Mexican barbacoa pit technique

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True barbacoa is an earth oven technique — a pit dug in the ground, lined with maguey (agave) leaves, filled with seasoned meat (traditionally whole lamb or goat, now often beef cheeks or head), sealed, and slow-cooked overnight by the residual heat of coals placed in the pit before the meat goes in. This is the Mexican expression of the universal earth oven principle shared with Polynesian hangi, Hawaiian imu, and Australian ground oven traditions. The maguey leaves serve the same function as banana leaves, paperbark, or ti leaves — creating a sealed steam environment while imparting aromatic compounds to the meat.

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