In one of the early cooking editions of this newsletter, we smoked a brisket. Briskets are great. Few meals are as fulfilling, both in terms of the finished product and the fruits of your labor. But, as I wrote about in that post, brisket is no longer the remnant, offal-adjacent cut it once was. Its prominence in culture, especially American BBQ, has made it a far less affordable option.
But there are other, neglected cuts out there, many of which get broken down for stew meat or stocks. Chicken wings are tremendously popular, but for every wing, there are two breasts, two thighs, plus a back, a neck, two feet…you get the idea. Those of us who have decided to eat meat as part of our diet ought to consider these things and think about ways to use other, less popular cuts in our cooking.
Beyond better sustainability and helping cut waste, there are two practical benefits to this:
These cuts are often comparatively quite cheap
When treated right, they are delicious
For those who eat lamb, the most popular cuts are generally rib racks and legs. There’s nothing wrong with these — both are delicious. But lamb shoulders and shanks also make great meals, and I gravitate toward both of those cuts more often. And one other cut really stands out that, when cooked properly, is truly incredible: the lamb neck.
Still with me? Great.
If you’re feeling particularly adventurous and want something entirely different, I can’t recommend adapting this recipe from the late Duck’s Eatery (which used goat necks) enough. You can make the straight swap with a lamb neck, keeping the rest the same. It’s a whole project, though, and I totally understand if you don’t have the time or patience for it. That said, it rules, and you should totally do it.
But today, we’re making tacos. Specifically, pasilla-rubbed, barbacoa tacos, modified from this recipe. You can manage this a couple different ways, though I cannot advise putting wood chips in your oven, as this recipe suggests. I split the cooking by salting and smoking the neck on its own before applying the rub, wrapping in banana leaves, and finishing in the oven. But you can also skip the smoking aspect if you don’t have the equipment (or the time). The final product will still be good.
Tacos feel like a perfect spiritual partner for lamb neck. They have long served as a vessel for any and every kind of filling — from skin, to tongue, to cactus, to mold — that a culture can find a way to cook and make delicious. As an end result, the texture of this lamb barbacoa is far less adventurous than any of those others listed above, which even I have to find myself in the mood for. It’s a crowd-pleaser, a recipe that has gotten rave reviews since the first time I made it on a whim as a secondary option for a dinner party.
The meat has the shreddiness of beef barbacoa, the crispy, fatty, creaminess of a great pulled pork, and is full of both natural flavor from the lamb with a bright, vinegary, peppery balance from the rub. It rules. The key is to cook the meat long enough to allow the collagen packed within it to break down, the same way as many of the more popular pork shoulder or beef brisket cuts do. Strike that balance correctly, and you’ll get the same kind of satisfaction, but with a whole new, wonderful flavor profile. Ready? Let’s make some tacos.
I’ve found that if there’s any resistance to non-traditional cuts, it usually starts here. This is a raw, trimmed (ask your butcher), untreated lamb neck. It’s a little weird looking. It’s also just meat, like every other part of every other animal you’ve consumed in your life. You’re gonna be fine. Here’s what you need:
1 2-3 pound lamb neck, trimmed
6 pasilla peppers, seeds and stems removed
4 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons dried fruit (like raisins or sour cherries)
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
3 bay leaves
1-3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 big banana leaves
If you’ve got a smoker, this is going to be a two-part process. If not, skip this and the next paragraphs and add an extra hour to your oven cook time.
Generously salt your lamb all over and let rest to come up to room temperature, about 30-45 minutes. Set your smoker to 250 degrees fahrenheit and add soaked wood chips to your tray. My go-to is pecan wood, but a fruit wood would work well here also. Place the lamb on the top rack of the smoker. Spray every hour with apple cider vinegar and turn the neck 180 degrees every two hours to ensure even cooking, about five hours.
Set your oven for 325 degrees fahrenheit. Lightly toast your peppers in a pan, roughly 20 seconds per side, until they start to change color and become more pliable. Transfer to a food processor and add your dried fruit — I used sour cherries this time, but you can take this in different directions, depending on what you have in the house — sesame seeds, bay leaves, and a tablespoon of ACV. Blend until smooth. If your mixture is too chunky, keep slowly drizzling in more vinegar until you reach the desired consistency.
Place a banana leaf on a sheet pan. Spread a small layer of your pasilla rub on the leaf. Take your lamb neck and place it on top of the rub, then take the rest of the rub and apply all over the neck. If you haven’t smoked your meat, you can do this with your hands. If you have smoked it, and it is still quite warm, a rubber spatula does the trick.
Wrap the banana leaf carefully, but snugly around the neck. It’s not the end of the world if this one tears, as you’re going to wrap again with the second leaf. But make sure it’s tight. Then take the second leaf and wrap from a 90-degree angle to ensure full coverage of your meat.
Cook the lamb in the oven for roughly three hours (four, if not smoked). Let the meat rest for 10 minutes when you remove from the oven. When you unwrap it, it should look like this.
The meat should shred easily. Working around the bones, shred all the meat, integrating the rub as you go, and place into a bowl for serving.
These go best on a lightly toasted tortilla with pickled onions and fresh avocado or a nice, herby salsa. My go-to here is the avocado crema with both mint and cilantro from the original recipe, but anything fresh and light is great to offset the smoky meat. As for the onions, these are my standby for all homemade Mexican food.
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
¼ cup white vinegar
¼ cup red wine vinegar
½ cup water
1 tbsp salt
2 smashed garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 cinnamon stick
Place your vinegars, water and salt in a saucepan on high until it reaches a boil. Pack your onions and the rest of your ingredients in a mason jar — I like to stagger them to spread everything out. Once boiling, carefully pour your liquid over your onions. Seal your jar, shake gently (use a towel, the jar will be hot), and let cool to room temperature. Onions will be ready immediately, but will save in the fridge for a couple weeks, so you can use them again with leftovers (quesadillas, anyone?) and the next time you make yourself some nice, rich, slow-cooked meat.
Using the whole animal
Love this Noah. I'm a fan of offal. I've made Creole turkey necks to great acclaim. Well, from the few friends who'll eat offal, anyway.