Traditional Yucatán cochinita pibil: pork marinated in achiote and sour orange, baked in banana leaves

Pibil, in Mayan, means buried. That is how the ancient inhabitants of the Yucatán peninsula cooked: in a pit in the ground lined with hot stones and banana leaves, where the meat spent the whole night slowly roasting. The pig arrived with the Spanish, but the method, the leaf, the achiote and the sour orange belong to the land.

The result is a meat of intense orange color, tangy and fragrant, that falls apart with a fork and is served in tacos, tortas or simply with warm tortillas and the inseparable pickled red onion with habanero. In Mérida, it is Sunday breakfast.

Without a pit in the backyard, the home oven does the job: the banana leaf keeps the moisture and gives the aroma, and the long time at low temperature takes care of the rest. Achiote paste is sold ready-made in Mexican grocery stores, and annatto powder with vinegar is the homemade substitute.

Recipe card

• Origin: Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico
• Category: Main course, roasted meat
• Difficulty: Easy, needs time
• Preparation time: 30 minutes (plus 4 hours or overnight marinating)
• Oven time: 4 hours
• Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients — pork and marinade

• 2 kg pork leg or shoulder with some fat, in large pieces
• 100 g achiote paste (or 3 tablespoons annatto powder)
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup lime juice
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 6 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon salt
• Banana leaves briefly passed over a flame to soften

Ingredients — pickled onion

• 2 red onions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup lime juice
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1 habanero chili, sliced (or red chili)
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• Salt to taste

Method

1. Blend the achiote paste, juices, vinegar, garlic, oregano, cumin, allspice, cinnamon and salt until smooth.
2. Pierce the meat with a knife in several places, cover with the marinade, massage well and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
3. Line a deep roasting pan with the banana leaves, leaving enough overhang to close on top.
4. Place the meat with all its marinade on the leaves and wrap well, like a parcel.
5. Cover the pan with foil and bake in a preheated oven at 160 °C (325 °F) for about 4 hours, until the meat falls apart at the touch of a fork.
6. While it roasts, mix the pickled onion ingredients in a bowl and let stand for at least 1 hour.
7. Open the parcel, shred the meat with two forks in its own juices and adjust the salt.
8. Serve hot with corn tortillas, the pickled onion on top and habanero slices for the brave.

Tips and variations

• In a pressure cooker, cook the marinated meat with half a cup of water for 50 minutes; the banana leaf goes on top inside the pot.
• In a slow cooker, 8 hours on low.
• Real sour orange, if you can find it, replaces the orange and lime mix.
• Leftovers make tortas (sandwiches) and tamale filling.
• The meat freezes very well with its juices for up to 3 months.
• Serve with refried black beans and white rice for a complete plate.
• Without banana leaves, wrap in parchment and foil; you lose the perfume, not the tenderness.

Cochinita pibil is the kind of dish worth a whole Sunday: it marinates the night before, roasts in the morning and gathers everyone around the tortillas at lunchtime.