Birria (Spanish:[ˈbirja]ⓘ) is a meat stew or soup, mainly made with goat or beef. The meat is marinated in an adobo made of vinegar, dried chiles, garlic, and herbs and spices (including cumin, bay leaves, and thyme) before being cooked in a broth (Spanish: consomé). Historically, birria was the regional name given in the state of Jalisco and surrounding areas to meats cooked or roasted in a pit or earth oven, what is known as barbacoa in other regions of Mexico, although for many people today, mostly in the United States, birria is now a distinct dish.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
It is often served at celebratory occasions such as weddings, baptisms and during holidays such as Christmas and Easter, and even at funerals. Preparation techniques vary, but the dish is often served with corn tortillas, onions, cilantro, and lime. Birria is also served with tacos. [8][9]
The term birria was originally the regional name given in Jalisco to meats cooked in a pit or earth oven, what is known in other parts of México as barbacoa.
Cuban-Mexican writer Félix Ramos y Duarte defined the term in 1898 as a regionalism from Mexico City for goat barbacoa or roasted goat.[12] Mexican linguist and philologist Darío Rubio wrote in 1925 that "birria" was a lower social class term for "barbacoa".[13] Mexican historian Leovigildo Islas Escárcega stated in 1945 that birria was a term specifically from Jalisco and some areas of the interior for barbacoa.[14] Mexican chef and professor Josefina Velázquez de León stated in 1946 that barbacoa has many variations or styles depending on the region of Mexico, and that birria was one style.[15] Mexican linguist and philologist Francisco J. Santamaría defined the term in 1959 as being another name for barbacoa, typically made from lamb or goat, and cited the work of Mexican scholar José Ignacio Dávila Garibi who argued that the term was of Coca origin and not from the Spanish term birria meaning worthless.[16] Mexican writer and essayist Jorge Mejia Prieto defined it in 1985 as a "soupy barbacoa made with lamb or goat meat from Guadalajara, Jalisco".[17]
Folk history
There exist many folk stories and myths about the origin of the term. One such story argues that in 1519, Hernán Cortés and the Conquistadors first landed in Mexico,[18] bringing various old-world domestic animals, including goats. During the conquest of the Aztec Empire, the Conquistadors were faced with an overpopulation of goats, so they decided to give the animals to the natives. While goat meat was supposedly looked down upon by the Conquistadors, as it was tough and had a strong smell, the natives accepted the animals, as marinating the meat in indigenous styles made it palatable and appetizing. The dishes they produced were called "birria", a derogatory term meaning "worthless", by the Spanish, in reference to their having given the natives meat with apparently noxious characteristics.[19]
According to another legend, the dish was invented accidentally during the eruption of a volcano, when a shepherd was forced to abandon his goats in a cave where they were cooked perfectly by the steam.[10]
Variations
Traditionally birria was served on bread, tortillas or even directly in hand. Many variations of the dish have derived since.[20]
In 1950, a taquero named Guadalupe Zárate set up a taco stand in Tijuana,[20] after moving there from Coatzingo, Puebla. Zárate's stand initially sold asado and pastor tacos. Zárate soon decided to make beef birria because goat meat was more expensive and less fatty. One day, someone told Zárate to add more liquid to the meat. The resulting dish is now known as Tijuana-style beef birria, making a household name among birrierías for being the first person in Tijuana to make birria with consomé.
During the 2010s, the quesabirria (a taco stuffed with birria and cheese, often served with consommé) became popular in North America after first being developed in Tijuana.[21] Another variation using instant ramen originated in Mexico City and later gained popularity in the Los Angeles area.[22][23]
Other versions of the dish include birria tatemada (charred birria). After marinating and simmering the meat, it is placed in a hot oven until crispy.[10]
^Ramos y Duarte, Felix (1898). Dicción de Mejicanismos (in Spanish) (Second ed.). Mexico: Herrero hermanos. p. 551. Retrieved 3 May 2024. Birria (D. F.), sf. Barbacoa de chivo, ó chivo asado. [Birria (México City), Goat Barbacoa, or roasted goat.]
^Rubio, Darío (1925). La Anarquía del Lenguaje en la América Española (in Spanish). Mexico: Confederacion regional obrera mexicana. p. 71. Retrieved 3 May 2024. Entre nosotros, BIRRIA es nombre que da también la gente del pueblo a la barbacoa. [Amongst us [the Mexicans], BIRRIA is what the lower classes call barbacoa.]
^Islas Escárcega, Leovigildo (1945). Vocabulario Campesino Nacional (in Spanish). Mexico: B. de Silva. p. 143. Retrieved 3 May 2024. Nombre con que designan a la barbacoa, en Jalisco y en algunos puntos del interior. [Name used to designate barbacoa, in Jalisco and in some parts of the interior.]
^Santamaría, Francisco J. (1959). Diccionario de Mejicanismos (in Spanish). Mexico: Porrúa. p. 135. Retrieved 3 May 2024. Birria, f. En cierta región del país, principalmente en Guadalajara (Jalisco), carne de borrego o de chivo, preparada a semejanza de la barbacoa, y que es típica del lugar; barbacoa en general. [Birria, f. In a certain region of the country, mainly in Guadalajara (Jalisco), lamb or goat meat, prepared in the style of barbacoa, and which is typical of that place; barbacoa in general.]
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