Mexican carnitas and barbacoa
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Origin
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Description
Carnitas and barbacoa are Mexico's two great slow-cooked meat traditions, each using fundamentally different techniques to achieve tender, deeply flavoured results. Carnitas: pork shoulder braised and then fried in its own rendered lard until the exterior is crispy while the interior stays moist — it's simultaneously braised AND deep-fried in the same cooking process. Barbacoa: whole lamb or beef cheeks wrapped in maguey (agave) leaves and slow-cooked in an underground pit for 8-12 hours. One is fat-based cooking, the other is steam-based cooking. Both produce fall-apart tender meat that's the foundation of tacos across Mexico.
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The Thread
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Flavour Context
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Pillars V — VII
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