I was paging through my copy of the late David Sterling’s book Yucatan, and I came across this dzik recipe. It took me by surprise, because I almost never see recipes specifically for venison in Mexican cookbooks.
Sure, you can make all sorts of excellent Mexican dishes with venison, but usually it subs in for beef or goat. This is different.
Interestingly, venison plays a significant role in the cuisine of the Yucatan. I did a bit of searching and it turns out that there is not only a whitetail deer subspecies that lives there, but there’s also a teeny little deer called a brown brocket. Who knew?
Dzik is essentially a mashup of barbacoa, cochinita pibil and ceviche. It’s normally eaten at room temperature, but I like it warm, not hot.
This salad can be as picante as you like, and if you can get my favorite salsa chile, the beguiling rocoto or chile peron or chile manzano, it will add a lot to the dish.
These are Capsicum pubescens, an odd, perennial chile originating in Peru. They’re the only chile with black seeds, and they are as juicy as a bell pepper, floral and tropical as a habanero, and about as hot as a ripe jalapeno, which is to say pretty hot, but nothing like a habanero. I like to put one or two in this dish, depending on how hot they are.
If you have access to sour Seville oranges, by all means use them. They’re what you need for this dish. But even I can’t regularly find them, so the mix of lime and orange juice works fine. Similarly, if you can find chile manzano, use them. They are, in my opinion, the best chile for dzik. Habaneros are traditional, but they are hotter.
The end result is surprisingly good, and almost totally non-fat. You bite into a burst of differing textures and flavors — sweet-sour-salty-savory-spicy — and the dish just looks gorgeous. Dzik is a perfect warm weather picnic or outdoor party dish. And those days are coming soon, my friends!
I cook quite a lot of Yucatecan food, so if you like this recipe, you might want to try my rendition of cochinita pibil, poc chuc, which is grilled pork, sopa de lima, a stew called ajiaco, or a braised Yucatecan turkey dish I like to make with turkey thighs. There is also another version of venison salad from Tamaulipas called salpicón.
Dzik, Venison Yucatan
Ingredients
BRAISE
- 2 to 3 pounds venison from the shoulder or legs
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 5 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 quart beef or venison stock
- Salt
SALAD
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- ½ cup orange juice
- 1 small red onion, sliced root to tip
- 2 tablespoons minced green onion or chives
- 1 cup chopped red onion
- 2 diced plum tomatoes, only if they are in season
- ½ cup chopped radishes
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- 1 to 3 minced habaneros or chile manzano
- Pickled red onion and sliced radishes for garnish
Instructions
- To pickle the onions, slice them thinly from root to tip and soak them in lime-orange juice mixture while the venison is cooking.
- Mix all the ingredients for the braise together, bring to a boil and simmer gently until the venison begins to fall apart. When it’s tender, shred it with two forks and toss it with the salad ingredients. Garnish with the onion and radishes. Serve on tostadas or corn tortillas.
That there is a venison recipe from that part of Mexico is not so unexpected if you also know that the motto of the state of Yucatan is the “land of the deer and pheasant”, or that their coat of arms has a deer leaping a henequen plant. ?
Anyway, thanks for sharing… I had forgotten what goes into this as I have not made it for a few decades. Lol
Made this tonight. Was light and delicious. My wife really enjoyed all the veggies and the refreshing nature of the dish.
I had this in Merida this weekend and it was so delicious. Was looking for a recipe for my brother who is stocked up with venison. Thanks!
I actually have two shoulder roasts from hubby. Thinking I will smoke them first and use one for barbacoa, one for this recipe. Would smoking pre braising for this recipe work? How long and what internal meat temperature did you aim for when you smoked your shoulder roast? Would you recommend doing all of the meat barbacoa style and using some of that in this salad? I’m afraid the chipotle pepper and adobo will overpower in salad form, or longer cooking will affect texture. I am willing to do each roast cooking method as specifically directed but am looking for streamlining. Appreciate your feedback.
