Carne a la perra
Meta-style slow-cooked beef is marinated with scallion and beer, sealed in a covered pot and cooked until it pulls apart.
Carne a la perra belongs to the cooking tradition of San Martín, Meta, in Colombia’s Llanos Orientales. The defining idea is beef cooked for many hours inside a protective enclosure so it stays moist and becomes tender enough to pull into strands. Accounts describe cattle hide and a wood-fired clay or earth oven; a documented carrier recipe seasons beef with scallion, beer and salt. This home version keeps that simple marinade and long, enclosed cook while using a lidded oven-safe pot and food-grade parchment. It is a practical adaptation, not a claim to reproduce the hide-wrapped fire-pit method exactly.
The beef cut matters more than elaborate seasoning. Chuck or shoulder, with some shank if available, contains connective tissue that softens during a slow braise. Ask for large, evenly sized pieces so they cook at a similar rate. Blend the scallion with beer to make a loose marinade, then keep the covered meat refrigerated for the full three-hour marinating period. A small amount of garlic is included as an optional variation because it appears in a municipal account but not in every recipe record.
At home, a heavy Dutch oven gives the meat a sealed, humid environment without requiring cooks to prepare raw hide or dig a cooking pit. Parchment under the lid helps limit evaporation; the marinade supplies the liquid. Keep the oven at a steady 150°C and begin checking only toward the end of the estimated six-to-seven-hour braise. The beef is ready when a thermometer confirms a hot centre and a fork slides in easily. Tenderness, not a fixed clock, is the final quality cue because roast shape and ovens differ.
