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Tacos de barbacoa de res

From WikiTacos, the taco encyclopedia · Taco type
Also known as: Barbacoa de cabeza, Barbacoa de pozo, Barbacoa norteña

Barbacoa de res is the beef version of barbacoa found in northern Mexico and South Texas, made by slow-cooking a whole cow's head, or cheeks and tongue, until the meat can be pulled apart. It is a weekend breakfast taco, traditionally sold on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Contents
  1. History
  2. Preparation
  3. Cuts and serving
  4. Recipe
  5. Where to try it
  6. Reviews
  7. See also
  8. References

History

Texas Monthly traces beef-head barbacoa to the ranching culture that grew in the borderlands after the Spanish introduced cattle, sheep and goats. The earliest known appearance of the word barbacoa is in a 1526 book by the chronicler Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo. On the ranches of northern Mexico and what became South Texas, cooks dug a hole, built a fire, and buried a head to cook overnight. Pig heads tended to go into tamales, while the heads of cattle, sheep and goats became barbacoa.

In Texas the dish moved from backyards to meat markets and tortilla shops in the twentieth century; sellers in Eagle Pass were in business by the early 1930s, Laredo had its own well-known barbacoyeros, and the Mancha Meat Market, opened in 1944, was later the subject of the 2001 documentary Smokestack Lightning. Across northern Mexico, the Saltillo newspaper Vanguardia describes Sunday-morning barbacoa as a family custom, tied to the long preparation the dish requires.

Preparation

In the traditional method, called barbacoa de pozo or, in Texas, sometimes tatema, mesquite is burned down to coals in a brick-lined pit. Whole unseasoned heads, or heads rubbed with salt and garlic, are wrapped in maguey leaves or, more commonly today, foil, set on the coals, covered and left overnight. Vera's Backyard Bar-B-Que in Brownsville, Texas, which has cooked this way for decades, leaves its heads underground for 10 to 12 hours.

Very few businesses still use a pit. Most commercial barbacoa de res is beef cheek, sometimes mixed with tongue, steamed in large kettles or pots on the stove, and much of the pit tradition survives in backyards.

Cuts and serving

Buyers order by cut. Cachete (cheek) and lengua (tongue) are the most popular; other options include ojo (eye), labios (lips), paladar (palate), jeta (face) and mollejas (sweetbreads), while mixta is a cheaper chopped blend of the whole head. The meat is shredded and eaten in warm corn tortillas with chopped onion, cilantro, salsa and lime, often bought by the pound to take home. Signs reading Sábados y Domingos are a familiar sight in South Texas, and stands commonly sell out by late morning.

Recipe

Makes About 24 tacos · Time: 4 to 5 hours

Ingredients

  • 1.5 kg beef cheeks, trimmed of excess fat
  • 1 beef tongue, about 1 kg (optional)
  • 1 white onion, quartered
  • 8 garlic cloves
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • 24 corn tortillas
  • Chopped onion and cilantro, limes, salsa roja or salsa verde

Steps

  1. Rub the cheeks and tongue with salt, cumin and mashed garlic.
  2. Set a rack in a large pot and add water to just below it. Put the onion and bay leaves in the water.
  3. Place the meat on the rack, wrap the top of the pot with foil and cover tightly.
  4. Steam over low heat for 4 to 5 hours, topping up the water as needed, until the cheeks fall apart.
  5. Peel the tongue while still warm and chop it. Shred the cheeks with a little of their fat and the cooking juices.
  6. Serve on hot tortillas with onion, cilantro, lime and salsa.

For a smoky, pit-style flavor, wrap the seasoned meat in foil and cook it in a covered smoker or grill over low indirect heat with mesquite.

Where to try it

  • Vera's Backyard Bar-B-Que, Brownsville, Texas: Described by Texas Monthly and NPR as the last restaurant in Texas still cooking whole beef heads in an underground pit.
  • Barbacoa Gonzalitos, Mexico City
  • Tacos El Indio, Boca del Río

Reviews

Reviews and tips open at launch. Readers will be able to share where they found the best version of this and how they make it at home.

See also

References

  1. "BBQ Anatomy 101: Beef Head". Texas Monthly. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
  2. "Where The Magic Happens: Following A Tasty Taco Trail In South Texas". NPR. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
  3. "¡Y la mejor barbacoa de Saltillo es...! Conoce el veredicto de nuestros lectores". Vanguardia. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
Categories: Beef tacos Breakfast tacos Northern Mexican cuisine Pit-cooked dishes Taco types Tex-Mex