Mexican-style barbacoa

Mexican-style barbacoa is one of those foods you must try when visiting Mexico . Traditional recipes call for sheep or goat meat, which is wrapped into maguey leaves. The meat is steamed inside an underground oven for hours and until the barbacoa is tender.

The meat is rubbed with a mixture of herbs, spices, and chiles. The animal’s stomach is filled up with other edible organs, spices, and herbs; this is known as pancita .

The process to cook barbacoa is a long one and lasts several hours. While the meat cooks, people gather the meat juices and mix them with water, chickpeas, carrots, rice, pulque, and chilies to make consomé .

Barbacoa

must be tender, juicy, and melt in your mouth. The meat tacos are topped with chopped onion, cilantro leaves, lime juice, and salsa.

Recommended: How to make authentic Mexican tacos

However, barbacoa vendors also offer deep-friend barbacoa tacos, which are fried and topped with sour cream, cheese, lettuce, and salsa.

This delicious dish first originated during pre-colonial times. Back then, Mayans used an underground oven called pib . Years later, when the Spanish colonized Mexico, they brought animals like sheep and goats into the country, and people modified the barbacoa recipe.

Barbacoa is often enjoyed during breakfast or lunch. It is especially popular in Hidalgo, Tlaxcala, Querétaro, Puebla, State of Mexico, Morelos, and Mexico City.

Recommended: Tacos de canasta made it to the 2020 James Beard Media Awards

Barbacoa varieties

Although the most popular barbacoa is the Hidalgo-style recipe, Mexico has dozens of recipes for this delicious dish. People sometimes substitute goat or sheep meat for pork, chicken, or beef. Cooking methods and ingredients also vary from region to region.

In Chiapas, people use a rub made with ingredients such as chiles, tomatoes, onion, garlic, black pepper, thyme, oregano, salt, vinegar, and rum. People add cinnamon, cloves, wine, and other ingredients to the mixture in Ocosingo. It is usually served during parties and on special occasions.

People in Chihuahua use the barbacoa meat to make tortas or burritos . In Coahuila, barbacoa is served at weddings or during special occasions. People often use chicken instead of red meat to make barbacoa .

Other varieties call for pork, fish, or armadillo. In the Costa Grande region, people use pork meat and fill it up with pineapple, plantain, potatoes, and carrots. Oaxacan cooks add almonds and olives to the recipe. Others accompany the dish with beans and pickled chiles. Perhaps one of the best combinations is found in the region known as the Mixteca Alta, where people top tlayudas with barbacoa meat.

Making barbacoa at home

If you attempt to make Mexican barbacoa at home, make sure you have certain spices , chiles , and ingredients at home. Moreover, use a slow cooker.

Spices such as black pepper, oregano, thyme, and avocado leaves are essential; however, each recipe is different.

Chop cilantro leaves and onion for the tacos, lime juice, and spicy salsa are also essential. If you have a chance to make handmade tortillas, it will take you barbacoa to the next level.

gm