Birria Tacos with Dipping Broth

Preparation

1. Rub the meat all over with 1 tbsp salt and leave, covered, in the fridge for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight; pat dry before browning.
2. Stem and deseed the chillies, toast them in a dry pan for 1 to 2 minutes without burning (burnt chillies turn bitter) and soak in hot water for 20 minutes.
3. Toast the cinnamon, coriander, pepper, cumin, allspice and cloves in a pan for about 2 minutes until fragrant, then grind finely together with the bay leaves and oregano.
4. Preheat the oven to 150 °C. Heat the oil in a heavy lidded pot and brown the meat well all over in batches; remove.
5. Cook the onion and tomatoes in the same pot for 5 to 7 minutes, add the garlic and cook for 3 minutes, then toast the ground spices with them for 2 minutes.
6. Add the vinegar, water, meat and the drained chillies, bring to the boil, cover and simmer over medium-low heat for about 30 minutes, until the chillies are completely soft.
7. Remove the chillies, blend them smooth with about 500 ml of the broth, return to the pot and braise everything, covered, in the oven for about 90 minutes, until the meat comes easily off the bone; if it is still tough, keep cooking.
8. Take out the meat, remove the bones and shred the meat with two forks; season the broth (consommé) and keep it warm.
9. Briefly dip a tortilla in the fatty broth, lay it in a hot pan with a little oil, top one half with cheese and meat, fold over and fry for about 1 minute on each side, until the cheese melts.
10. Serve the tacos with coriander, chopped onion and lime, with the broth for dipping.

Drink with it

• Dark beer · excellent match

  Mexican dark lager in the Vienna style, ice cold

  Caramel malt carries the ancho chilli, cinnamon and fried cheese crust, while carbonation and the cold cut through the fat of the broth.

  Which beer goes with food? More than just pils with barbecue ↗

• Pale lager · excellent match

  Mexican pale lager, ice cold, with a lime wedge

  Slim and zesty, it cleans the palate after every dunked taco, and the low alcohol barely fans the chilli heat.

  Pils or Helles: What's the Difference? ↗

• Aged tequila · excellent match

  Tequila reposado, over ice in small sips

  Birria and tequila both come from Jalisco: cask vanilla and cooked agave meet cinnamon, clove and braised beef. Only over ice and in small sips, because alcohol amplifies the chilli heat.

  Tequila Blanco, Reposado, and Añejo: what aging changes ↗

• Red wine · good match

  Young Tempranillo (Joven), lightly chilled

  Ripe berry fruit and little tannin catch the rich braised meat, and served cool it fuels the heat less than a heavy red.

  Which wine pairs with food? A simple approach to choosing ↗