Recado rojo

Recado is a culinary paste historically associated with Mayan cuisine. It can have a variety of colors and flavors ranging from mild to spicy, sweet, or piquant. It is most commonly found throughout the Yucatán and Belize.¹²³

It can be prepared in advance¹ and conveniently used as a marinade or rub to flavor foods, especially meat, poultry, and seafood, that can then be grilled, baked, barbecued, or broiled. Recado is also an ingredient for a number of popular Latin dishes.⁴²

Although often personalized, typical ingredients include annatto, oregano, cumin, clove, cinnamon, black pepper, allspice, garlic, salt,⁵⁶⁷ ground with liquids such as sour orange juice or vinegar into a paste.⁸⁹ It can even be added to masa (corn dough) to create a zesty flavor and color as in empanadas, red tamales, and chorizo.¹⁰

While colorado (red) is most known, other common recados include negro (black) and verde (green). Additional variants include: recado blanco, recado mechado, and recado español.³

Recado rojo, also called recado colorado, has a distinctive red-orange color that derives from ground annatto (achiote) seed.

It is commonly used when making tacos al pastor⁴ and pollo pibil.⁹

Recado negro is a shiny black color due to the char resulting from burnt chilies and other toasted ingredients which create a smoky flavor profile.¹

It is used when making dishes such as carne asada¹ and relleno negro.¹¹⁶