A Yucatan BBQ: Bring Old Mexico to New England

Photos by Michael Piazza / Styled by Catrine Kelty

This Mexican–New England barbecue party menu reflects my Mexican heritage, my love for the Yucatan peninsula and my new New England home. By midsummer in Massachusetts the melons and tomatoes are ripe, the lobsters are plentiful and my achiote-scented Yucatan-style grilled pork ribs are perfect served with a chunky salpicón, but the center of any authentic Mexican party will always be maiz, or corn.

At my Somerville restaurant, La Brasa, we get our whole maiz and other products (like beans) from Tamoa, a Mexico City–based company that sources fair-wage “quality heirloom corn from small-scale farms, making sure to only buy surplus production in order not to deprive farmers and their families of their ancient food rites.” Thanks to this partnership, we are able to offer authentic Mexican cuisine outside of Mexico. But since the nixtamalization process (the softening of the hard corn through a soak in slaked lime before grinding) isn’t easy to do in a home kitchen, I suggest buying a high-quality masa harina (ground corn flour) from Masienda online, or a high-quality prepared masa from Vermont Tortilla Company.

There are many elements of this meal that can be made in advance to help lessen the load on the day of your party. For example, you can grill the lobsters and baby back ribs the day before, make the soup the morning of, cook the beans a few days ahead of time.