Slow-Cooked Pork Barbacoa

When I worked at TWO Urban Licks in Atlanta, most of the crew was Hispanic. Every Saturday, one of the cooks would bring in barbacoa tacos he bought from a guy named Manuel out on Buford Highway. Manuel sold these barbecued goat tacos right out of his apartment with a soccer game on in the background and his family milling about. This kind of Mexican barbecue isn’t smoky. It tastes more steamed because the meat is cooked in a pit in the ground. Everyone knows Mexican tacos can be dry, but Manuel’s were moist and juicy, with spices like clove, allspice, and cinnamon along with hot peppers. I loved them. I’ve stayed true to Manuel’s flavors here, but I use pork instead of goat, wrap it up in foil, and then bake it until it’s tender enough to shred. If you have a pit in your backyard, have at it. But the foil-and-oven method works great. The meat is delicious in tacos. — Kevin Gillespie, author of Pure Pork Awesomeness.