Cook like the Maya: Cochinita Pibil and Earth-as-OvenMaybe it’s because I’ve been going to a number of memorial services over the past month, or maybe it’s because I’m bringing gravlax to the recipe party later today, but whatever the cause, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to cook “in a grave.”
Last night at Mexique, I saw a look of disbelief rise in Chef Carlos Gaytan’s eyes as I explained to him that I planned to make cochinita pibil “the old fashioned way,” in the earth. “Pibil,” as I understand, means “buried,” and I’d like to try using the earth as an oven for making food.
Here’s my plan: when my garden has died out, probably around the end of September, I plan to dig a hole in the then barren earth and cook some piggy in the style of the Maya: by digging a pit, wrapping the seasoned pork in banana leaf, adding hot rocks, and covering with earth to let the whole thing steam away.
Obviously, I’m going to use small pieces of pig, and equally obviously, I have no clear idea of what I’m doing. My thought is that I may need to heat rocks (somehow…on the grill? In the oven?) and then periodically add hot coals to the top.
I asked Gaytan if anyone in Chicago is making cochinita pibil this way, and he calmly explained (showing respectful pity for my naïve question) that if a restaurant cooked this way, it would be a clear violation of health codes, but he offered me a bunch of banana leaves if I wanted to make the effort, all the while showing mild amusement that a gabacho would want to go native with pork. I do.
I googled for images of cochinita pibil in a traditional preparation and didn’t find any, but I did find this image of the House of Seven Dolls in Dzibilchaltun that The Wife and I visited in the 70s.
This building shows solar alignment: the sun shines in the doorways at the beginnings of both planting and harvesting seasons. In the floor of this Mayan structure were found seven or so dolls representing disfigured or malformed bodies. Why? No one is sure, but it seems there’s something magical about putting things in the earth, and I want to tap into that, whatever it is.
Davie “Abäj k’atän” Hammond
"Don't you ever underestimate the power of a female." Bootsy Collins