Cabeza

JR

I recently had a customer who asked if it is possible to "make cabeza" on a Big Green Egg. Apparently Cabeza is a northern Mexican specialty...I beleive it is a cow's head, buried in the ground and "pit-barbecued"...Having never made cabeza or seen it done, I couldn't for 100% certainity say it could be done on an egg...however, since it is essentially being baked/pressure cooked in the ground, the Egg should do a good job. Are their any egg-users out there with experience with northern Mexico cuisine (carne asada, cabrito, machacado, I can do,,,,) What do you think?[p]Thanks

Unknown

jr,[p]I am almost certain that cabeza is just brain.
You just cook it like any other meat... I believe some people scramble it with their eggs etc. You do need to be careful not to overcook though ... sort of like liver and other organ type meats. [p]You can cook anything on the BGE if you know how to cook it in the first place. The cooking underground sounds like a Hawaiian style pit cook.... and the BGE does an excellent job IMHO comparing pork I have done slow and low to the meat served to me on many Hawaiian pit cookouts while on vacation there. So ... Yes... brain should be no problem.[p]Happy Egging... BB

Smokin' Todd

BB,
wow....those on "return of the living dead" would be in for a treat!
ST

Fireball

jr,
Here is a recipe that I found on another site. It uses a beef head.[p]Barbacoa De Cabeza[p]Ingredients[p](6 servings)[p]1 Cabeza, beef head
4 Onions
3heads garlic
2 bn Cilantro [p]
Instructions[p]corn or flour tortillas
Before you actually get the cabeza (beef head), understand that it won't look very nice -in fact it will look pretty gruesome. Therefore, I suggest purchasing the thing the day you cook it.
In the Rio Grande Valley, barbacoa de cabeza is traditionally eaten on Sunday mornings.
Clean the cabeza, removing eyes, ears, etc. Discard the tongue. Leaving it will impart an odd taste to the meat. Wrap the cabeza in a paper sack, along with onions, garlic, and cilantro. Wrap THAT in burlap.
Dig a hole 2 feet deep and build a driftwood fire in it. Wait until the fire goes to coals, then cover them with ashes, followed by the cabeza, then about 2 inches of dry dirt or sand. Fill up the hole. Add 6 to 8 inches of dirt or sand over it. Build a fire on top of the ground. Use slow-burining wood such as oak or mesquite.
Leave the cabeza in the hole 12 to 18 hours. For example, if you begin cooking it at 4:00 p.m., it should be ready by the next morning. Serve with tortillas.
Serves one vanload.
If you want to try barbacoa de cabeza at homne, try wrapping the cabeza in foil and bakinng it in an oven or over a charcoal grill. Using foil in place of the paper bag keeps the cabeza slightly moister while [p]Good luck!
Fireball[p] [p]

Unknown

Fireball,[p]Wow... now that was a good post! Bravo [p]Thats the sort of thing I like to see and come to this site for. Not something I want to make myself.... but... now I know about Cabeza. And here I thought it was like scrambled eggs and brains or something Awsome post ![p]Happy Egging. BB

Unknown

Smokin' Todd,[p]Yeah, but wasn't that a breath of fresh air around here ![p]I mean, something interesting and different that just sort of takes you away to some far off land where you bury a head in a burlap bag to make dinner. [p]I would love to see this done at Eggfest... you know like ... This was what man did before the invention of the Egg BB

DTM

jr,
Fireball's recipe is one of the 2 most popular ways to have
cabeza in Mex. His post is totally authentic. Cabeza aka head is very popular in Mexico city for Sunday morning desayuno. They also steam the beef head and the street vendors have push carts w/ a propnae burner under a warming tray and 1 or 2 more steamed heads underneath to shred as needed. It is the whole skinned head minus some parts,not just the cerebro, aka brain. In the villages the eyeballs are not removed and considered very desirable and always passed to the honored guest. Hmmmm? maybe they were snipe hunting me on that one.
DTM

JR

DTM,[p]Thanks to you and fireball...i made a copy of the post and gave to my prospective customer....she ended up buying two eggs...since she lives up the road from here, i am sure i will be sampling cabeza soon! Generally speaking, I love authentic Mexican food, but cabeza (and menudo) test my limits. I am working on making my own dried beef- carne seca- so I can use it my scrambled eggs or roll it up in tortillas with queso flameado...! Hijoles, es muy bien! (soory for my poor spanish!)[p]