Houston Chronicle by J.C. Reid Feb. 20, 2020
Barbacoa de cabeza de res is one of the oldest techniques in the beef-centric Texas/Mexican barbecue tradition. Literally translated as “barbecue from the head of a cow,†the original recipe called for an entire cow’s head to be skinned and cleaned, wrapped in burlap, placed in an underground pit over wood charcoal, covered with soil, and then cooked for 6-8 hours.
Once cooked, the heads were removed from the burlap and the rendered fat and meat — especially the cheek meat, or cachete — were stripped off and mixed into a wondrous concoction of silky, fat-laden chopped beef.
Although barbacoa certainly pre-dates the rise of the Central Texas-style of barbecue that dominates most of the headlines today, it’s been something of an also-ran when it comes to recognition in the current wave of mainstream barbecue coverage. Indeed, there is even the occasional debate about whether barbacoa is even really barbecue in the modern sense of the term because it is cooked by direct heat, rather than indirect heat and smoke.
That also-ran status came to an abrupt end this week when the James Beard Foundation — whose awards are often referred to as the Oscars of the food world — recognized Vera’s Backyard Bar-B-Que in Brownsville as one of the six recipients of its 2020 America’s Classics Award.
More:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/entertainment/restaurants-bars/bbq/article/South-Texas-barbacoa-gets-its-turn-in-national-15070868.php
