MAGUEY LEAVE PENCA

The long leaves of the maguey plant are traditionally used to wrap barbacoa, like the Lamb Barbacoa with Masala Adobo. If you’re using it for this purpose, in a large Dutch oven, arrange the long maguey leaves in a star shape (tips of the leaves will extend out of the pan and be folded over the barbacoa before roasting).

The maguey plant is native to Mexico. For hundreds of years, the plant has had a variety of culinary and medicinal uses. Even the fibers of the leaves are used to make twine, clothes, and even shoes. This article focuses on the culinary uses of this sustainably grown plant.

The Aztecs used agave to make pulque (a weakly alcoholic version) which was used for ceremonies and banquets.  Later the Spanish settlers used the fermented pulque to make mescal and tequila.  Women and men over 70 years old could consume as much as they wanted on these special occasions but alcohol was otherwise very controlled for the rest of the population.  It was socially acceptable to drink but not acceptable to be drunk. 

The Aztecs had other uses for the agave as well including making syrup, sugar, wine, and vinegar.  In fact, remains of roasted agave were found in caves of the Tehuacan dating back to 6500 B.C.

What is barbacoa grilling?

The “hole” is the traditional procedure that uses earth and stones as a special oven to give the lamb a better cooking and its classic flavor, so special, in addition to the other ingredients previously used to season the meat.

How big is a barbecue pit?

A good-sized hole will be about 80 centimeters wide by 90 centimeters long and 60 centimeters deep.

This hidalguense barbecue dish is a typical dish from the center of the country. Well, Mexican cuisine is very famous in the world for its rich flavor and the inevitable chili, Mexico has exquisite dishes, but one of them is undoubtedly the hole barbecue better known as hidalgo-style barbecue, this dish is cooked in a hole for which we need to dig a hole which we will use as the oven. Here at Mexican Food, we give you the recipe for this delicious Mexican dish.

Pit BBQ Ingredients

To prepare the lamb 1 lamb from 35 to 40 kilos, lamb should be cut or chopped into medium pieces and then seasoned with butter, coarse salt, and allspice to taste. We also need 30 medium-sized ancho chili peppers, properly deveined, toasted, washed, and soaked in hot water. 1/12 large cinnamon sticks 4 cups of water, if you wish you can use the water where the chiles have been soaked. 25 odorous avocado leaves 20 chipotle Morita’s red chilies roasted, deveined, washed, and soaked in water coarse salt to taste ½ tablespoon of allspice

Ingredients for the barbecue

12 medium stones 25 roasted maguey pancakes oak firewood 1 clay pot with a wide mouth and a capacity of 8 to 10 liters 3 large onions finely chopped 20 finely minced garlic cloves 3 liters of water Salt to taste 1 metal grid 4 cups of peas 3 cups very finely chopped garlic cloves 10 mixiote leaves 2 blankets to cover 4 cups peeled and chopped carrots 200 grams of washed chipotle Morita chilies 4 cups of chickpeas 1 bunch of mint.

Preparation mode:

Season the lamb meat with butter, salt, and pepper, then place it in a large saucepan so that it takes on the seasoning. While that is in the blender we place the chilies, the avocado leaves, the cinnamon peppers, and the salt add a little of the chili water, little by little until it gets a little creamy but not very thick, with this smoothie bathe the meat of lamb and let steel for at least 6 hours, if you leave it macerating from the night before it is much better. Now the most important thing to prepare the barbecue is we have to dig a hole in the ground 1 meter deep and a half wide. At the bottom of the hole, place some stones and a bit of wood crossed to make a pyramid and then light it. Stoke the fire so that the firewood lights up evenly, this should be done for approximately 4 hours and keep it hot.

Then, with a shovel, remove the stones and a little ember and arrange the rest of them. On these now place the intertwined pencas and ensure that the tips of the pencas protrude from the hole. In a pot, pour the water and add the onion, the garlic, the chickpea, the chiles, and the vegetables at the end, the salt. Now set the pot with the preparation in the bottom of the hole on top of the pencas and then place the rack on top. Now wrap the seasoned lamb with the rest of the roasted pencas, cover them with the mixiote leaves, and intertwine the pencas well so that it will be completely covered, just like a tamale.

Now we place this on the grid, covering it well with the wet blanket to prevent it from burning, on top of this we place a layer of thick earth and on this the stones and embers that we had set aside. Let the cooking finish for approximately 7 hours. Over time you can remove the embers, the stones, and the earth and then uncover the meat and sprinkle the grain with salt. For the presentation you should serve the broth in jugs pour the lamb meat into the pan and then cover it with pencas so that it does not get cold, this delicious dish is accompanied by macha sauce, chopped onion, coriander in twigs and the tortillas have to be freshly made.

Recommendations

The pot you are going to use has to have a wide mouth so that the meat juices fall into it. If you wish, it can be prepared from a whole lamb, only the viscera will have to be washed well and the belly must be filled with chili peppers to deflate them.