Many Mexican restaurants advertise machaca as one of the dishes on their menus, but on many occasions they offer an imitation.
Machaca, also known as machacado, is perhaps one of the most representative dishes of Mexican cuisine from the northern part of the country. It originated in the states that are big meat producers, like Nuevo León, Chihuahua and Sonora.
Machaca is ground dried meat that can be prepared in many ways, but it’s traditionally mixed with scrambled eggs for a very Mexican breakfast.
However, some restaurants offer this dish with shredded beef instead of dried meat.
“That’s not machacado,” says Alejandra Erives, manager of Margarita’s Mexican Restaurant in Dallas. “The real machaca is with dried beef, and if it’s not prepared that way, you lose the true flavor of the dish.”
To make machaca, producers marinate thin beef fillets with salt, then dry them in the sun for several days. They are then pounded or crushed, either by hand or with a grinder, until almost powdered. Then the meat is packaged and ready to be prepared with eggs, sauce or vegetables, according to Serious Eats.
In the northern states of Mexico, there is a cultural dispute over how machaca originated, according to Mexican writer Homero Adame on his blog, Mexican Myths and Legends.
In Chihuahua, the dish is called machaca and was widely consumed among miners. In Nuevo León, it was used to feed the workers who built the roads. Since there was no way to refrigerate food, drying the meat was the preferred preservation method.
Whatever its origin, this is one of the most traditional northern Mexican breakfasts that can be savored in Dallas-Fort Worth restaurants, but be sure to check before ordering that it is made with dried meat.
At Margarita’s, the beef machaca comes from Mexico and is prepared the moment a customer orders it.
“Our diners ask for it a lot, especially people who are from the north [of Mexico]. But we also have American customers who are daring to try it, and they liked it,” Erives says.
The best way to eat machaca is with scrambled eggs and refried beans in flour tortillas with salsa. But it can also be prepared stewed or Mexican style (mixed with tomato, onion and jalapeños).
You can buy packaged machaca in some Mexican supermarkets, like Super Mercado Monterrey, ready to add ingredients of your choice.
