mixiote
{{Short description|Mexican barbecued meat dish}}
{{refimprove|date=February 2013}}
A mixiote is a traditional pit-barbecued meat dish in central Mexico; especially in the Basin of Mexico, in which the meat is cooked inside a wrapper, traditionally in the outer skin of an agave leaf.{{Cite journal |last1=Jiménez-Regalado |first1=Enrique Javier |last2=Díaz-Cruz |first2=Claudio Alonso |last3=Aguirre-Loredo |first3=Rocio Yaneli |date=2022-12-01 |title=Physicochemical Characterization of Mixiote Paper: a Natural Film of Vegetable Origin Used in Traditional Mexican Gastronomy |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/15440478.2021.1941479 |journal=Journal of Natural Fibers |volume=19 |issue=13 |pages=6902–6908 |doi=10.1080/15440478.2021.1941479 |issn=1544-0478|url-access=subscription }}
Ingredients
Preparation
The ingredients are wrapped in small packages made of xiotl, the tough semi-transparent outer skin of the leaves of the maguey (century plant, agave) which gives it a unique flavor.{{cite book |last=Kennedy |first=Diana |title=Mexican Regional Cooking |publisher=Harper Collins |year=1990 |isbn=0-06-092069-6 |location=New York}} The difference is that the use of xiotl gives the food a special flavor, which cannot be substituted.{{Cite web |title=Mixiotes, a Mexican "En Papillote" - Mexican Food |url=http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art10595.asp |access-date=2022-10-10 |language=en-US}} In order to protect agave plants from overharvesting and becoming endangered, many states in Mexico have outlawed the stripping of the epidermis.
In the cities, parchment paper or even aluminum foil was also used to wrap the mixiotes, which can be considered a reminiscence of the old French technique of baking "en papillote", or the Italian "al cartoccio" (in the cartridge). Incidentally, this technique is traditional in many culinary cultures: pepes in Indonesia; zongzi in China; dolmades in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, as well as in Central America, where tamales are usually cooked this way, or for the preparation of pamonha in Brazil.
It can also be prepared in an oven.
Image:Mixiote meat.jpg|Mixiote meat, as being served in a restaurant
File:Pescado en mixiote Iztapalapa.jpg|Fish mixiote
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{barbecue}}
{{Mexican cuisine}}
Category:Cuisine of Mexico City
{{Mexico-cuisine-stub}}