![]() ![]() Obviously, he didn’t invent the outsized culinary sensation: He’s ready to admit he wasn’t the first to sell birria de res tacos in Austin - though his quick addition of brisket was admittedly a stroke of Lone Star brilliance. It’s been just over a year since Guerrero made that pivotal substitution. He retooled La Tunita’s menu into a birria de res operation, one modeled after Los Angeles’s most visible franchise, Teddy’s Red Tacos. In no position to ignore this newfound success, the taquero soon made another pivot, this one more intentional. So well, in fact, that within a couple of weeks, lines to try this off-the-cuff creation stretched down the block. Guerrero’s adobo seasoning - a masterful spicy blend of rehydrated guajillo and earthy ancho chiles that’s tempered by aromatic oregano and garlic - played well with the juicy beef. Determined not to meet the same fate as the Burleson Road gas station parking lot’s previous failed food-truck tenants, Guerrero acted quickly: He substituted the birria’s goat shanks with a five-pound hunk of brisket from wholesale chain Restaurant Depot that he had on hand for the day’s barbacoa.īirria has become shorthand for any sort of taco that comes with a side of dipping broth The goat was a break from La Tunita’s usual fried pork gorditas and chili-infused enchiladas, one he’d hoped would prove lucrative. He had begun serving the wonderfully funky stewed goat (at the behest of a regular customer) less than a month into operating his truck back then, Guerrero’s operation dealt almost exclusively in the cuisine of his Mexican home state, San Luis Potosí. In November 2019, he was supposed to pick up the meat intended for his Saturday special, the birria de chivo. ![]() Long before area food fans descended upon La Tunita, Austin’s birria de res craze began with a cardinal sin: Guerrero forgot the goat meat. ![]() While the Capital City’s ongoing red taco boom was inevitable, not even Arellano could have predicted that this nationwide trend would require a global pandemic, misplaced goat shanks, and fat-ass slabs of Texas brisket. “Frankly, I’m surprised has taken this long to arrive in Austin,” says Gustavo Arellano, a Southern California food historian and Eater contributor who wrote the actual book on Mexican-American cuisine, Taco USA. And since Guerrero, a former Torchy’s Tacos dishwasher, opened his truck in late 2019, five new trucks dedicated to birria de res have popped up in the Austin area, and countless other local taquerias have shifted their menus to include the popular dish.īirria and quesabirria tacos from La Tunita 512 As is true of most matters regarding Texas tacos, birria de res isn’t just an Austin-centric craze the trend has been creeping into cities like San Antonio and Dallas since at least 2018. Really, the quesabirria de res taco is an American take on a Tijuana breakfast tradition that gained steam during the early 2010s in Los Angeles, and has since dominated the nation. Finally, after a sharp squiggle of red salsa de arbol, the customer finishes the experience by dunking the taco head-first into a cup of lip-tingling consomme (beef broth). Folded together with diced onions and cilantro, this taco’s crunchy-on-the-outside-gooey-on-the-inside shell boasts a roastiness akin to a Cheez-It cracker, one that’s teased out further by the brisket’s fatty warmth. As the shredded cheese melts on the truck’s plancha, the taquero fishes out brisket chunks daubed in chile from a bubbling stockpot, vigorously chopping the protein. Guerrero’s tacos are also served Costra-style, a novel Mexico City preparation method that upgrades a plain tortilla with a crisp, structurally sound round of griddled Monterey Jack. These crunchy vessels of chopped, guajillo chile-stained Texas beef are known as quesabirria de res tacos, or red tacos. ![]() Alongside five of his family members - including his mother-in-law and his own mother - the owner of La Tunita 512 crafts a glistening crimson jewel of a taco that tastes as good as it looks. From an uncomfortably cramped south Austin food trailer, Gerardo “Jerry” Guerrero prepares hearty yet tender portions of meat drowned in brisket broth. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |