José Luis López sells the best barbacoa in Houston at Gerardo’s Drive-in Grocery, on Patton

Chapter 5

It was quarter to eleven on Sunday morning in Houston and the sidewalks in front of Gerardo’s Drive-in Grocery on Patton were a street party. There were families carrying their food home in white paper bags and then there were the people who just couldn’t wait. • One guy had opened up a container of barbacoa meat, some salsas, and a foil package of tortillas and lined them up along the window sill under the burglar bars where he stood making tacos. A couple of women were using the newspaper machines right outside the front door as stand-up counters for their coffee cups. It was all making me hungry.

GERARDO’S, BARBACOA, VI, SA, DO, read the sign out front. Which means that barbacoa is available on Friday (Viernes), Saturday (Sábado), and Sunday (Domingo) only. Ten years ago, that was standard policy. But these days, you see barbacoa and every other variety of Mexican street food offered 24/7 at taco trucks and gas-station taquerias all over the city. So how does Gerardo’s still manage to draw such a crowd for their weekend specials, I wondered, as I shouldered my way inside. When I got up to the meat counter, my question was answered.

At other taquerias and carnicerias the “mystery meats” get a little crusty in the stainless-steel bins on the steam tables. You might have trouble finding something that looks appetizing. But at Gerardo’s you have the opposite problem: all the meats look so good, you want to eat everything. And believe me, I tried.

I loved the dark brown Texas-style barbacoa, which was made from steamed cattle cabezas. Gerardo’s steams the seasoned cow heads in giant gas-fired stainless-steel jacketed kettles that retain the broth. The gelatinous meat is satin slick on the tongue and tastes awesome with Gerardo’s tart green tomatillo and serrano salsa. On a second weekend visit, two companions and I sat down at a table with a dozen fat tamales, a pound of barbacoa de borrego, a pile of tortillas, and assorted condiments.

The barbacoa de borrego was unique. The chunks of meat were falling-apart-tender and were served with a deep red chile broth. It reminded me of the stewed goat dish called birria. Gerardo López, who was working the meat counter that day, told me that they made the barbacoa de borrego with goat meat. That was confusing, since borrego means sheep or mutton. So I asked his father, José Luis López, for an explanation. (The store is named for Gerardo López, but it’s owned by his parents, José Luis and Maria López.)

“We make the barbacoa de borrego with lamb shoulder and goat meat, mixed half and half, then seasoned with garlic, bay leaves, oregano, and chili powder,” José Luis said. The meats are cooked slowly for twelve hours in the steam kettle. Then the meat is stripped from the bone, shredded, and steeped in the broth. It’s really a cross between the Mexican goat stewed in chile broth called birria and maguey-leaf-wrapped barbacoa de borrego. The meat is absolutely fabulous—if you like that kind of thing.

Barbacoa tacos are available at Gerardo’s only on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays

“I can’t get over that wet dog aroma,” one of my tablemates said after trying to eat some on a taco. Some people like mutton and goat, and some don’t.

I guess I like wet dogs, because I couldn’t get enough borrego tacos, which I made on corn tortillas with the spicy meat and the pickled chile pequíns that Gerardo’s offers alongside the salsas. It’s nice to see chile pequíns as a condiment selection. They are the traditional peppers of southern Texas and northern Mexico, and the tiny round chiles still grow wild in vacant lots and along fence rows all over the city. The ones you see in stores are harvested by hand in wilderness areas in Sonora. You find them in farmer’s markets and meat markets like Gerardo’s in the autumn. And they are usually the most expensive chile peppers you can buy.

José Luis, who was born in Michoacán, opened the business as a corner grocery in 1977, so I guess he has had some time to practice. The grocery still offers a few raw vegetables and some raw meats along with the soft drinks and the chips, but mostly people come for Gerardo’s cooking.

Weekend mornings are the most fun, but Gerardo’s also serves breakfast specials and plate lunches Monday through Friday. I stopped by for lunch on a recent Monday afternoon around one o’clock and had the place pretty much to myself.

I had a plate of carne asada in a dark red sauce. In Mexico, carne asada or asado del puerco means braised pork. Gerardo’s is a slow-roasted pork shoulder in an intense sauce of garlic and dried ancho chiles, seasoned with what tastes like orange peel and bay leaves. The chile sauce is cooked down until it’s almost black—but when you spread it on a tortilla, it turns a deep brick red. The carne asada at Gerardo’s Drive-in Grocery was the best I have eaten in the United States.

