Little Pig Cooked Underground

We quit our jobs and rented out our house. During the pandemic, we wondered if we would ever return, yet here we were. We dropped our bags at the accommodation and hit the streets for tacos and beer. We were back in Mexico City, but unfortunately, my stomach hadn’t received the memo.

Rather than visiting art galleries, museums, and enjoying tacos, I spent the following two days getting reacquainted with Mexican toilets. I still haven't managed to explore the National Museum of Anthropology without experiencing disruptive bowel movements.

Upon recovery, I played it safe, opting for a small restaurant around the corner specialising in Yucatan cuisine. We ordered chilaquiles con cochinita pibil. And so began our three-month culinary sojourn with cochinita pibil.

Historia

Cochinita pibil originates from the Maya civilization, which spanned the area of present-day southeastern Mexico. During special events, wild game was traditionally cooked underground using banana leaves, a technique referred to as a ‘pib’, meaning ‘to bury’. The arrival of the Spanish introduced pigs, called ‘cochinita’ in Spanish. Thus, cochinita pibil translates to ‘little pig cooked underground’.

Preparación

Cochinita pibil is not a complex dish. The star of the show is the achiote paste, derived from annatto seeds, giving the pork its distinctive red colour. In Australia, you won’t find achiote paste in Coles and Woolworths, but most specialty grocery stores stock it.

The paste is mixed in with vinegar, garlic and citrus to form the marinade. Once the marinade is applied, the pork is wrapped in banana leaves and buried underground to cook on hot coals for up to 12 hours. If you don’t have a Mayan fire pit at your disposal, a slow cooker will suffice.

Servicio

Australians overcomplicate Mexican food. Don’t get me wrong, I love a mid-week Old El Paso taco kit crammed with every salad item I can scrounge from the crisper. But if you’re going to make the effort to cook a traditional Mexican meal, please refrain and let the meat do the talking. Serving cochinita pibil has a simple, tried-and-true formula. Stick to it, and your taste buds will thank you.

Serve on soft tacos with pickled red onions, coriander and habanero sauce.

Comiendo

I’ve never been good at talking about flavours. My friends are very accomplished in the kitchen, and when they ask me to taste something, I feel their judgment when my only response is “that’s fucking good, man”. So rather than pretend to know what I’m talking about, I’ll do what all clueless critics do and compare it to something.

Cochinita pibil brings to mind my dad’s slow-cooked pork belly vindaloo because of its intense blend of tanginess and acidity. Dad typically prepares this dish on Christmas Day, so enjoying cochinita pibil in Mexico gave me a festive feeling, though it also made me a bit homesick.

Variadades

Although cochinita pibil is typically served in tacos, it also takes various forms in contemporary Mexican cuisine.

Chilaquiles con cochinita: A classic Mexican breakfast made from fried corn tortillas layered with egg, cheese and either salsa verde (green) or salsa rojo (red) and topped with cochinita pibil.

Cochinita torta: A hearty Mexican sandwich with cochinita and the traditional accompaniments: pickled red onions and coriander.

By the kilo: By the end of our trip, we were conscious of saving money. As such, we would order cochinita by the kilo for takeaway and purchase the tortillas and other condiments from the supermarket.

Consideraciones Regionales

Whether it be carnitas in Michoacán or birria in Jalisco, Mexico’s cuisine is highly regional. From the outside, it’s easy to lump all of Mexican food under one homogenous taco. But when you visit, you realise how fiercely proud locals are of their regional cuisine.

Although I consider cochinita pibil my favourite Mexican dish, I have never visited the Yucatan region. Mexicans would say this culinary opinion lacks validity until I have been there, and they're probably right – all the more reason to return.