Anne: Absolutely. So when you are doing this sort of thing, time and temp is less important. I tend to go 225F for about 3 hours, then move it to the braise. I think if you do it all as barbacoa, yes, the adobo could get in the way. You can add maybe one or 2 chiles in the pot, and it won’t be too assertive though.
As usual you’re recipes deliver! I used ham steaks off a 2 year old buck. Shredded nicely and the braise had a nice change of flavor from the usual “taco truck” choices Delicious and simple like tacos should be.
Love the recipes Hank! I’m going to make this for my wife, who is studying Mayan Massage techniques. One quick question (because I’m a neophyte), the braising is done in a lidded pot with all the ingredients for several hours? Just want to be sure. Thanks for the culinary inspiration!!!
MarC: Yep. You braise in a covered pot.
Tsi’ik does indeed mean shredded. It is useful to know, this is a great way to prepare all kinds of gamey meat. It works great with wild goose meat, and many others. The gaminess is tamed very effectively.
Note: The Yucatecan Mayans who I know, generally do not use the cumin, the cloves, the green onion or parsley, or the meat stock. They do ser e it with crunchy corn tostadas or corn chips, and many like to spread some mayo on the corn tostada, then put tsi’ik on top. Many also like to use kut bil ik (charred habanero salsa made with sour orange or lime juice) as a condiment at the table. DELICIOUS!
Cooking the meat now. Will put the salad together tomorrow. Using lime and grapefruit juice, with some added sugar. Hope that suffices. Question though, can I pickle the onions a day in advance?
Clay: Yep, You can pickle the onions a day in advance.
Not fresh, but in California, it is not hard to find the sour orange juice at Hispanic markets or Smart and Final. https://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af203/TasunkaWitko/aztecbbq2.jpg
This recipe posting has the full Mayan name and translation.
https://los-dos.com/recipes/verarticulo.php?IdArticulo=252
Ward and Hank: the word is from the Mayan language, which is in a completely different language family from the Nahuatl language which dominates indigenous borrowings in Mexican Spanish. (The difference in language families would be equivalent to the difference between English and Hebrew). Knew all those Anthropological Linguistics classes would come in handy….
Sounds so good and different. I tire of my cooking. This will be a nice twist, I’ll try it soon. Thanks for the background on the dish and language.
I’m going to have to try this. Sounds great.
Hank, when you asked what readers would like to see in the your new cookbook, this is exactly the kind of dish I was thinking of. Good stuff.
Hank, you are totally singing my tune today. I have never heard of this variety of pepper, but will look for seeds!! They sound delicious, as does this salad. I love that you’re on a Mexican kick!!
I think you should continue on the ceviche vein for your next post :). Spring is springing!
I like the sound of that cookbook and the recipe.
We killed a nice fat sow this weekend in Texas… any reason this recipe wouldn’t work with a cut of hog shoulder?
Kate: Don’t see why not! Go for it.
Dzik is a Maya word. The proper English transliteration is tsi’ik, but Mexicans often tend to be informal about spelling. The spelling dzik in English publications seems to be limited to cookbooks; according to a Google search Rick Bayless spelled it that way in 2007 and other cookbook authors have apparently copied it from him. The word means “shredded” (deshebrado in Spanish).
The name of the dish (the whole salad) in Spanish is salpicón de venado.
Here’s the definition of the word, with the proper spelling, in a Maya-Spanish dictionary:
https://www.mayas.uady.mx/diccionario/ts_maya.html
According to Google, the following is the first appearance of the spelling “dzik” with this meaning in English on the Web:
https://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/dzik/
Thanks a TON, Language girl!
Hank, Indigenous to where – Poland?
Central America, Ward. Like I said, I don’t know the word’s origin.
Hank: I know you are not writing HAGC&Etymology, but I am curious about the work ‘Dzik’. It sounds neither Spanish not Amer-Indian to me. Any idea what the origin is?
Ward: Was wondering about that, too. No idea. I can only assume it’s an indigenous word. Definitely not Spanish.