Barbacoa de Borrego con Consomé Hidalguense

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 8-quart stockpot with tight-fitting lid
• •Steamer rack or wire trivet that fits inside the pot
• •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet for toasting chiles
• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Clay jarros for serving the consomé

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the maguey

   The penca de maguey is what makes this barbacoa hidalguense and not some pile of stewed lamb. Pass each leaf over an open flame on the stovetop, turning constantly, until the surface darkens and softens. Two to three minutes per side. This wilts the fibers so the leaf bends without cracking and releases the herbal, slightly sweet aroma that perfumes the lamb. If you cannot find true penca, use banana leaf and accept that you are making a compromise. The flavor will be different. The cook in Actopan will know.

   Pencas de maguey come from the same agave plants that give us pulque and mezcal. Mexican markets in larger US cities carry them frozen. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado.
2. 2

   Toast and soak the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the guajillo, ancho, and pasilla chiles separately, about 30 seconds per side. The skin should puff and the kitchen should smell like a chile vendor's stall. Do not let them blacken. Burned chile turns the adobo bitter. Place the toasted chiles in a heatproof bowl, cover with hot water (not boiling), and let them soften for 20 minutes.

3. 3

   Build the adobo

   Drain the chiles, reserving a cup of the soaking liquid. In a small dry skillet, toast the cumin, peppercorns, cloves, and canela together for one minute until fragrant. Transfer to a blender. Add the chiles, garlic, onion, oregano, salt, vinegar, and half a cup of the soaking liquid. Blend until completely smooth, adding more soaking liquid as needed to keep things moving. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing on the solids. You should have a glossy, deep red adobo with the consistency of heavy cream.

4. 4

   Marinate the lamb

   Place the lamb in a large bowl. Pour the adobo over it and turn the meat with your hands until every piece is coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. Lamb is assertive. The adobo needs time to find its way into the meat. No me vengas con atajos.

5. 5

   Set up the steaming pot

   You do not have an earth pit. Neither do most people in Hidalgo on a Tuesday. The kitchen substitute is a large heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid and a steamer rack set inside. Pour 6 cups of water into the bottom of the pot. Add the soaked garbanzos, the carrots, the bay leaves, the epazote, and a generous pinch of salt. This water becomes the consomé. Every drop of fat and adobo that drips off the lamb falls into it. That is the genius of the design.

6. 6

   Wrap and steam

   Line the steamer rack with the softened maguey leaves, letting the edges hang over the sides of the pot. Lay the marinated lamb on top of the leaves in a single layer, scraping every bit of adobo from the bowl over the meat. Fold the maguey leaves over the lamb to enclose it completely, like a green tamal the size of the pot. Cover with the lid. If the lid does not seal tight, weight it down or seal the edge with a flour-and-water paste. Steam will escape through any gap and the consomé will dry out.

   Make sure the lamb does not touch the water below. The barbacoa is steamed, not boiled. Boiled lamb is a different dish and not a better one.
7. 7

   Cook low and slow

   Bring the pot to a simmer over medium heat, then lower to the gentlest possible flame. Cook for 4 hours. Do not lift the lid. Every time you lift it, you lose steam and you lose time. The lamb is done when the meat falls off the bone with no resistance and the bones slide clean. If after 4 hours the lamb is still firm, give it another 30 minutes. Lamb varies. Cooks adjust. Así se hace y punto.

8. 8

   Finish the consomé

   Lift the maguey package out carefully. Hot adobo will be dripping from it. Set it on a platter to rest. The liquid left in the pot is the consomé, dark red, rich with rendered lamb fat and the chile adobo that dripped down through the leaves over four hours. Taste it. Add salt. If you want to thicken it, stir in the rice and simmer for 15 minutes more. The garbanzos should be tender by now. Fish out the carrots and slice them. Pull the epazote stems if they have given up their leaves. This consomé is the soul of barbacoa hidalguense. La cocina no es decoración, es trabajo.

9. 9

   Pull the lamb and serve

   Open the maguey package at the table if you can. The aroma is the first course. Pull the lamb apart with two forks, leaving some pieces chunkier than others. Bone goes in one pile, meat in another. Serve the lamb on a warm platter with the hot consomé ladled into clay jarros on the side, garbanzos and rice floating in each cup. Set out warm corn tortillas, diced onion, cilantro, lime, salsa borracha, and salsa verde. Each person builds their own tacos. Each person drinks the consomé alongside, the way it is done on a Sunday morning in Pachuca, Actopan, or Tulancingo. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •If you cannot find lamb, do not substitute beef. Use goat (cabrito) instead. Goat barbacoa is traditional in some Hidalgo households and the cooking method is identical. Beef barbacoa is a Texas adaptation and a different dish entirely.
• •Penca de maguey is sold frozen at Mexican markets in cities with a large Mexican population. Ask for it. If your market does not stock it, ask if they can order it. Banana leaf is the fallback, not the equivalent.
• •The consomé is half the meal. Do not throw out any of the cooking liquid. Strain it if you must, but serve all of it. In Hidalgo the consomé is sometimes served before the lamb as a first course, with a squeeze of lime and a sprinkle of chopped onion.

Advance Preparation

• •The adobo and lamb marinade can be prepared 2 days ahead. The flavor only deepens.
• •Garbanzos must be soaked overnight. Plan for it. Quick-soak methods leave the beans with a chalky center that will ruin the consomé.
• •Barbacoa keeps refrigerated for 4 days. Reheat the lamb and consomé separately over low heat. The flavors marry overnight and the second-day barbacoa is, by some accounts, better than the first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 500g)