Cochinita pibil comes to the Azul menu in the next few weeks.

Where the name comes from

Pibil comes from píib, the Maya word for an earth oven. A pib is a pit dug in the ground, where a wood fire burns until the stones are hot. Food is wrapped, set on the stones, and buried under leaves and earth so the heat stays in. The technique almost certainly predates the Spanish conquest; some researchers think Maya earth ovens go back thousands of years, though nobody can say for sure.

Before the 16th century, no pork went into a pib. Pigs came to Mexico with the Spanish, and earlier pit dishes used game: venison, peccary, wild turkey. Cochinita is Spanish for “little pig.” The pit and the achiote are Maya; the pork and the sour orange came with the Spanish.

A traditional pib holds enough meat for a crowd and cooks overnight, which is why it belongs to feasts. Many cooks in Yucatán now make cochinita at home, in an oven or on the stove. The pit is still dug for celebrations, most visibly at Hanal Pixán, the Yucatecan Day of the Dead, when what comes out of it is a large tamale called mucbipollo.

Achiote and sour orange

The red comes from achiote paste (recado rojo), ground from annatto seeds with spices such as cumin and black pepper. The juice is sour orange, also called Seville orange, whose acidity cuts the fat of the pork and softens the meat while it marinates. Sour oranges are hard to find outside Yucatán, so many cooks blend other citrus to get close.

The marinated pork is wrapped in banana leaves before it cooks, which keeps it moist. It pulls apart with a fork, red and tangy, and leans on spice and acid more than chile heat.

In Yucatán, Sunday is cochinita day, mostly at breakfast, in tacos and tortas. The usual explanation is that pigs were slaughtered on Saturday. We went looking and couldn’t find that in print.

At Azul

When the dish is ready, it will be on the menu. There’s no pit at 120 River Street; the kitchen cooks on gas.

In the meantime, the bar pours mezcal and tequila. We’re open Monday through Friday, 4:00 PM to 11:00 PM, and Saturday and Sunday, 2:00 PM to midnight. Reserve online for parties of up to 8, or call or email for larger groups. Walk-ins are always welcome.