CONTENTSIntroduction 13The Davila Family History, from Ávila to Seguin 13The Vaquero Way 19Techniques on fire 27 Direct Heat: Asado Style 27Indirect Heat: Smoking 30Smoking Meat the Davila Way 33MAINSMeat on Fire 39BEEF AND LAMBMesquite Brisket 41Mollejas (Sweetbreads) 44 Beef Sausage 47Beef Fajitas 51Lengua de Res (Smoked Beef Tongue) 53Texas-Style Barbacoa 54Whole BBQ Borrego for Barbacoa 60Beef Jerky 64Mesquite-Smoked Lamb Ribs with Chimichurri 65PORKWhole Pig Asado Style 69Pork Ribs 72CowboyBBQ_txt_final.indd 62/23/18 3:58 PMSmoked Pulled Pork 73Pork Loin with Mustard Seed Sauce 74Puerco en Chili Colorado (Pork in Red Chili Sauce) 76Smoked Ham with Davila’s BBQ Sauce Glaze 79Morcilla (Spanish Blood Sausage) 81Chicharonnes en Salsa Verde 83Mole de Olla con Puerco 84POULTRYWhole Mesquite-Smoked Chicken 85 Chicken Fajitas 87 Tinga de Pollo 89Calabacita con Pollo (Squash with Chicken) 91 Arroz con Pollo (Rice with Chicken) 92Brined and Smoked Whole Turkey 94South Texas Peanut Butter Mole 95Seafood 97 Camarones al Mojo de Ajo (Shirmp in Garlic Sauce) 98 Mexican Shrimp and Oyster Cocktail 100Aguachiles de Camarones (Shrimp in Chili Broth) 101Smoked Fresh Oysters 102Texas Gulf Ceviche-Stuffed Avocados 103Caribbean-Style Whole Red Snapper 104Glazed Barbecued Salmon 106CowboyBBQ_txt_final.indd 72/23/18 3:58 PMStreet Foods 109 MINI TACOSTacos al Pastor (Pineapple and Pork) 110Tacos de Birria (Goat) 112Tacos Campechanos (Beef with Chorizo and Chicharrones) 114Tacos de Buche (Pork Stomach) 116Tripas de Res Tacos (Beef Tripe) 117TAMALESTamales Verdes (Chicken with Green Sauce) 120Tamales Rojos (Pork with Red Sauce) 122Tamales Rajas de Chile y Queso Fresco (Chile and Cheese) 124Soups and Chilis 127Mama Davila’s Fideo Seco con Carne 128Caldo de Res 129Sopa de Fideo Estilo Laredo 130Chicken Tortilla Soup 132Pozole Rojo de Puerco (Red Pork Pozole) 133Vaquero Chili con Carne 134 Menudo de Puerco 136Pozole Verde de Pollo (Green Chicken Pozole) 138CowboyBBQ_txt_final.indd 82/23/18 3:58 PMON THE SIDEVegetables and Sides 143Butternut Squash with Chile and Lime 144Elote con Crema (Creamed Corn) 145 Calabacitas con Frijoles Negros (Zucchini with Black Beans) 146Frijoles Borrachos (Drunken Beans) 147Frijoles Refritos (Refried Beans) 148Grilled Nopales, Onions, and Tomatoes 150Nopales Salad 152Grandpa Davila’s Potato Salad 153 Grandma’s Papas 154Camotes (Sweet Potatoes) over Coals 155Arroz Mexicano (Mexican Rice) 156 Arroz Verde (Green Tomatillo Rice) 157 Tortillas and Breads 159Pan de Campo (Country Bread) 160Flour Tortillas 161 Corn Tortillas 165 Momo Davila’s Griddle Corn Cakes 167South Texas Jalapeño Cheese Corn Bread 169 CowboyBBQ_txt_final.indd 92/23/18 3:58 PMSauces and Salsas 171Davila’s Original BBQ Sauce 172Davila’s Spicy BBQ Sauce 173 Fire-Roasted Tomato, Onion, and Serrano Salsa 174Tomatillo Salsa (Green Sauce) 179Mama Davila’s Salsa Picante (Red Table Sauce) 181Guajillo Salsa 182 Pico de Gallo 183Acknowledgments 185Index 189CowboyBBQ_txt_final.indd 102/23/18 3:58 PMINTRODUCTIONTHE DAVILA FAMILY HISTORY, FROM ÁVILA TO SEGUINLong before the first smoker was lit or sauce was ladled, barbecue was born with a Latin twist. The oft-forgotten vaquero origins of this meat-heavy and nomad- friendly style of cooking are the focus of this book, celebrating the greatest culinary traditions of Latin America, and rediscovering my family’s heritage along the way.As a third-generation member of the Davila’s BBQ family, my style of cooking evolved from a strong base of family recipes and the rich culture that surrounds me in South Texas. But as I have explored my roots more deeply, I’ve discovered my culinary references reach back to the vaqueros, the horsemen on the Iberian Peninsula who shepherded the prized cattle to the wide open lands of the New World. At Davila’s BBQ, we’ve always known how good our cooking is, as we’ve been serving the Seguin, Texas, community for three generations now. But in recent years I’ve had the opportunity to travel, do some television and print media, and help give my hometown, Seguin, its rightful place on the BBQ map. To bring our historically important, Latin-influenced barbecue to a wider audience is supremely gratifying. Cowboy Barbecue feels like a natural progression in my journey as a chef, to write about my food and share my recipes while exploring the Old World techniques that I’ve mastered. What I didn’t anticipate at the start of writing this book was just how far the journey and my research into my family history were going to take me. CowboyBBQ_txt_final.indd 132/23/18 3:58 PMINTRODUCTION14It All Began