Belizean Recado Blend for Relleno Negro, Chirmole, Carnitas, and Tamales Colado
Black recado is the pitch-dark spice paste behind Belize’s black dinner. It is also called chilmole, chimole or recado negro, and the colour comes from burning, not from any dark spice. This recipe is my Mayan grandmother’s. She still grinds her spices in the Corozal District by hand using only the freshest locally sourced spices. Black recado is one of three traditional Belizean spice pastes: learn about all of them in our guide to Belizean recado.
Black recado is the secret ingredient in many of Belize’s favorite dishes like chirmole (sometimes called chilmole, or “black dinner”), relleno, picadillo, and relleno blanco. The truth is that while black recado is ubiquitous in Belize, very few people know how to make it. Even fewer have a perfected recipe like this one.
Ceylon cinnamon is sweeter and milder than cassia, the right choice for atole, conkies, and sweet drinks. Buy it as sticks and steep or grind as the recipe calls for.
Where the Black Comes From, and What It Tastes Like
Burnt corn tortillas. That is the whole trick, and it is why this paste is black rather than brown. Chilmole is built on toasted chiles and burnt tortillas ground together with allspice, black pepper, clove, cumin, oregano, garlic, sour orange and salt (source). Yucatán Today describes recado negro the same way and credits the charred tortillas with its distinctive black hue (source).
The taste follows from that. Bitter-smoky first, from the carbon, then the warm spice underneath: clove and allspice, cumin, oregano. It is savoury rather than hot on its own. Heat is added separately, and the recipe below carries none.
There is no settled English name for it. Black recado, black seasoning and burnt-chilli paste all get used, and in Belize the dish it makes is simply called black dinner.
Preparation and Cooking Time
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cooking time: depends on grinding method
- Total time: 10 minutes
- Yield: about 8 to 12 cups of black recado blend
Belizean Black Recado Recipe Ingredients
- 2 cups (180 g) allspice berries (pimienta gorda)
- 1 cup (100 g) cumin seeds
- 1 cup (90 g) cinnamon sticks (canela cuadrado)
- 3 cups (180 g) dried oregano
- 2 cups (180 g) whole cloves
- 3 cups (330 g) black peppercorns (pimienta castilla)
- 5 tablespoons (90 g) sea salt
- About 10 corn tortillas
- 1 head of garlic
- 1 lb (450 g) chopped onions
Alternative Ingredients
- For a milder version, reduce black peppercorns to 1.5 cups (165 g).
- For a gluten-free blend, ensure all spices are pure and uncontaminated.
Instructions
- Combine all the spices in a grinder or a traditional Belizean molina.
- Grind all spice ingredients to a fine powder, ensuring a consistent blend.
- You can stop here if you want only the spice blend, which is better for seasoning soups like relleno blanco, chirmole and relleno.
- Brown about 10 corn tortillas in the oven until they are completely browned but not burned to ash. You want them carbonised and brittle, dark all the way through, still smelling toasted rather than acrid.
- Grind in the spices and the tortillas with your onions, garlic, and salt. Do not add salt if you just want the base spice mix.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It keeps for months. If you opted to create just the spice mix without the tortillas, onion, and garlic, the spice blend will last even longer.
Serving Suggestions
- Use 1 tablespoon of this recado blend per 1 lb (450 g) of meat for relleno negro, chirmole, carnitas or tamales colado.
- When cooking with black recado, garlic and onions are often combined.
- Keep in mind the full black recado paste includes a healthy amount of salt, so taste your broth before adding more.
- Black recado is commonly also spicy. This recipe does not include chile molido, dried peppers ground into a powder, but it is normal for some to be added to increase the heat depending on the dish and the cook.
Storage and Make-Ahead
Two products, two shelf lives. The dry spice blend without tortillas, onion or garlic is shelf-stable in an airtight jar for a year or more, out of the light. The full paste with the tortillas and aromatics ground in is a fresh product: refrigerate it and use it within a few months.
This is the reason the method stops halfway. Grinding the dry blend in bulk and finishing small amounts into paste as you need them gets you the best of both, and it is what a household making relleno once or twice a year actually does.
