Sundays Are For Barbacoa Tacos

Tacos de barbacoa.

On Sundays, I am thankful for the local Mexican meat markets for selling barbacoa that is muy rico— and as I get older, I am especially thankful that barbacoa reminds me of strong family traditions that take my mind, my stomach and my heart back to great childhood memories.

Growing up Tex Mex

Growing up in South Texas—puro Tex Mex, mind you—one eats their fair share of barbacoa on Sunday mornings.

And even when that one—talking about myself here—ends up leaving South Texas to move across the mighty Mississippi, one’s dad finds a way to keep that tradition alive.

Me, with my younger brothers in 1977 soon after we left Texas to move to Louisiana.

When I was a few months from turning 7, we moved to New Orleans and then to Slidell, Louisiana, which is located right across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans. Back then, tortillas, salsa, and definitely barbacoa, weren’t as popular as they are today and you couldn’t find them in any grocery store, and so I learned how to make tortillas at home, and my brother and I learned to help my dad make barbacoa at home, too.

Barbacoa

What is barbacoa? Let me let Wikipedia help explain a little history and some useful facts: Barbacoa is a form of cooking meat that originated in the Arawak-speaking Caribbean with the Taino people, from which the term “barbecue” derives. In contemporary Mexico, it generally refers to meats or whole sheep or whole goats slow-cooked over an open fire or, more traditionally, in a hole dug in the ground…although the interpretation is loose, and in the present day (and in some cases) may refer to meat steamed until tender. This meat is known for its high fat content and strong flavor, often accompanied with onions and cilantro…

…In the U.S., barbacoa is often prepared with parts from the heads of cattle, such as the cheeks. In northern Mexico, it is also sometimes made from beef head...Barbacoa was later adopted into the cuisine of the southwestern United States by way of Texas.

Considered a specialty meat, barbacoa is only sold on weekends or holidays in certain parts of South Texas….

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbacoa

Meanwhile back in Louisiana

My dad befriended a local butcher and at least once a month he’d get a cabeza (the cow’s head, y’all) to slow cook for us and eventually slow cook for the entire neighborhood block—but not before my brothers and I would have fun pulling out the dead cow’s teeth and well making the most of cleaning it up so it was ready to cook.

Me with my dad in 1977, at our house in Slidell. The neighborhood kids and adults alike enjoyed many a meal or cookout at this house. My dad made sure of that.

Winning Friends, influencing tacos

Interesting childhood compared to most of my Cajun & Creole friends? Maybe. Maybe not. But they, along with the entire neighborhood, got to enjoy the best—or maybe the first—tacos they ever had, I’m sure.

Again, believe it or not, tacos weren’t all the rage that they are nowadays either!