Tacos de Barbacoa de Borrego Hidalguense

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 8-quart stockpot or Dutch oven with tight-fitting lid
• •Steamer rack or heatproof inverted bowl for the pit floor
• •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet for toasting chiles and leaves
• •High-powered blender
• •Small clay jarritos or wide ceramic cups for serving consome

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the maguey leaves

   If you have fresh pencas de maguey, the thick fleshy leaves of the agave, pass them directly over an open flame on all sides until they soften and turn from waxy green to a deeper olive color. The leaves should become pliable, not charred. This is the leaf that flavors the lamb, perfumes the meat with a faint vegetal sweetness, and traps the juices that become the consome. If you cannot find maguey, banana leaves layered with dried avocado leaves will get you closer than any other substitute. It is a compromise, not an upgrade.

   Pencas de maguey are sold at Mexican mercados and some specialty shops. In Hidalgo, every weekend cook has a source. If you live somewhere without one, ask at your nearest Mexican butcher. They know who carries them.
2. 2

   Season the lamb

   Rub the lamb shoulder, leg, and ribs generously with the salt. Let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes while you prepare the pot. Hidalgo cooks do not marinate the lamb with chile pastes the way the north does with cabrito. The flavor here comes from the maguey leaf, the slow steam, and the lamb itself. La cocina no es decoracion, es trabajo. Trust the method.

3. 3

   Build the pit in your pot

   In a large heavy stockpot or Dutch oven (at least 8 quarts), pour in two cups of water. Set a steamer rack or a small heatproof bowl inverted on the bottom to keep the meat out of the water. This is your pit. The water below becomes the consome. The meat above steams inside the maguey. Line the rack and the sides of the pot with the toasted maguey leaves, overlapping them so the leaves cradle the meat completely. Tuck the dried avocado leaves and bay leaves into the lining.

4. 4

   Layer the consome ingredients

   Into the water below, add the quartered onion, halved garlic head, carrot chunks, soaked garbanzos, rinsed rice, the two guajillo chiles, the one ancho chile, and a tablespoon of salt. This is not a side. This is the consome, the broth that catches every drop of lamb juice as it cooks down. Hidalgo serves this in a small clay cup alongside the tacos. It is half the dish.

5. 5

   Wrap the lamb in the maguey

   Pile the seasoned lamb onto the maguey leaf bed. Fold the leaves over the top, wrapping the meat into a green package. If your leaves do not meet, layer banana leaves on top to close the seal. The lamb is now enclosed in its own green oven. Cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid. If the lid does not seal well, wet a kitchen towel, ring it out, and lay it under the lid to close the gap. No steam should escape. Every escape is consome you will not have.

6. 6

   Cook low and long

   Place the pot over the lowest possible flame. The water below should barely simmer for four to four and a half hours. Do not lift the lid. I know you want to. Do not. Every time you lift it, you lose steam, you lose temperature, and you lose the slow conversation between maguey and meat that is the whole point of barbacoa. Set a timer. Walk away. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

   In Hidalgo, the original method buries the maguey-wrapped lamb in a pit lined with hot stones, covered with earth, and cooked overnight. This stovetop method is the apartment-kitchen adaptation. It is not the same. It is close enough to be honest.
7. 7

   Make the salsa borracha

   While the lamb cooks, make the drunk salsa. Toast the pasilla and guajillo chiles for the salsa on a dry comal, about 20 seconds per side, until they puff and smell like a chile vendor's stall. Soak them in hot tap water for 15 minutes. Drain and transfer to a blender with the three garlic cloves, the pulque, the orange juice, the olive oil, the oregano, and a teaspoon of salt. Blend until smooth but with some texture. Stir in the crumbled queso anejo. Salsa borracha. Drunk on pulque, because pulque is from Hidalgo, the same volcanic high plains where the maguey for the leaves grows. Cada estado, su propia cocina.

   Real pulque is fermented from the maguey sap and it is alive. If you cannot find it, a Mexican lager with a splash of vinegar will give you the right acidity, but the flavor is different. Pulque has a slight sourness and a vegetal funk that beer does not.
8. 8

   Unwrap and shred

   After four hours, turn off the heat. Let the pot rest covered for 15 more minutes. Lift the lid carefully. The lamb should be falling off the bone. If it resists, wrap it back up and give it another 30 minutes. Pull the maguey package out onto a deep platter. Open the leaves. The meat will shred with a fork. Pull it into rough pieces. Do not discard the bones until you have scraped every bit of meat off them. Strain the consome from the pot into a separate vessel and skim some, but not all, of the fat off the top. The shimmer of lamb fat is part of the consome.

9. 9

   Serve at the table

   Pile the shredded lamb onto a warm platter. Set the consome in small clay cups or wide-rimmed bowls at each place. Warm corn tortillas on a comal until they puff and char in spots. Each diner builds their own taco with lamb, diced onion, cilantro, a spoonful of salsa borracha, and a squeeze of lime, then drinks the consome alongside. In Hidalgo, the consome is taken between bites. That is the rhythm of the meal. Asi se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Lamb shoulder and leg together gives you the best mix of fat and lean. If you can only find one, take the shoulder. Leg alone runs dry. The ribs and neck bones are not optional, they are where the consome gets its flavor.
• •Pencas de maguey can be ordered from Mexican specialty grocers in major cities. If you cannot find them, layer banana leaves with dried avocado leaves and add a tablespoon of mezcal to the consome. It will not be the same, but it will not be wrong.
• •The consome is half the dish. Do not skim too much fat. The lamb shimmer on top is what tells the diner this is real barbacoa and not stew. In Hidalgo, the consome cup is refilled before the taco plate.
• •Salsa borracha is a Hidalgo salsa. Pulque is the fermented sap of the same maguey whose leaves wrap the lamb. The dish has a logic. If you skip the pulque, you break the logic. No me vengas con atajos.

Advance Preparation

• •The lamb can be cooked one day ahead. Let it cool wrapped in its maguey, refrigerate overnight, and reheat gently in the consome the next day. Barbacoa is better on the second day.
• •The salsa borracha must be made the same day it is served. Pulque does not hold its character past 24 hours and the salsa loses its edge.
• •The consome can be made a day ahead and the fat skimmed off the top, but leave a thin layer of fat. The shine is part of the dish.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 385g)