A brief history of Barbacoa (2024)

FAQs

What is the history of the barbacoa? ›

Even though many of us associate barbacoa with Mexican cuisine, the term and the cooking style originated in the Caribbean with the native Taino people, and many food historians agree that all forms of barbecue in the Americas are descendants of this style of cooking.

Barbacoa is a method of cooking meat (historically lamb or goat, though beef or pork is often used today) that produces tender and juicy results. It's traditionally steam-cooked underground, but modern barbacoa can be prepared over an open fire, on the stove, or in a slow cooker.

It generally refers to slow-cooking meats or whole sheep, whole cows, whole beef heads, or whole goats in a hole dug in the ground, and covered with agave (maguey) leaves, although the interpretation is loose, and in the present day (and in some cases) may refer to meat steamed until tender.

Barbacoa is one of the most famous, beloved, traditional, and special dishes in Mexico. This delicacy contains in its softness and scent more than 500 years of history, as well as the exquisite mixture of two seemingly different worlds.

Barbacoa is an ancient style of BBQ to be put simply. The oldest known use of it was by the Aztec. They would dig a deep hole in the earth and build a fire of very hot coals, line it with agave leaves and slow roast (almost steam) small game meats, birds and sometimes fish.

In addition to its delicious flavor, barbacoa is also a great source of nutrients. The slow cooking process helps to retain the meat's natural juices, which makes it moist and flavorful. The spices used to season the meat also have health benefits, such as helping to reduce inflammation and improve digestion.

Raúl Guerrero, a journalist in the central Mexican state of Hidalgo, the central Mexican state most closely associated with barbacoa, told me this had to do with the Jewish commander under Hernán Cortés who had first been put in charge of the region that's now Hidalgo and who first introduced sheep farming—and, ...

These days, nearly all meat called barbacoa is either a baked or steamed rump roast, but historically people cooked a cow's head en pozo, in an underground pit.

The origin of the word barbacoa comes from the Taíno language, specifically in pre-Hispanic Cuba. “It referred generally to a wood-burning hole in the ground used to cook meats,” says Jonathan Zaragoza, executive chef of Birrieria Zaragoza in Chicago.

Why Is Barbacoa So Greasy? Barbacoa comes from beef cheek or cow head. This part of the body is already a fatty cut and with fat melting from the slow-cooking process, this can make barbacoa so greasy.

Why is barbacoa cooked underground? ›

According to the book Pre-Hispanic Mexican Cuisine: The Food of the Ancient Mexicans, which Barbacoa Renatos has used as a source, the Mayans came up with the technique of steam-cooking meat in underground ovens, which keeps both the juices from the animal and the smoke and heat from escaping and forces them back into ...

Our English term barbecue comes from Caribbean Indian word barbacoa, but despite their common origins, these two words do not denote the same thing. Barbecue involves cooking food over a grill, while barbacoa is a steaming/baking process.

“Barbacoa, made from the meat of a cow's head, is cheap yet rich in flavor.” Customarily served at weekend breakfasts, the cheek, or cachete, is loaded with collagen, and slow-roasting enhances its savory flavor and silky texture.

Contrary to some beliefs, barbacoa (bar-bah-COE-ah) is not Spanish for barbecue. Fairly well-known in South Texas and along the Mexican border, it remains either unknown or poorly-copied in most other areas of the country.

Traditionally, barbacoa in Northern Mexico is made from either a cow head (including the cheeks) or goat meat (cabrito). The barbacoa in Central or Southern Mexico is more often made with lamb or pork.

A representative from the company explained that the "teeth" are actually "beef lips" and are a "USDA-inspected product for human consumption." A food writer from San Antonio Express-News said it's not uncommon to find odd parts from the cow in barbacoa meet. What do you think?