with This Man: My Grandfather, the Original Pit MasterMy great-grandfather had a general store in the renowned barbecue town of Luling, Texas, in the 1930s and 1940s. My grandfather, Raul Davila, and his brother Adolph worked at the store but didn’t want people assuming they had not earned their own way, so at the age of 14 and 12 respectively, Raul and Adolph got on a train headed west into the Hill Country, to work in a restaurant in Kerrville, Texas. When they reached their 20s, they returned to town to work at the Bob Davis Locker Processing Plant, as butchers and sausage makers. This was where they started to hone their culinary skills, learning Polish (adds garlic and spices) and German (simply seasoned and smoked) sausage-making techniques from the source as well as smoking techniques for barbecue. These European immigrants came to colonize Texas beginning in the 1830s, bringing with them their food traditions (and blending Polish polka and accordions into the South Texas music!). By the 1950s, my uncle and grandfather were selling their sausages and barbecue out of my uncle’s very own dry goods and convenience store to joints from Lockhart to San Antonio. It wasn’t long before Raul and my grandmother, Geronima, opened up their own place in Luling, named the Carnation Restaurant, serving barbecue and Mexican food. Raul added cayenne and other ingredients to give the sausage and barbecue his own Latin twist. At the time Seguin was the county seat and a more populated city than Luling, so my grandfather’s next move was to strike a deal to open a new barbecue place in an old abandoned schoolhouse in Seguin in September 1959. No decorations, no cash register, and the whole family slept in two of the rooms at the back of restaurant. (To this day my father doesn’t ever want to leave the restaurant, because it’s home to him, even Left to right: Mike Hernandez, Adolph Davila (my great-uncle), and Guadalupe Gonzalez, circa 1948 at the Bob Davis Locker Plant.CowboyBBQ_txt_final.indd 142/23/18 3:59 PMINTRODUCTION15in its newer location.) Raul built a pit outside and added a few tables inside. They were happy to be the first restaurant, outside of African American–owned establishments, to serve African Americans in a public space in Seguin. In the 1970s, sausage making became so busy that they moved that part of the operation to its own building. But there’s no doubt that the restaurant exists today due to my grandmother’s jumping in whenever needed. She grew up on a working cattle ranch, which her father tended. They had their own pigs and grew all their own vegetables. She had only an elementary school education, but she figured out how to run the restaurant. And she made enchiladas and tamales as well as the barbecue on the menu. Her hard work was all about putting food on the table; after all, she had three kids to feed. Even today, she is still the taskmaster and the backbone of the family.My Story: Third-Generation Pit MasterI always wanted to be around my dad, Edward Davila, and my dad was always at the restaurant, working as my grandfather’s right-hand man and starting the concession and catering side of the business. The meat would come in and I’d watch my grandfather break down a quarter of a cow, do the butchering MY COUSIN: TEX DAVILA MCLEOD One of the more colorful characters in my family history is my cousin Tex McLeod. I’ve often thought that his legacy is responsible for sending me on this vaquero-inspired journey in the first place. Tex was a cowboy who took his spin ropes all the way from South Texas to the Calgary Stampede, a world championship cowboy competition in Alberta, Canada, at which he won the “All-Around Cowboy” title in the 1920s. After traveling with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, he moved to England and had a second career as a famous silent film star in the 1930s. He went on to travel the world, teaching “ropes and yarns” to African kings and English royalty. His legacy as a showman and an explorer inspired me to want to follow in his footsteps, using my craft in cooking as my means of exploration, to do and see things that I had never done or seen before, as he did with his skills as a cowboy. Growing up, I was secluded in South Texas, but his story encouraged me to scour maps and use a globe, filled with the certainty that these challenges and adventures were mine to have. I’ve found that the rugged essence of the western way of life that captivated Tex McLeod’s contemporaries is no less fascinating to the outside world today.CowboyBBQ_txt_final.indd 152/23/18 3:59 PMNext >