La Perla del Mayab Annatto Seed Paste Achiote, 14 oz.

The flavor this produces for braising meat is unparalleled.

I made Stewed Chicken with La Perla del Mayab Annatto Seed Paste Achiote, 14 oz. It was amazing!!!

This paste is wonderful in so many different foods. I combine it with lemon and rub it on a roast chicken or baked cut up chicken or on a thanksgiving turkey. I combine it with chipotle peppers with some adobo sauce and spread it on thinly sliced pork for a few hours then grill it for tacos al pastor along with grilled thinly sliced red onions and sliced grilled pineapple. I use it as part of the seasonings for the chicken that goes in tamales. I use it for about a dozen other recipes. This stuff is amazing and brings life to so many dishes.This spice blend originates in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico (according to my Mom) and is widely used in Mexican cooking. It was originally a Mayan condiment but has spread in use. It consists of Annatto seed along with a number of other spices. It is commonly also called Recado Rojo.Once opened, I store the leftover paste in the refrigerator for best results. That keeps it tasting fresh and helps keep it from drying out.

Add it to lentil soup, guinea pig stew (just kidding, never had it) grate it finely over rice for a different kind of 'dirty' rice, blend some in with blah super grains like quinoa, amaranth etc. Smells great.

The product arrived on time (fulfilment was not via Amazon), via postal service. Packaging was a standard document protector: Tyvek envelope line with bubble-wrap. It had been a bit damaged at some point, which dinged the lightweight cardboard product packaging. Inside the box, you get a brick of a thick paste in a cellophane wrapper. That wrapper was intact. Perhaps this matters if you want this to stack nicely on a pantry shelf. It didn't matter to me.There have been questions about shelf life, and indeed, a cellophane wrapper seems a bit lacking. Perhaps normal usage makes this less of a problem. There are a couple of recipes printed on the box (complete with typos) which call for 1/8th and 1/4 of a package. That is a lot more than I need -- a little goes a long way.I stored it by cutting the package in half, dropping a working half into a ziplock, and vacuum-packing the other half. Refrigerate both, and hope for the best. I expect it would be slow to spoil: this is a fairly salty product. If you are keeping an eye on sodium intake, an ounce contains 500 mg, or 23% of recommended daily value. I'm not worried about that, not least because I've been using it by cutting slices off the working amount.A typical usage would be a slice about 3 mm thick -- far less than the recipes on the box. I toss that into a stainless prep bowl, add a good jarred salsa to moisten, and give it a good mash with the pestle from a marble mortar and pestle. Be advised that Achiote stains! Again, not a problem for me -- I don't care that the end of the pestle is now orange, but you may.I'm mainly using it as a chicken rub, and in making Spanish rice. At this rate, it seems as if I will get many tens of of servings from a single brick, and I am completely satisfied with the taste: it's an excellent product. That brings up one more thing about shelf life. The box was stamped "SELL BY 01-07-18", while the cellophane wrapper was stamped "USE BY 01-07-18". There is an obvious conflict here. But again, I have no particular problem with this; even though a little goes a long way, it's so tasty that I will have worked my way through it long before that becomes an issue.Will I have worked my way through it and reordered? I don't know. I ordered this because I didn't have time to get to a grocer with a large Hispanic clientèle, who sell a bottled sauce, and I needed it. Before I'm out of this product, I'll likely have done that, and been able to do that comparison, which will decide the matter. So I can't answer the fundamental review question -- will I be buying it again? All I can say is that there is nothing about the product that would *preclude* my buying it again. I like it very much. If I haven't done that comparison, and the bottled sauce turned out to be the winner, then yes. I'll happily buy it again; it's tasty stuff.

This a great value and flavor. Comes as a brick but i transfered to a mason jar

Learned about this in Belize. I was surprised I could order this spice mixture ready made. It cooked perfectly. When used in my recipe, it tasted just like the Belize chicken stew.

Made an awesome marinade for my Taco Al Pastor. Very pleased.