How Conventional Hidalgo-Model Barbacoa Is Made in an Underground Pit

Gonzalo Ramirez is likely one of the solely barbacoyeros within the U.S. who raises and butchers his personal lambs, utilizing the meat to create conventional Hidalgo-style barbacoa that he sells street-side in Los Angeles. Ramirez and his household are fourth-generation masters of the Hidalguenese barbacoa tradition, originating from the Hidalgo state of Mexico.

After butchering, the lamb’s shoulders, tailbone, backbone, and different meaty elements are used for the barbacoa and consomé, and nothing goes to waste: the intestines and abdomen are used to make pancita (offal-stuffed abdomen) and moronga (blood sausage).

To make barbacoa, Ramirez makes use of a pit within the floor, which is cleaned earlier than each prepare dinner. As soon as the hearth is about within the pit, Ramirez locations within the consomé and set a grill over the pit so the meat has one thing to relaxation on. The grill is roofed in maguey leaves “to reinforce the flavors,” says Ramirez. “And it’s going to assist forestall the meat from burning.”

The meat then will get laid excessive of the leaves and is organized in a selected means, each time they do it. “If we don’t organize it correctly, the meat may nonetheless get cooked, however not the way in which we would like it,” says Ramirez. “I can’t change the format.”

The pit heats up the consomé on the backside, creating steam that rises to the highest of the pit and circles again down. “The pit is definitely hotter on the high,” says Ramirez. It’s this steam that cooks the meat.

Twelve hours later, Ramirez extracts the meat from the pit. The cooked items of meat get separated per lower and put into bins to be bought.

Watch the complete video to see how Ramirez and his household make consomé, pancita, and moronga.