This barbacoa de borrego is made from a lamb shoulder roast that’s smoke-braised until it’s falling-apart tender

THE MEANING OF BARBACOA

The English word barbecue is derived from the Spanish word barbacoa. There are lots of varieties of barbacoa in Mexico. The world’s largest Mexican restaurant, Arroyo in Mexico City, has made its style of barbacoa de borrego (barbecued lamb) famous. At the authentic Huastecan restaurant called El Hidalguense in Houston, barbacoa means lamb shoulder sealed in maguey leaves and cooked in the coals of a wood fire.

Tex-Mex barbacoa is almost always made from cabeza de la vaca, or cow head. Cow heads became the most popular meat for barbacoa in Texas because Latino ranch hands were given cow heads as part of their pay. If you ever saw the movie Giant, you might remember Elizabeth Taylor fainting when the vaqueros unwrapped the burlap bag containing the head that had been buried under the coals.

Today, the barbacoa found in Tex-Mex restaurants is usually made from seasoned cow heads that are steamed in an oven with a baño maria (bain-marie) or in a steam-jacketed kettle. There are very few old-fashioned barbacoa pits left in Texas; a restaurant called Vera’s in Brownsville is the only one I have seen. Modern health department regulations have pretty much put an end to authentic pit barbacoa.

At Tex-Mex restaurants and taquerias, cow heads are cooked in a steam-jacketed kettle like they have at Gerardo’s, or in an oven with a baño Maria (bain-marie). At home, I have made an excellent recipe using an electric roasting oven.

But steamed meat doesn’t fit the definition of barbecue for most American “Q” aficionados. And I must admit I have always wanted to cook barbacoa on a barbecue pit. So when I started writing this book, I began experimenting with braising on the grill.

My idea was to start out with the same ingredients they use to make barbacoa at Gerardo’s, but add a smoking step and put the braising liquid on the grill. To get the falling-apart texture I wanted, I finished by wrapping the meat with aluminum foil—the way some people finish a barbecued brisket.

The cow head barbacoa came out fine, but it was a lot of trouble. A cow head is awfully big and would only fit on the very largest of grills. (I put it on my Big Ugly Barrel.) I can’t say it was worth the effort. But the technique worked great.

So I tried the same concept with more manageable cuts like beef short ribs and pork asado, and I was blown away by the flavor. Any backyard barbecuer could follow these recipes on a Weber. I thought it was a momentous discovery until I noticed that my friend Bruce Aidells was publishing similar recipes, and a few Texas barbecuers reminded me that turning a brisket in a liquid on the smoker is a time-honored method. So I guess the truth is this new technique is as old as the hills; and it’s also very labor intensive.

But if you are ready to take on the ultimate challenge in Tex-Mex grilling, you are going to love this “Backyard Barbacoa.”

Beef Short Ribs in Ancho-Molasses Sauce

MAKES ABOUT 1½ POUNDS OF MEAT

The key to this recipe is to start the ribs in a pan; turning them in the melted tallow fat will crisp them up. It’s like frying and smoking them at the same time. Let them get well-done before you add the hot braising liquid.

6 beef short ribs (square cut, around 3 pounds)

2 tablespoons Tex-Mex Grill Blend

2 ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded

12-ounce can root beer (sweetened with cane sugar)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

½ onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cup molasses

FOR SERVING

12 warm flour tortillas

Onions and Cilantro

2 cups Refried Beans

Light about 25 charcoal briquettes in a chimney and prepare the grill with the coals on one side only. Rub the ribs with the seasoning blend and place them in a pan. Put the pan on the grill over medium-hot coals and turn the ribs when they start to sizzle. Continue cooking in the dish for 1 hour, turning to caramelize on all sides. Move the pan to the cool side of the grill if the meat begins to burn or stick.

Tear the ancho chiles into pieces and combine with the root beer in a sauce- pan over medium heat. Simmer until the chiles soften, about 15 minutes. Heat the oil in a skillet and add the onion. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the root beer and chile mixture and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.

Add more wood and charcoal to the grill if needed. When the ribs are well browned, pour the molasses over each rib, turning to coat. Then add the hot root beer–chile mixture to the pan. Place the pan over hot coals so it simmers.

Cover the grill and allow the ribs to smoke and simmer for another hour, turning often. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and allow to steam for 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the grill and put the ribs in a serving dish. Stir the braising liquid and molasses in the pan together and pour over the ribs. Serve immediately with the flour tortillas, Onions and Cilantro, and Refried Beans.

