Why the stew that everyone wants at noon has to start before the doors open, and what happens in between.
Birria is the one dish on the menu that cannot be hurried by anyone, at any price. It is beef, chiles and time, and the time is not negotiable.
Before the lights go on
The chiles are toasted and soaked first thing. They go into the pot with the beef, with bay, clove, cinnamon and cumin, and then the pot is left alone for hours while it does the only thing it knows how to do.
You can tell it is ready without tasting it. The meat stops holding on to the bone.
The broth is half of it
What is left in the pot is consomme, and it is not a side. Dip the taco, drink what is left in the cup, or do both in an order that suits you.
It is also the reason birria runs out some days. When the pot is finished, it is finished, and the next one starts tomorrow morning.
