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Puebla's domed sesame cemita stacked with thin-sliced árabe pork, quesillo, avocado, pápalo, and chipotle en adobo. The Lebanese-Mexican handshake, all on one roll.
The cemita is from Puebla. Not from Mexico City, not from the north, not from anywhere else that tries to sell you a version of it. Puebla. And the árabe is the Lebanese chapter of Puebla's history made edible.
In the early 1900s, Lebanese and Syrian families arrived in Puebla and brought with them the vertical spit, the allspice, the cumin, the technique of stacking marinated meat and shaving it off as it roasted. Poblanos took that technique and married it to their own bread, the cemita: a round, domed roll crusted in sesame seeds, sweet from a touch of egg in the dough. Eventually the same trompo technique traveled to Mexico City and met the achiote and pineapple of al pastor. But the original, the one before al pastor existed, is árabe. And it lives in Puebla.
The pápalo is not optional. It is a wild herb that grows in central Mexico, bright and slightly soapy and unlike anything else, and it is what makes the cemita taste like a cemita and not a torta. If you cannot find pápalo at your mercado, the dish loses something it cannot get back. The quesillo is from Oaxaca, the chipotle from Veracruz or Puebla, the avocado from Michoacán. One sandwich, a map of central Mexico, with the Lebanese signature underneath. Cada estado, su propia cocina, but a cemita is what happens when those kitchens meet on a single roll.
The tacos árabes that gave rise to cemita árabe were introduced to Puebla in the 1930s by Lebanese immigrant Jorge Galim Andere, who adapted the vertical spit-roasting technique of shawarma to local pork, using a pita-like pan árabe as the original wrapper. Poblano cooks later transferred the same spiced pork to the cemita roll, a sesame-crusted bread that had existed in the city since the late 19th century and is often credited to French influence during the brief Second Mexican Empire. The pápalo (Porophyllum ruderale), a pre-Columbian herb whose name comes from the Nahuatl 'papalotl' meaning butterfly, has been eaten raw in central Mexico for over a thousand years and was incorporated into the cemita as a native counterpoint to the immigrant meat and bread.
Quantity
2 pounds
sliced into thin steaks about 1/4 inch thick
Quantity
1/2 cup
Quantity
1/4 cup
Quantity
2 tablespoons
Quantity
4
mashed to a paste
Quantity
1 tablespoon
Quantity
1 teaspoon
Quantity
1 teaspoon
Quantity
1 teaspoon
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
Quantity
4
sesame-crusted, round, with a domed top
Quantity
8 ounces
pulled into thin strands
Quantity
1
sliced
Quantity
1/2
sliced into very thin rings
Quantity
12 to 16
Quantity
4 to 6
sliced, plus 2 tablespoons of the adobo
Quantity
2 tablespoons
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| boneless pork shouldersliced into thin steaks about 1/4 inch thick | 2 pounds |
| fresh orange juice | 1/2 cup |
| white vinegar | 1/4 cup |
| olive oil | 2 tablespoons |
| garlic clovesmashed to a paste | 4 |
| dried Mexican oregano | 1 tablespoon |
| ground cumin | 1 teaspoon |
| ground allspice | 1 teaspoon |
| kosher salt | 1 teaspoon |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1/2 teaspoon |
| cemita rollssesame-crusted, round, with a domed top | 4 |
| quesillo (Oaxacan string cheese)pulled into thin strands | 8 ounces |
| ripe avocadosliced | 1 |
| small white onionsliced into very thin rings | 1/2 |
| fresh pápalo leaves | 12 to 16 |
| chiles chipotles en adobosliced, plus 2 tablespoons of the adobo | 4 to 6 |
| olive oil for the griddle | 2 tablespoons |
| lime wedges (optional) | for serving |
In a bowl, whisk together the orange juice, white vinegar, olive oil, garlic paste, oregano, cumin, allspice, salt, and black pepper. This is the Lebanese hand in this dish. The allspice and cumin are not Mexican spices. They came to Puebla with the Lebanese families who arrived in the early 1900s, and they are what separate árabe pork from al pastor. Do not skip them and do not swap them for achiote. That is a different sandwich from a different state.
Lay the thin pork steaks in a shallow dish and pour the marinade over them. Turn each piece so it is fully coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, ideally overnight. The acid from the orange and vinegar tenderizes the meat and lets the spices reach the center of each slice. Rushing this step gives you flat, surface-seasoned pork.
Heat a heavy cast iron skillet or plancha over medium-high until a drop of water dances and disappears. Add a tablespoon of olive oil. Lay the pork steaks down in a single layer without crowding. Sear for 2 to 3 minutes per side until the edges are dark and crisp and the meat is cooked through. Work in batches. Crowded pork steams. Steamed pork is sad pork.
Transfer the seared steaks to a cutting board and let them rest for 3 minutes. Slice each one against the grain into thin strips. This is the cut that would come off the trompo. Pile the strips back on the hot skillet for 30 seconds so the edges crisp again and any juices reduce against the iron. That second hit of heat is what makes árabe pork taste like árabe pork.
Split each cemita in half through the equator. Lightly toast the cut sides on the hot skillet until they are golden but still soft inside. A cemita is not a crusty bolillo. It is a tender sesame roll, sweet from a bit of egg in the dough, and the toast is just to give the cut face a little structure. Do not let it dry out.
Set the bottom half of each roll on a board. Lay strands of quesillo across the bread first. The residual heat from the meat will melt the cheese against the bun. Pile a generous mound of the sliced árabe pork over the quesillo. Layer two or three slices of avocado, a few rings of raw white onion, three or four leaves of pápalo, and the sliced chipotles en adobo with a spoonful of the adobo brushed across the top bun. Close the cemita and press it down with your palm. Una cemita que no se aplasta no es cemita.
Cut each cemita in half if you want, but in Puebla they hand it to you whole and you figure it out. Serve with lime wedges and eat it the moment it is built. The cemita does not wait. The bread softens, the avocado bleeds, and the moment passes. Así se hace y punto.
1 serving (about 390g)
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