This dish is one of the more iconic Mexican dishes. Straight from the Yucatán peninsula, its origin goes back to the pre-colonisation era, to the Mayan culture.

This dish was originally prepared and eaten during the Mayan “Hanal Pixán” festival, held annually between October 31 and November 2 in southern Mexico. In Mayan, hanal means 'food' and pixán means 'soul', so Hanal Pixán is “food for the souls”. This celebration is one of the possible origins of the famous “Día de Muertos” (Day of the Dead) in Mexico.

For the Maya, the soul is given by the gods to humans, then, when the human body dies, it passes to the world of the dead. The three worlds – the world of the gods, the world of the living, and the world of the dead – are connected by paths in the shape of gigantic serpents, for the souls to travel on between them, guided by Xoloitzcuintlis (Mexican hairless dogs). At Hanal Pixan, the Maya pray to the souls of the dead for them to visit the world of the living and share their food. 

The original version of this dish was made with the meat of a deer, pheasant, wild turkey or peccary (a kind of native American pig) and cooked in a “pib”, a traditional clay oven. During the colonial era, it started to be prepared with pork meat and later on also cooked in pressure cookers, Dutch ovens and conventional ovens.

The characteristic flavour of this dish comes from the Achiote, a red-orange paste made with the ripe fruit of the Achiote tree. Also, the other sauces used in the marinade give this recipe a sweet, earthy flavour that is not particularly spicy-hot, perfectly paired with habanero sauce, onion and coriander.

Today we bring you a version of this recipe, which we have tested just a few weeks ago, marinated for around 20 hours and slow-cooked in a Dutch oven for around 10.

The verdict? People went silent and plates emptied quickly. That’s all we have to say about it ;)

For the marinade:

*Allow the marinade to do its thing for at least 5 hours – or 24 hours if you have the time. It's worth it!

- 2 kg of pork shoulder

- 100g Achiote paste (on sale at Casa Iberica, Preston Market and other Latin specialty grocers)

- 5 garlic cloves

- 2 tablespoons dry oregano

- 2 tablespoons peppercorns

- 1 tablespoon dry thyme

- ½ teaspoon cumin

- 1-2 cinnamon sticks

- 3 whole cloves

- 1 tablespoon soy sauce

- ¾ cup orange juice

- ¼ cup lime juice

- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar

- 2-3 bay leaves

- 1-2 Banana leaves

Cut pork into chunks and set aside in a bowl.

In a pan, sauté the chopped garlic with the oregano, peppercorns, thyme, cumin, cinnamon, cloves and Achiote with a little bit of oil. A chunky dry paste should result from this.

Blend this paste with soy sauce, orange juice and vinegar. A thinner, blended paste should result, similar to ketchup.

Pour marinade mixture into the bowl with the pork. Cover and leave in the fridge for at least 5 hours.

Cooking the meat:

Cover the bottom of the Dutch oven with banana leaf and make sure there’s enough liquid between the bottom of the pot and the banana leaf to avoid burning. Place pork and the rest of the marinade in the Dutch oven, add bay leaves and cover the top with banana leaves before replacing the lid. Cook on low heat until the pork is nice and soft.

Pull the cooked pork with forks to shred and mix with the remaining sauce. Store and reheat when needed.