violent ICE agents continues to pour in from Minneapolis, Portland, New Orleans, and my own city. My family wouldn’t be in America today if my Czech ancestors hadn’t envisioned a better life across the ocean, and hadn’t been allowed to settle here safely. I imagine many of you reading this right now have similar stories in your families. I still think the vast majority of Americans believe that immigrants belong here; that immigrants make us a better, stronger, happier and more prosperous country. And they bring delicious food with them!

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What I’m into lately:

I have been reading I Am Behind You by John Ajvide Lindqvist (the writer behind the excellent Let the Right One In) and it’s fascinating and eerie and bizarre. I’m not quite to the end yet (and it’s a long one), but I’m finding the characters and their backstories extremely compelling; something in the way the stories are doled out remind me a bit of when the TV show Lost was at its very best. It seems like it’s the first in a trilogy, but I can’t tell if the other two have been translated into English yet or not! I’m interested to see how he wraps the story up, and how much of the mystery gets explained.

What Toki’s into lately:

I got a better photo of him tunneling into his blanket nest! Toki’s advice to you is to spend as much time as you can wrapped in a cozy blanket.

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