The paste freezes well for a year. Portion it a tablespoon at a time before freezing, since a tablespoon is what a pound of meat wants and a frozen block is hard to break.
Equipment
A grinder that will take whole clove, allspice and peppercorn in quantity. A molina is the Belizean answer and a sturdy spice or coffee grinder will do it in small batches. These are hard spices in large volumes and a light blade grinder will not survive the job.
The oven does the tortillas. A comal or dry skillet works and needs watching, because the line between carbonised and ash is narrow and ash tastes only of ash.
A sieve if you want it smooth. Some Belizeans sift the ground mix to take out the larger grits before it goes into a soup.
Approximate Nutritional Information (per teaspoon)
- Calories: 8 to 10 kcal
- Carbohydrates: 1.4 to 1.7 g
- Fiber: 0.6 to 0.8 g
- Sugars: 0.1 to 0.2 g
- Fat: 0.3 to 0.5 g
- Protein: 0.3 to 0.4 g
- Sodium: 0 mg for the dry spice blend without salt, or 120 to 150 mg if salt is included in the grind
Tips and Tricks
- Select high-quality, fresh spices for the best flavor.
- Grind in small batches to maintain freshness.
- The finer the grind, the less gritty the mix will be when used in soups. Some Belizeans will sift the mix to remove any larger grits.
- Adjust the proportions to suit your taste preferences.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is black recado?
A near-black seasoning paste from Belize and the Yucatán, also called chilmole or recado negro. Toasted chiles and burnt tortillas are ground with allspice, black pepper, clove, cumin, oregano, garlic, sour orange and salt (source). It is the base of black dinner.
What is black recado called in English?
There is no established English name. Black recado and black seasoning are the usual translations, and the dish it makes is called black dinner in Belize. Recipes outside the region often keep chilmole or recado negro untranslated.
What makes black recado black?
Burnt corn tortillas, and charred chiles where they are used. Yucatán Today credits the charred tortillas with the distinctive black hue (source). No dark spice is involved and nothing is dyed.
What does black recado taste like?
Bitter-smoky at the front from the carbon, then warm spice underneath: clove, allspice, cumin and oregano. Savoury rather than hot. Any heat in the finished dish comes from chile added separately.
What is the difference between mole and chilmole?
Different things that share a syllable. Mole is a Mexican sauce family, often thickened and sweetened with nuts, seeds and chocolate. Chilmole is a Yucatecan and Belizean seasoning paste built on burnt tortillas and charred chiles, with no chocolate and no nuts. Our Mayan mole recado is a third thing again.
Is black recado the same as red recado?
No. Red recado is built on annatto seed and colours food red-orange. Black recado is built on burnt tortillas and colours it near-black. They are not interchangeable in any dish.
Can I buy it instead of making it?
Yes, and most Belizean households do. It is sold as chilmole in hard bars or tubs in Belizean, Mexican and Caribbean groceries. Half a bar is roughly 2 tablespoons of paste.
How much does this recipe make?
Eight to twelve cups, which is a year’s supply and then some at a tablespoon per pound of meat. Scale it to a quarter if you are making it for one relleno.
Related Recipes
What to cook with it: chirmole, relleno, picadillo and tamales colados.
Looking for other Belizean recipes? Try our recipe for how to make red recado at home or our collection of red recado recipes.
Explore more seasonings and staples in our A-Z Belizean ingredients guide.
Shop This Recipe
Toasted whole cumin grinds fresh into recado with a depth that pre-ground cumin loses on the shelf. Whole seed is the spice-shelf staple every Belizean kitchen should keep on hand.
Recado blanco, chimole, and braised meats all call for whole cloves ground or simmered into the dish. Whole cloves keep their volatile oils far longer than ground.
About Joe Post
Joe Post is the founder and editor of Belize News Post. He grew up in Corozal Town, Belize, on the Caribbean sea with a view across Corozal Bay to Cerro Maya. He has lived in Costa Rica, Kenya, England, Spain, and the United States. He grew up cooking alongside his mother and grandmother, and has personally tested the vast majority of the recipes on this site. He started BNP in the early 2000s as one of the few independent Belizean news sources online. Over the years, the food became the stickiest thing. News comes and goes. Food stays.
