Wahaca is amazing… I have been there a couple of times, as soon as you step down the stairs it feels as if you are walking into Mexico (well I can assume that’s what Mexico would be like although I have never been). Immediately hit by the waft of lime and tequila as the barmen shake up powerful tequila cocktails. It has always been very busy when I’ve been, the sort of bustling environment which almost sets the scene for a market place where this food would be found in Mexico. A good atmosphere is great but there is a flip side, as no bookings for tables are taken you will be forced to sit and wait with a cocktail or lime laced beer, damn it! But it doesn’t matter you’re a traveler who’s just landed in mexico, time isn’t an issue! If you go, id advise the street food it is all very good, but one little dish stood out and floated with a halo alongside its fellow tacos, and that was the Pork Pibil. Tender shredded pork marinated in a Yucatecan marinade and slowly cooked so that the pork is just divinely tender and tasty.        

       

In Mexico this is called Cochinita Pibil, Cochinita meaning suckling pig, and the mayan word pibil means buried, describing how it is traditionally cooked in Mexico in a fire pit buried in the ground. The pork is left to steep for hours in the Yucatan marinade consisting of many spices but one key ingredient ‘Achiote paste’, before being wrapped in banana leaves and slowly cooked for hours. The reason why I felt the ‘achiote paste’ deserved to be in inverted commas is solely down to the effort it took me to try and get hold of it, but I’m afraid it is essential and worth it in the end. Actually it wasn’t that hard, I asked a few people, realised I was pronouncing it all wrong, and soon was on track with the latin shop and butchers in brixton.       

Look at the beautiful vibrant red triangles, aren’t they special, apparently the poormans version of saffron as achiote looks red, but turns whatever (and everything) yellow:       

       

        

Depending on what form of the achiote you can get hold of, you can either make the paste from scratch, or if you can get achiote paste (which already has all the spices etc in it) will save you a bit of time. Il show you both options! You need to make the marinade the morning or night before you want to eat, as it takes time to marinade and cook.       

Ingredients:       

3-4 pounds pork shoulder, diced      

Tortilla wraps or rice to serve       

Banana leaves (if you can get hold of them)    

   

250ml orange juice, freshly squeezed if possible       

juice of 4-5 limes       

1 teaspoons salt       

85g of red achiote paste       

Mix all of the above in a blender. Wash the blender as soon as you’re finished with it as it will stain red.       

The Yucutan marinade, Version 2 (making your Achiote paste)       

2½ tablespoons annatto (achiote) seeds (if you can get ground his will make your life easier)       

1 teaspoon cumin seeds       

2 teaspoons black peppercorns       

¼ teaspoon ground allspice       

¼ teaspoon cloves       

80ml orange juice       

3 cloves garlic, crushed       

1 tablespoon of salt       

Juice of 3 lemons       

½ teaspoon Tequilla       

Put all the dry spices into a coffee grinder or pestle and mortar, and grind into as fine a powder as you can. The achiote seeds are like little bloody rocks so you really need to put your back into it if you are using the pestle! Add the spice powder and remaining ingredients into a blender and whizz until as smooth as poss.       

Pour your marinade all over the meat and leave for about 6 hours or overnight to get all the Flavours into the pork. Preheat the oven to 1500C. Place a double layer of tinfoil into a casserole dish, and pour the marinated pork into this. Seal with the tinfoil tightly and place in the oven, cooking for about 3-4 hours, or until the pork is starting to fall apart.

       

If you were able to get hold of banana leaves prepare them first to soften by heating in a dry pan until they slightly change colour. Then place a leaf on top of the tinfoil base, pour the pork on top before another banana leaf and then tightly seal with the tinfoil. The banana leaves are supposed to contribute additional flavour to the dish, but I couldn’t get hold of them so I don’t know! Check your pork after 3 hours and when ready, remove the pork and shred it with a fork. You will find the liquid from the dish is very thin as none of the condensation has been allowed to escape from the foil. I therefore transferred this liquid to a pan, and reduced it down by half so it was a little thicker before pouring over the shredded pork.       

       

As a celebration for making this dish, I made it into a bit of a Mexican feast for friends with tortilla taco’s, guacamole, refried beans, salsa, and of course Corona! Messy it was but very yummy, worth the effort. Cheers Wahaca for the inspiration on this one!