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📍 State of Mexico

Barbacoa de borrego (pit-cooked lamb)

· Lunch

Mutton slowly cooked in an earth oven, wrapped in maguey leaves until tender and juicy.

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Barbacoa de borrego (pit-cooked lamb): Mutton slowly cooked in an earth oven, wrapped in maguey leaves until tender and juicy.
Photo: Elton Rodriguez · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia CommonsPhoto resized, converted to WebP and cropped for display.
⏱ 400 min🍽 8 servings📊 Difficult🏷 Commonly associated🌱 Gluten-free🌱 Dairy-free
Preparation
40 min
Cooking
360 min
Waiting and resting
0 min

History

A Sunday tradition of central Mexico, deeply rooted in the State of Mexico and Hidalgo; it's cooked in a pit lined with maguey leaves.

Ingredients

Adjust quantities

Only numeric quantities at the start of an ingredient are adjusted. Descriptive quantities, seasoning to taste and timings remain unchanged; check them when changing servings.

Preparation

  1. 1

    Coat the meat with an adobo of chiles, garlic, and spices.

  2. 2

    Line the earth oven or a large pot with the maguey leaves.

  3. 3

    Set a container underneath to catch the juices and make the consommé.

  4. 4

    Arrange the meat on the leaves and cover it completely.

  5. 5

    Cook for several hours over low heat until the meat shreds.

  6. 6

    Serve in tacos with the consommé on the side, onion, cilantro, and salsa.

Cooking tips

  • For an oven version, cook well covered at 150-160 °C until the lamb shreds and retain the broth liquid.

References to consult

References provide information about the dish, its context or a technique. Quantities in this version may differ from those in the source.

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