Barbacoa

Lamb wrapped in maguey leaves over a pot of stock, so that what drips out becomes the broth served beside it.

Lamb. Not vegetarian — contains lamb.

Ingredients

the meat

• 2 kg lamb shoulder, on the bone, in large pieces
• 4 large maguey leaves, or banana leaves at a pinch
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 avocado leaves, or 2 bay leaves

the pot underneath

• 200 g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
• 1 onion, quartered
• 2 carrots, in chunks
• 1 litre water
• a sprig of mint
• 1 teaspoon salt

to serve

• corn tortillas, as on their own page
• salsa, as on its own page
• 1 white onion, finely chopped
• a handful of coriander, chopped
• lime wedges

Method

1. A POT OF STOCK SITS UNDERNEATH AND WHAT DRIPS INTO IT IS THE BROTH SERVED BESIDE THE MEAT. That is the whole design of the dish and it is why barbacoa comes with a cup of consommé: the lamb is suspended above a pot of water, chickpeas and vegetables, and for five hours everything that renders out of it falls into that pot. The meat is seasoned from the outside in while the broth is built from the inside out, in the same vessel, with no extra work. Cooked in a dry tray instead, the drip burns onto the metal and both halves of the dish are lost -- the meat dries and there is no consommé at all.
2. THE WRAPPER IS MAGUEY AND IT IS NOT NEUTRAL. The leaves are thick, waxy and faintly bitter, and over five hours that bitterness goes into the lamb; it is the taste people mean when they say a barbacoa tastes of barbacoa. Banana leaf will hold the parcel just as well and adds nothing, so the result is good lamb that is missing the thing that makes it this.
3. THE LEAVES ARE PASSED OVER A FLAME BEFORE THEY ARE USED. Raw, they are stiff and crack along the spine when folded, and the parcel opens in the oven. Held over a gas ring or laid on a hot griddle for thirty seconds a side they go limp and darken, and then they fold without breaking.
4. IT IS SEALED AND THEN LEFT ALONE FOR FIVE HOURS. Opening it to look loses the steam that is doing the cooking and adds half an hour each time. The test at the end is mechanical and not visual: a bone pulled should come away clean with no resistance. If it grips, it needs another hour, and an hour will not hurt it.
5. THE AVOCADO LEAVES ARE WORTH FINDING AND BAY IS NOT THE SAME THING. Avocado leaf is faintly aniseed and goes particularly well with lamb; bay is the honest substitution and tastes of bay. Said plainly rather than pretending they are interchangeable.
6. The lamb rubbed all over with the garlic, salt and pepper and left 1 hour at room temperature.
7. The chickpeas, onion, carrot, mint, salt and 1 litre of water put in a deep roasting tin or the base of a large lidded pot.
8. A rack or trivet set in the tin so it stands clear of the liquid.
9. The maguey leaves PASSED OVER A FLAME 30 seconds a side until limp and darkened.
10. Two leaves laid crosswise ON THE RACK, the lamb piled in the middle with the avocado leaves, and the remaining leaves folded over the top to make a sealed parcel.
11. The whole thing covered tightly with a lid or a double layer of foil.
12. Cooked at 150°C for 5 HOURS, UNDISTURBED.
13. TESTED by pulling a bone: it must come away CLEAN with no resistance. If it grips, another hour.
14. The parcel opened and the meat pulled into coarse strands with two forks, bones discarded.
15. The broth from the pot beneath skimmed of fat, tasted for salt, and served in cups ALONGSIDE.
16. The meat served with tortillas, salsa, onion, coriander and lime, and the broth drunk with it.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Mexico · All recipes