Ternera En Tasajo O Cecina

This recipe comes from 'La Cosina en el Bolsillo No. 1,' published in 1913 by Antonio Vanegas Arroyo in Mexico City. The booklet is part of a wildly popular series that brought kitchen wisdom to everyday cooks at the turn of the 20th century. At this time, preservation without refrigeration was essential, and methods like salting and air-drying meat—producing tasajo or cecina—were traditional in many rural and urban households. These techniques allowed meat to be enjoyed long after butchering and became staples in regional Mexican cuisines.

Historically, the beef would have been cut with a sharp kitchen knife and possibly a cleaver. The salting and marinating process took place in wooden or ceramic troughs or directly inside the animal’s cleaned hide (as a rustic container). The meat was then strung up with cord or twine, hung outdoors in the sun, and left in the open air to dry—a process requiring only the cord, a safe outdoor space, and plenty of sunshine. For serving, simple braseros (charcoal braziers or open grills) and a molcajete or stone for grinding the spicy salsa completed the necessary kitchen tools.