Escabeche De Ternera O Carnero

This recipe hails from the early 19th-century kitchen of Concepción Gutierres y Franco, documented in her 1830 Mexican manuscript cookbook. During this period, home cooks in Mexico blended indigenous and Spanish techniques, creating unique hybrid dishes like this escabeche—a method historically used to preserve and flavor meats with vinegar and aromatics. The manuscript itself, handwritten and stitched into blue artisanal covers, hints at the personal and cherished nature of women's kitchen notebooks from this era. Recipes were commonly adapted and recorded by elite and literate women, contributing to the preservation of culinary tradition as well as individual family tastes and stories.

Traditionally, the dish would have been prepared in an earthenware or heavy iron casserole (cassuela) over a wood or charcoal-fired stove. The pot would be covered with a linen or cotton cloth (servilleta) before placing the lid on top, creating a tight seal to slow-cook and infuse the meat. Basic kitchen knives, large wooden spoons, and stone mortars for crushing spices and herbs were typical in a 19th-century Mexican kitchen, though the use of a ceramic jug or pitcher for measuring liquids like olive oil (aseite) and vinegar was also common.