This isn’t your average, made-for-Instagram birria.
Or rather, it’s not the birria you’ve seen take over Los Angeles.
The birria you’re probably eating is boiled in a pot for three to four hours with spices and chiles and is often based on beef. This birria, estilo Moyahua, Zacatecas, takes 24 hours, is roasted overnight in a brick oven pit, and involves a whole family effort to produce a dish that is just as fulfilling here as it is in its birthplace. Unlike many other birrias, the consomé is tomato-based, so no rendered meat broth is added.
It’s the birria that all Moyahuenses, Cuxpalienses, and anyone from the Cañon de Juchipila in the southern part of Zacatecas has for quinceañeras, weddings, or any special occasion. It's from rancho land, where cattle and corn dominate, alongside ancient gold and silver mines. Where its people migrated and settled large parts of Mexicali and Los Baños, as farm workers, as well as the west side of Los Angeles, including Inglewood and Culver City, as gardeners and landscapers. This is the birria of my people.
It’s a rare style of birria in both Los Angeles and Mexico because of its unique preparation and flavors. The simple fact that it needs a pit, built like a brick-lined well inside of the ground, proves that it's a complex craft to master. Building the pit is the first challenge. Lighting it and bringing it to temperature is another.