Slow Cook La Piña en la Cocina's Lamb Barbacoa
Slow Cook La Piña en la Cocina's Lamb Barbacoa
September 16, 2024
Masienda's September Chef en Residencia, Sonia Mendez Garcia, grew up eating beef barbacoa (a slow-cooked meat dish typically prepared in an underground pit covered with agave leaves). The Sunday tradition of eating barbacoa with consommé (a broth made from the delicious juices of the stewed meat) is popular across different regions of Mexico. In Northern Mexico, where Sonia's family hails from, beef barbacoa is king, but lamb or goat are traditional in other regions of Mexico.
Because her husband is more accustomed to lamb barbacoa (barbacoa de borrego), Sonia often prepares this easy, one-pot barbacoa using a steamer pot and banana leaves, that yields tender lamb slow-cooked with a blend of spices, chiles, and herbs, as well as a richly flavored consommé with rice and chickpeas. Because lamb's flavor tends to become gamier with time, this dish is best enjoyed on the day you cook it or the next day.
