🍽️ mainRank #15medium

barbacoa

Name: barbacoa
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 3 lbs beef brisket or lamb; 4 guajillo chilies; 4 garlic cloves; 1 medium white onion; 2 bay leaves; to taste salt; to taste black pepper; enough to cover maguey leaves or banana leaves

Barbacoa is a traditional Mexican dish featuring slow-cooked, seasoned meat, typically lamb or beef, that is tender and flavorful with smoky and earthy notes. It holds cultural significance as a communal dish often prepared for special occasions and celebrations, reflecting indigenous cooking techniques and flavors.

8 ingredients

smokyspicyearthysavory

Culinary DNA Preview

Indigenous70%

Spanish30%

Ingredients

beef brisket or lamb
3 lbs
guajillo chilies
4
garlic cloves
4
white onion
1 medium
bay leaves
2
salt
to taste
black pepper
to taste
maguey leaves or banana leaves
enough to cover

Method

Steps not available

Origin Story

Barbacoa originates from indigenous peoples of the Caribbean and Mexico, where meats were slow-cooked over a pit covered with maguey leaves, a method later adapted and integrated into Mexican cuisine.

Culinary DNA

Ingredient ancestry breakdown

Indigenous70%

ingredients+techniques

Spanish30%

ingredient_origin

Techniques

slow cooking marinating steaming pit roasting

Stories about this dish

No stories tagged here yet — check back soon.

Browse

Latin Americacuisines →Foodways connections →