Barbacoa

Ingredients

Adobo

• 6guajillo chillies, stemmed and deseeded
• 3ancho chillies, stemmed and deseeded
• 2chipotles in adobo
• 8 clovesgarlic
• 1onion, quartered and charred
• 1 tbspcumin seed, toasted
• 1 tbspdried oregano
• 4cloves
• 1 tspblack peppercorns
• 3 tbspcider vinegar
• 2 tspsalt
• 200 mlwater

Meat

• 3 kglamb shoulder and leg, on the bone, in large pieces
• maguey (agave) leaves, or banana leaves, softened over a flame
• 3avocado leaves (optional)

Consomé

• 500 gchickpeas, soaked
• 2carrots, chopped
• 1onion, halved
• 2 litreswater
• salt

To serve

• corn tortillas
• chopped onion and coriander
• salsa borracha
• lime wedges

Directions

1. Toast the dried chillies in a dry pan for 30 seconds a side until they smell fragrant — not until they darken, because burnt chilli turns the adobo bitter and there is no recovering it. Soak them in hot water 20 minutes.
2. Blend the drained chillies with the chipotles, garlic, charred onion, toasted cumin, oregano, cloves, peppercorns, vinegar, salt and water to a smooth adobo. Pass it through a sieve.
3. Rub the adobo thoroughly into the lamb, cover and refrigerate overnight.
4. Set a rack inside a large deep pot, or use a steamer. Underneath it put the chickpeas, carrot, onion and water — this becomes the consomé, catching every drop of fat and juice from the meat as it cooks, and it is served as a soup alongside.
5. Line the rack with maguey or banana leaves, letting them overhang generously. Pile the lamb on, tuck in the avocado leaves if using, and fold the leaves over to enclose it completely.
6. Seal the pot as tightly as you can — traditionally the lid is luted shut with a rope of masa dough — and cook over the lowest heat, or in a 150°C (300°F) oven, for 5–6 hours.
7. Do not open it for the first four hours. Barbacoa is steamed in trapped moisture and every look lets it escape.
8. The meat is done when it falls from the bone under its own weight. Shred it coarsely, discarding bone and gristle.
9. Skim the consomé, season it, and serve it in cups alongside tacos of the shredded meat with onion, coriander, salsa and lime. Traditionally cooked overnight in an earth pit and eaten on Sunday mornings.

Technique

• The consomé beneath is not a by-product, it is half of what people come for. Do not cook the meat dry in a covered dish.
• Maguey leaves give the specific flavour of true barbacoa; banana leaves are the usual substitute but taste different.
• Seal it properly. Steam escaping is the difference between meltingly soft and merely roasted.

Substitutions

• Beef cheek or goat (birria territory) instead of lamb.
• A pressure cooker gets there in about 1 hr 30 min, though without the same depth.

Variations

• Hidalgo-style, the classic pit-cooked lamb with consomé.
• Beef barbacoa from the north, closer to what is served in the United States.

History

Meat, traditionally whole lamb, goat or beef head, wrapped in maguey leaves and slow-cooked for hours in an underground pit, a technique with roots tracing to Indigenous Mesoamerican cooking predating Spanish colonization, later adapted with livestock, including lamb and goat, that Spanish colonizers introduced to a continent that had not previously had those animals. The word barbecue itself, now used globally for a wide range of grilled and smoked cooking styles, is generally traced back through Spanish colonial contact with barbacoa and related Caribbean and Central American cooking terms, meaning the now-common English word has direct linguistic roots in this specific Mexican and wider Latin American pit-cooking tradition. Barbacoa remains especially associated with weekend and celebratory family gatherings across Mexico, given the extended preparation time it requires.

Frequently asked questions

What is Barbacoa?

Barbacoa is a main from Mexico: pit-steamed lamb in maguey leaves, weekend taco tradition. Meat, traditionally whole lamb, goat or beef head, wrapped in maguey leaves and slow-cooked for hours in an underground pit, a technique with roots tracing to Indigenous Mesoamerican cooking predating Spanish colonization, later adapted with livestock, including lamb and goat, that Spanish colonizers introduced to a continent that had not previously had those animals. The word barbecue itself, now used globally for a wide range of grilled and smoked cooking styles, is generally traced back through Spanish colonial contact with barbacoa and related Caribbean and Central American cooking terms, meaning the now-common English word has direct linguistic roots in this specific Mexican and wider Latin American pit-cooking tradition. Barbacoa remains especially associated with weekend and celebratory family gatherings across Mexico, given the extended preparation time it requires.

How long does Barbacoa take to make?

Barbacoa takes 45 min plus overnight marinating of preparation and 6 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 10 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Barbacoa?

Yes, within limits. Beef cheek or goat (birria territory) instead of lamb. A pressure cooker gets there in about 1 hr 30 min, though without the same depth.

What is the most important thing to get right in Barbacoa?

Do not open it for the first four hours. Barbacoa is steamed in trapped moisture and every look lets it escape.