Chef Lupita
Adobo de Carnitas estilo Apaseo el Grande
Guanajuato's Bajío adobo for carnitas, built with guajillo, ancho, naranja agria, laurel, and garlic before the pork goes into manteca de cerdo.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Vinagreta para Fiambre Potosino
Created by
San Luis Potosí's sharp mustard and herb vinagreta, built with apple vinegar and dried mountain herbs, made to soak fiambre potosino overnight until every vegetable and meat tastes seasoned through.
Sauces & Condiments
Mexican
Make Ahead
Special Occasion
Holiday
15 min
Active Time
0 min cook•12 hr 15 min total
YieldAbout 1 1/2 cups, enough for 8 servings of fiambre potosino
San Luis Potosí, in the high central plateau, owns this vinagreta because the fiambre potosino owns the table at family celebrations there. This is not a flashy salsa. It is the quiet liquid that does the work overnight: vinegar, oil, mostaza, tomillo, mejorana, orégano, salt, and patience.
The geography matters. Potosí sits between the Bajío, the Altiplano, and the Huasteca, and its cooking reflects that crossing of roads. Fiambre potosino is a cold composed dish, meat, vegetables, sometimes cheese, all dressed ahead so the vinegar can enter instead of just shining on the surface. The señoras who make it well know restraint. Too much mustard and it tastes foreign. Too much oil and it goes heavy. Too little salt and the vegetables taste asleep.
I learned a version from a woman near the Mercado Hidalgo in San Luis Potosí capital, and she corrected me before I even opened the vinegar. 'No lo bañes al final,' she said. Don't pour it at the end. The fiambre must rest. That is the technique. La cocina no es decoración, es trabajo.
Use apple vinegar, not white vinegar. Use dried Mexican oregano, not Italian oregano pretending to understand the job. Crush the herbs between your fingers before they go in. The aroma should wake up immediately. Recetas probadas y garantizadas, but only if you give the vinagreta the night it needs.
Fiambre potosino belongs to the cold festive dishes of central Mexico, where cooked meats and vegetables were preserved and sharpened with vinegar before refrigeration was reliable in ordinary homes. The use of mustard in the vinagreta reflects 19th-century European influence that entered Mexican urban cooking through convent kitchens, hotels, and middle-class holiday tables, but San Luis Potosí adapted it to local herbs and apple vinegar. Unlike Guatemalan fiambre, which is tied strongly to Día de Muertos, the potosino version is used more broadly for holidays, family gatherings, and make-ahead celebration meals.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
apple cider vinegar
Quantity
3/4 cup
neutral oil
Quantity
1/2 cup
preferably mild sunflower or safflower oil
yellow mustard
Quantity
2 tablespoons
dried Mexican oregano
Quantity
1 teaspoon
crushed
dried thyme
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
crushed
dried marjoram
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
crushed
garlic clove
Quantity
1 small
finely grated
kosher salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon, plus more to taste
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
sugar (optional)
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
only if the vinegar is harsh
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| apple cider vinegar | 3/4 cup |
| neutral oilpreferably mild sunflower or safflower oil | 1/2 cup |
| yellow mustard | 2 tablespoons |
| dried Mexican oreganocrushed | 1 teaspoon |
| dried thymecrushed | 1/2 teaspoon |
| dried marjoramcrushed | 1/2 teaspoon |
| garlic clovefinely grated | 1 small |
| kosher salt | 1 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1/2 teaspoon |
| sugar (optional)only if the vinegar is harsh | 1/4 teaspoon |
Equipment Needed
- •Medium clay or glass mixing bowl
- •Balloon whisk
- •Wide ceramic serving dish for macerating the fiambre
- •Glass jar with tight lid for storing extra vinagreta
Instructions
- 1
Wake the herbs
Place the Mexican oregano, thyme, and marjoram in your palm and crush them with your fingers before they touch the bowl. They should smell green, dry, and sharp. If they smell like dust, they are old. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado. They know which herb vendor moves product.
- 2
Dissolve the mustard
In a medium clay or glass bowl, whisk the apple cider vinegar with the mustard, grated garlic, salt, black pepper, and sugar if using. Whisk until the mustard disappears into the vinegar and the liquid turns cloudy gold. The mustard is not decoration. It helps hold the oil and vinegar together long enough to coat the fiambre properly.
- 3
Add the herbs
Stir in the crushed oregano, thyme, and marjoram. Let the mixture sit for five minutes so the dried herbs soften in the vinegar. This small pause matters. Dry herbs thrown straight into oil stay flat. Vinegar opens them first.
- 4
Whisk in oil
Pour in the oil in a thin stream while whisking constantly. The vinagreta should look lightly thickened, not creamy like mayonnaise. Taste it on a piece of cooked potato or carrot, not from a spoon. A spoon lies. The fiambre ingredients will tell you if the salt is right.
This vinagreta should taste a little stronger than you think. Overnight, cooked vegetables and meat absorb the edge of the vinegar and calm it down. - 5
Macerate the fiambre
Pour the vinagreta over the cooked and cooled fiambre ingredients while they sit in a wide ceramic dish. Turn everything gently with clean hands or two spoons so the dressing reaches every surface. Cover and refrigerate at least 12 hours. Overnight is correct. No me vengas con atajos.
- 6
Stir before serving
Before serving, bring the fiambre out of the refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes and turn it again. The oil may firm up slightly when cold, and that is normal. Taste for salt and vinegar after it loosens. Serve the fiambre in the same dish, family-style, with the vinagreta shining on the vegetables.
Chef Tips
- •Use apple cider vinegar because it has fruit and roundness. White vinegar is too sharp here and will bully the mustard and herbs.
- •Mexican oregano matters. It is more resinous and citrusy than Mediterranean oregano. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
- •This is not a chile sauce. Do not add chile de árbol because you think Mexican food needs heat. Fiambre potosino is about vinegar, herbs, and rest. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
- •If your mustard is very salty, hold back a pinch of salt at first. Taste on a cooked vegetable, then adjust. The dressing must season the fiambre, not just itself.
Advance Preparation
- •The vinagreta can be made 2 days ahead and kept refrigerated in a glass jar. Shake hard before using because the oil and vinegar will separate.
- •Fiambre potosino should be dressed at least 12 hours ahead. Twenty-four hours is better, as long as the vegetables are cooked but still firm.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 42g)
Calories
130 calories
Total Fat
14 g
Saturated Fat
1 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
12 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
330 mg
Total Carbohydrates
1 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
0 g
Protein
0 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Bajío Sauces & Condiments
Browse the full collection
Chef Lupita
Adobo para Asado de Boda Potosino de Hacienda
San Luis Potosí's hacienda wedding adobo, built from ancho, mulato, pasilla, clove, laurel, and a little chocolate, turns browned pork into the dark red asado served when a family means ceremony.
Chef Lupita
Cebollas en Escabeche del Bajío
Guanajuato's Bajío table pickle, thin red onion softened in hot vinegar with orégano mexicano, cumin, bay leaf, and serrano, the sharp pink bite beside carnitas from Apaseo.
Chef Lupita
Chiles en Escabeche Estilo San Marcos
Aguascalientes' San Marcos escabeche is a sharp jar of whole jalapeños, carrot, onion, garlic, laurel, and thyme, built to crown pollo San Marcos, tortas, and any table that respects vinegar.