Smoke-braised short ribs are grilled in a pan

Barbacoa de Borrego

MAKES ABOUT 4 POUNDS OF MEAT

A square-cut lamb shoulder roast works perfectly for this and is fairly inexpensive, but unfortunately the cut is hard to find. Leg of lamb works, too, but it ain’t cheap. At Gerardo’s, the kitchen crew uses a half goat and half lamb mixture. Feel free to experiment.

Square-cut lamb shoulder roast, 7 to 8 pounds

2 tablespoons Tex-Mex Grill Blend

FOR THE CHILE PUREE

2 ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded

2 guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded

2 chipotle chiles, stemmed and seeded (or substitute available dried chiles)

FOR THE SAUCE

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 celery stalks, cleaned and chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

14.5-ounce can stewed tomatoes

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

Leaves from 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, cleaned and chopped

Leaves from 3 sprigs fresh thyme, cleaned and chopped

Salt and pepper

FOR SERVING

24 warm flour tortillas

Onions and Cilantro

2 cups Refried Beans

Chile Grilled Pineapple

Rub the meat with the seasoning blend and allow it to marinate in the refrigerator for a few hours. Light about 25 charcoal briquettes in a chimney and prepare a grill with the coals on one side only. Brown the lamb roast over the hot fire for 10 to 15 minutes, turning often, until well browned. Move it to the cool side of the grill or to the smoking chamber of an offset barbecue smoker. Put some hardwood chips or chunks on the coals and close the lid. Allow the roast to smoke for 1½ to two hours at around 250˚F, turning to cook evenly.

Meanwhile, make the puree: In a saucepan over low heat, simmer the chiles in water to cover. Allow them to sit in the hot water for 10 to 20 minutes until soft. Puree the chiles in a blender, adding the soaking water a little at a time until the puree is smooth.

Make the sauce: In a soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat and add the onion and celery. Stir and cook for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another few minutes. Add the chile puree and cook for 3 minutes, stirring well. Add the remaining vegetables and herbs and 8 cups of water and bring the mixture to a boil. Turn down the heat and allow to simmer. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Add more charcoal and wood to the fire. Place a large metal roasting pan on the grill directly over the coals. Carefully pour the chile sauce into the roasting pan. Place the meat in the roasting pan with the sauce. Allow the meat to simmer and smoke for 1 to 1½ hours, replenishing the liquid level with water if needed.

With the aid of fire gloves or pot holders, remove the pan from the fire and cover the roast and the roasting pan with aluminum foil and seal tightly. Return to the fire. Simmer over the coals or in a 300˚F oven for another hour or two until the meat is extremely tender. You want the shape to be intact, but the meat to be very soft.

TO SERVE: Remove the meat from the sauce and allow to cool slightly. Reserve the sauce. Clean the meat away from the bones and chop lightly. Serve the cleaned meat in some chile sauce with more chile sauce on the side. You can also serve some of the sauce in a cup as a first course. Place the warm flour tortillas, warm Refried Beans, and Onions and Cilantro on the table. Allow your guests to make their own tacos.

Step-by-step backyard barbacoa: 1. Season the roast. 2. Grill the roast while preparing a braising sauce. 3. Put a roasting pan full of the braising sauce on the grill. 4. Turn the roast in the sauce on the covered grill for a few hours. 5. Seal with aluminum foil and simmer until extremely tender.

Leg of Goat Barbacoa

MAKES ABOUT 2 POUNDS OF MEAT

For this recipe, you want a big meaty goat leg, not a little cabrito leg. Halal meat markets (which prepare meat according to Islamic law) are my favorite place to shop for this kind of goat. In Texas, halal meat markets sell the meaty Boer crossbreeds called “redheads.”

2 ½- to 3-pound leg of goat

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

12 tomatillos, husked and rinsed, or 3 cups tomatillo puree

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 celery stalks, cleaned and chopped

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeño pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped

½ cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

3 sprigs fresh thyme

Salt and pepper

FOR SERVING

12 warm flour tortillas

2 cups Refried Beans

Onions and Cilantro

Rub the meat with the garlic powder and pepper. Light about 25 charcoal briquettes in a chimney and prepare a grill with the coals on one side only. Brown the meat over the hot fire for 10 to 15 minutes, turning often, until well browned. Move it to the cool side of the grill or to the smoking chamber of an offset barbecue smoker. Put some hardwood chips or chunks on the coals and close the lid. Allow the roast to smoke for 1½ to 2 hours at around 250˚F, turning to cook evenly.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan over low heat, simmer the tomatillos in water to cover, then turn off the heat. Allow them to sit in the hot water for 5 minutes or until soft. Put the tomatillos in a blender and puree until smooth.

