Tacos in Michoacán

Michoacán, in western Mexico, is regarded as the home of carnitas, pork slowly cooked in its own lard in copper cauldrons and sold by the kilo or in tacos, with the lakeside town of Quiroga claiming the title of carnitas capital of the world.

Carnitas

Larousse's dictionary of Mexican cooking describes carnitas as small pieces of pork fried in the animal's own lard and names Michoacán as the place where they were invented and where the best are made. In the Quiroga style described by Mexico News Daily, young corn-fed pigs are used almost in their entirety. The meat is first seared, then cooked slowly in fat at a gentle simmer for three to four hours until it is tender inside with crisp edges and skin. Some cooks add orange juice or even cola, which slightly changes the color and flavor.

Carnitas are sold by weight and eaten in corn tortilla tacos with onion, cilantro, salsa and lime. Customers can ask for maciza (lean boneless meat), cuerito (skin), buche (stomach), costilla (rib) and many other parts, or a surtida, an assorted mix of several cuts, a habit Larousse notes is common at carnitas stands. Sunday is the traditional carnitas day.

Copper cauldrons

Michoacán cooks consider the copper cazo essential. The metal conducts heat well and is credited with producing the contrast between crisp exterior and soft interior. Many pots come from Santa Clara del Cobre, a Pueblo Mágico whose metalworking tradition reaches back to the Purépecha, who worked copper from the fourteenth century until the Spanish conquest. Visitors can watch smiths hammer pots by hand and see the national copper museum, and the town holds a copper fair each August.

History

No date can be fixed for the invention of carnitas. A story connecting them to a banquet of Hernán Cortés with pigs brought from Cuba in 1521 is generally treated as legend, though pigs were established in central Mexico within a few years of the conquest. Time Out Mexico points to the European technique of confit, slow cooking in fat at low heat, as an ancestor of the method. Most accounts credit Quiroga as the true birthplace, and the town calls itself the world capital of carnitas.

Key towns and events

Quiroga is the best-known destination, where carnitas are an everyday food rather than a festival treat. Tacámbaro, another Pueblo Mágico, holds the annual Feria Michoacana de las Carnitas, traditionally in November; the 2024 edition drew about 60,000 visitors. Carnitas also travel far beyond the state and are a key ingredient of Jalisco's torta ahogada. México Desconocido also lists Michoacán, along with the State of Mexico and Jalisco, as a home of charal tacos, made with tiny fried lake fish.

Signature tacos

• Tacos de carnitas

Reviews

See also

• Tacos de carnitas
• Tacos in Jalisco
• Tacos in the State of Mexico
• Tacos in Guanajuato

References

1. "State by Plate: Michoacán and carnitas". Mexico News Daily. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
2. "Carnitas". Larousse Cocina. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
3. "Dónde comer tacos de otros estados de México en la CDMX". Time Out México. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
4. "¡Para tacos, sólo México!". México Desconocido. Retrieved 2026-10-10.