Pierre Gasly Loves Tacos (And Tiramisu)
Tacos make so much sense for the Mexico City Grand Prix. Tiramisu? Well, tiramisu always makes sense to me
Welcome to Grand Prix Gastronomy! In 2024, this series is dedicated to cooking the favorite dishes of every driver on the grid.
The Foods That Pierre Gasly Loves
In 2023, Pierre Gasly hopped on Reddit and answered some questions during an “ask me anything” session. A user named Soggy-Juggernaut-569 asked Pierre what his favorite or most memorable dish he's eaten was, and Gasly answered as follows:
“That's a Yuki type of question. I must say I'm a foodie, I love food. But, not to the extent of remembering like one specific dish. And actually, during race weekend, it's quite often the same food. I try to keep to a similar diet throughout all the race weekends. It’s mainly on Sunday’s I like treat myself to something like tacos or tiramisu. I’m crazy about tiramisu.”
Bestie, same.
I wasn't able to find much more about Pierre's culinary habits out there on the internet, so tacos and tiramisu it is! (You literally do not have to twist my arm to make tacos and tiramisu at any point in my life.)
If you're also curious about the timing of Gasly's meal — I have a few reasons why it makes sense (at least for me!). First and foremost, tacos are obviously an ideal meal for the Mexico City Grand Prix. And sure, tiramisu seems like a really weird choice to make as well — but Mexico always falls around my mom's birthday, and my mom loves tiramisu. If she can, she'll usually celebrate with a store-bought single-serve tiramisu; I wanted to make her something homemade for her special day. Being able to film it for GPG was just a lil extra bonus!
This Week's Recipes
As far as recipes go, tiramisu is a fairly straightforward process, so I nabbed a tasty looking recipe from Recipes from Italy.
But ol’ Pierre didn't exactly give me much to work with on the “favorite genre of taco” front, so I opted for my own current fave: tacos al pastor. Basically, this taco is made of pork marinated in a sauce of chilis, garlic, onion, pineapple juice, and orange juice. Traditionally, you'd roast this on a big ol’ skewer and shave the cooked meat off right into the taco — but I'm opting for a slightly simpler preparation at home.
Core Recipes:
Cooking Tacos and Tiramisu
Pierre Gasly's favorite foods will benefit from a little patience, since they both require a bit of marinating.
I started with my tiramisu because I knew I'd be touching a LOT of aromatics for the tacos.
Start off by making some coffee and adding in a bit of marsala wine. You'll want to give this plenty of time to cool — which will thankfully be pretty easy as you get the rest of your dessert ready.
Separate out some egg whites from the egg yolks, then whip the egg whites until they're nice and stiff. Set that aside, then beat egg yolks and sugar until you've got a smooth, light mixture.
Pop your mascarpone cheese into a separate bowl and smoosh it up to get it softer and more workable, then add that into the yolk/sugar mixture and continue whipping for a few minutes. With that done, you'll want to carefully fold in your egg whites with a wooden spoon. Easy!
At this point, you're ready to assemble the goods. Dip your ladyfingers VERY QUICKLY in the coffee/marsala wine mixture, then assemble in a layer in your dish of choice. When you've got a layer done, cover it with some of your mascarpone cream and repeat with another layer of ladyfingers and cream. Sprinkle some cocoa powder over the top, then let it rest in the fridge for at least three hours — or, preferably, overnight.
Now onto your tacos!
You're going to start by making a marinade by blending together guajillo chilis, ancho chilis, garlic, onion, orange juice, pineapple juice, oregano, thyme, pepper, cumin, paprika, salt, and cloves. Strain that over a big bowl, then add in your thinly sliced pork loin and cover the bowl. Again, let it rest for a few hours — or, again, preferably overnight.
The next day, roast up tomatillo, onion, and garlic, then blend that up with chipotles and pineapple juice to make a simple salsa.
To finish the tacos, grill the pork (or, if your pork loin was very thin like mine, sear it over a high heat on the stove), then chop into thin slices. (If you opted for the stove here, I added my pork back into the pan and gave it an extra sear.)
To serve, add your pork to some heated corn tortillas, then douse in salsa, lime juice, cilantro, and onions. (Tacos al pastor are also traditionally served with grilled pineapple, but I hate hot pineapple, so add or remove per your pleasure.) Finish off with a tasty, creamy piece of tiramisu.
So, What's The Verdict?
Everyone give it up to Pierre Gasly for having insanely good taste. (Although who knows how he feels about tacos al pastor, that was kinda my own personal addition to the conversation.)
I think both of these recipes can seem really intimidating, but the most challenging thing about it is making sure you give yourself enough time to really let the flavors mingle. And the whole blending/whipping thing, depending on what major appliances you have in your pantry.
Last year for Mexico, I made mole — undeniably a more challenging dish to make, but one that still had me wondering why I don't make more Mexican-inspired marinades and sauces. The tacos al pastor recipe was a reminder that, yep, I am absolutely missing out! I made the marinade while I was off work; the next day, it was super easy to cook the meat and have an insanely delicious dinner without much heavy day-of lifting.
Next time, I'm definitely going to slice my pork in a way that actually makes it grillable, because I know that would have done so much to add to the flavor — but honestly, if grilling is off the table, the stovetop method was just as tasty.
Other than that, my only other mistake with this meal was letting my first batch of ladyfingers soak for too long in the coffee/marsala mixture! When they say “dip your ladyfingers for just a second,” they mean just a second. Maybe less than a second. My first layer kinda-sorta disintegrated into mush, but the second layer was impeccable. Be quick! Be speedy!
Also, the tacos/tiramisu duo is underrated. A light, creamy dessert is an ideal way to end a meal full of punchy flavors! Thank you for having taste, Mr. Gasly.
Ready… Set… COOK!
If you’re interested in seeing the progression of Grand Prix Gastronomy, you’ll be able to do so in a few places. Instagram will feature most of the visual content, while Substack will be a little wordier. If you need a handy mid-week roundup, you’ll be able to find those on Twitter.
Here are all the relevant links in one place, if you want to subscribe:
All Grand Prix Gastronomy-related content will be free — but if you want to drop me a donation on PayPal, that’s always welcome.
Plus, if you're looking to delve deeper into motorsport history, don't forget to check out my new podcast, Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys! I have a Patreon; sign up, and you'll receive extra content!