In a soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat and add the celery and onion. Stir and cook for 5 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic and cook another few minutes. Add the tomatillo puree and cook for 3 minutes, stirring well. Add the jalapeño and herbs and 2 cups of water and bring the mixture to a boil. Turn down the heat and allow to simmer while the lamb smokes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Add more charcoal and wood to the fire. Place a metal roasting pan on the grill directly over the coals. Carefully pour the tomatillo mixture into the roasting pan. Place the meat in the roasting pan with the liquid. Allow the meat to simmer and smoke for 1 hour, turning several times and replenishing the liquid level with water if needed.

With the aid of fire gloves or pot holders, remove the pan from the fire and cover the roast and the roasting pan with aluminum foil and seal tightly. Return to the fire. Simmer over the coals or in a 300˚F oven for another hour or two until the meat is extremely tender. You want the shape to be intact, but the meat to be very soft.

Remove the meat from the sauce and allow to cool slightly. Reserve the sauce. Clean the meat away from the bones and chop lightly. Serve the cleaned meat in the green sauce with sauce on the side. Place the tortillas, warm Refried Beans, and Onions and Cilantro on the table. Allow your guests to make their own tacos.

Make smoke-braised leg of goat with a big meaty leg from a full-grown goat, not a little cabrito leg

Backyard barbacoa requires a whole lot of aluminum foil

Tex-Mex Asado de Puerco

MAKES ABOUT 2½ POUNDS OF MEAT

Because of the long cooking time involved, I’ve moved the final braising step to the oven in this recipe. But if you’re a die-hard purist you can do the braising on the grill. Just don’t be in a hurry. Like southern pulled pork, this pork isn’t done until it turns to mush with the slightest touch.

4-pound pork butt roast

2 tablespoons Tejano Pork Rub

3 ancho chiles, seeded and stemmed

5 pitted prunes

½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground oregano

½ teaspoon ground coriander

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Dash of ground cloves

2 tablespoons cooking oil

1 onion, minced

4 cloves garlic

3 tablespoons cider vinegar

3 tablespoons honey

1 cup crushed pineapple

4 bay leaves

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces

2 teaspoons grated orange zest

2 cups Refried Beans

Warm flour tortillas

Chile Grilled Pineapple

Light about 25 charcoal briquettes in a chimney and prepare a grill with the coals on one side only. Season the meat with the pork rub. Sear the meat on all sides over the hot coals and then place in a cooler spot on the grill. Add some wood chips or chunks to the fire and refuel as needed to smoke the pork for 3 or 4 hours. The longer you smoke the pork roast, the less time you will need to braise it.

Meanwhile, roast the chiles on an ungreased skillet over medium heat for 20 to 30 seconds on both sides or until they are aromatic. Place the chiles in a blender with the prunes. Add 3 cups of boiling water, and allow the chiles and prunes to soak until very soft, about 20 minutes. Pour off half of the soaking water and reserve. Add the cumin, oregano, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves, and puree. Add back the soaking liquid and blend a few more seconds to mix thoroughly.

Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, then add 2 tablespoons of the oil and the onion and garlic. Cook until the onion is golden brown, but do not allow it to burn. Add the contents of the blender and bring it to a simmer. Add the vinegar, honey, pineapple, bay leaves, and salt and pepper.

After the pork has smoked, bring it inside and preheat the oven to 325˚F. Heat the sauce in the Dutch oven on the stovetop while the oven is heating. Place the smoked meat in the Dutch oven with the warm sauce and turn to coat on all sides. Cover and place in the oven and simmer in the sauce, turning the roast every 30 minutes. Continue cooking, adding liquid as needed, until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 185˚F or the meat is falling apart. (This step can also be done on the grill, but it will take a lot longer.)

Remove the meat from the pot and set aside. Discard the bay leaves. Skim the grease off and reserve. Reduce the sauce over a burner until it is thick as a milkshake. Stir in the chocolate and orange zest.

Chop and clean the meat. Finely chop the fat that you remove from the roast and use it to make the refried beans.

To serve, arrange the meat on a platter with sauce over the top. Put more sauce in a bowl on the table. Serve the pork with the Refried Beans, tortillas, and grilled pineapple.

NOTE: The flavorful reserved orange-colored grease is called “venom” in Monterrey. Use it to make the refried beans or serve in a crater on top of a bowl of refried beans, a preparation called frijoles con venoma.