Birria

Birria (pronounced bírria, accented on the first syllable) is a spicy Mexican meat stew usually made with goat, lamb, or mutton, often served during festive periods, such as Christmas, New Year's Eve, Mother's Day, and weddings. Originally from Jalisco, it is a common dish in some Mexican food establishments. It is served with corn tortillas, onion, cilantro, and lime. There are variations using beef as well.

Birria is made using a base of dried roasted peppers. This gives birria both its characteristic savoriness as well as its variety, as different cooks choose different peppers to use for the broth base. Birria is served by combining a bowl of broth with freshly chopped roasted meat. One method of presentation for the diner to fill a corn tortilla with meat, onions and cilantro, seasoning with fresh squeezed lime juice, then dip it into the broth before eating it. The broth itself may be eaten with a spoon or by drinking from the bowl.

A common icon in birria restaurants (birrierías) is a pair of goat horns. The icon is used as a symbol of the purported aphrodisiac powers of birria, presumably tied to the general randiness of the goats from which it is made.

Guadalajara is famous for its birrierías. Two locations within the city are particularly renowned for it: the food court in the Mercado Libertad (where the birrierías are located in the southwest corner), and the Barrio de las Nueve Esquinas, just south of the Templo San Francisco in the Centro (downtown).