I was recently in a bordertown, Douglas, AZ, where I was raised, and
was in line at a grocery store. The person in front of me was
purchasing about five 100lb bags of charcoal,and about 100 heads of
cabbage, and just about the same number of onions. I asked him what he
was using all the cabbage for, and he mentioned the name of something
I could not understand. Would anyone know of a Mexican dish or meal
that might be made with these ingredients. I thought maybe something
like Haluski, but where would the charcoal come in. It was interesting
that in front of the grocery store someone was roasting chili peppers
over an open fire, and selling them in maybe twenty-five pound bags.

Tom

> wrote

>I was recently in a bordertown, Douglas, AZ, where I was raised, and
> was in line at a grocery store. The person in front of me was
> purchasing about five 100lb bags of charcoal,and about 100 heads of
> cabbage, and just about the same number of onions. I asked him what he
> was using all the cabbage for, and he mentioned the name of something

I know of a few things, but not the names or whole recipes.

One of them uses an enclosed ground pit, sortof like a hawaiian luau pig but
with onions, peppers, cabbage, and a whole pig or several heads. I think it
is also done with goat and beef heads? You wet the cabbage and mix it with
chopped onions and layer the bottom with that. I'm sure other spices like
Comino (whole mexican cumin seeds) were also used. The wetted cabbage keeps
the coals from directly hitting the meat and provides a sort of steaming
layer to tenderize the meat. This one sounds the most likely to me.

Another one is made over a stand up large barrell grill (old metal barrell
with grate atop, cut longwise so you can close the top) and involves
wrapping skirt-steak in cabbage with onions and seasonings brushed over the
outside as it grills. Makes a sort of pocket of the cabbage which is
seasoned as the juices drip through from the meat.

The third one is more applicable if you have migrant farmer workers there
and they were picking up for the camp. There's some really good cabbage and
onion stews folks make over large spider pots setting in a charcol pit.
Usually there are other veggies and some sort of meat added such as
fat-back. They'd cook for the group back in South Carolina with one spider
pot shared by several families so you'd see these long lined pits of coals
and pots setting to the sides (partly in the coals) as they'd make up food.
Normally there, you'd see pots of potatoes steaming as well along side in
some of the pots, and at the right season, peanuts boiling away in a few of
them for a treat after dinner.

wrote:
> I was recently in a bordertown, Douglas, AZ, where I was raised, and
> was in line at a grocery store. The person in front of me was
> purchasing about five 100lb bags of charcoal,and about 100 heads of
> cabbage, and just about the same number of onions. I asked him what he
> was using all the cabbage for, and he mentioned the name of something
> I could not understand. Would anyone know of a Mexican dish or meal
> that might be made with these ingredients. I thought maybe something
> like Haluski, but where would the charcoal come in. It was interesting
> that in front of the grocery store someone was roasting chili peppers
> over an open fire, and selling them in maybe twenty-five pound bags.
>
> Tom

Could the charcoal have been for another purpose? Maybe for barbecue?

There are a few places here in Borderland Texas that make tamales with
cabbage and onions for a filling instead of meat or chicken. Tamales
are a Christmas tradition for people of Mexican heritage.

--
Janet Wilder
Bad spelling. Bad punctuation
Good Friends. Good Life

I usually buy 20 lb bags, and the bags seemed four times as big. They
probably were more like fifty or so, after thinking about it. Barbacoa
sounds like what he said.

Tom

"Sqwertz" wrote

> A WHOLE cow's head, a goat, or sometimes a sheep. Buried in a
> HOLE, that is. I'd bet they're doing a goat, which would be very
> Mexican at this time of the year when the family gets together.
>

I see I wasnt the only one to recall that! I recall any large animal head
was ok and pork was also on the venue. Yes, I think Goat was more common?

I see cabbage used in Mexican food in primarily two instances:

One is a sort of salsa, often in the salsa bar, that is
almost like a kimchee.

The second is in fish tacos (or possibly, fish or shrimp
burritos).

I have not seen a savory meat dish made with cabbage, in
any Mexican setting, but anything's possible.

Steve

On Sun, 23 Dec 2007 20:19:14 +0000 (UTC),
(Steve Pope) wrote:

>I see cabbage used in Mexican food in primarily two instances:
>
>One is a sort of salsa, often in the salsa bar, that is
>almost like a kimchee.
>
>The second is in fish tacos (or possibly, fish or shrimp
>burritos).
>
>I have not seen a savory meat dish made with cabbage, in
>any Mexican setting, but anything's possible.
>
Maybe they were going to have some good old American cole slaw on the
side.


--
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> wrote:

>(Steve Pope) wrote:

>>I see cabbage used in Mexican food in primarily two instances:

>>One is a sort of salsa, often in the salsa bar, that is
>>almost like a kimchee.

>>The second is in fish tacos (or possibly, fish or shrimp
>>burritos).

>>I have not seen a savory meat dish made with cabbage, in
>>any Mexican setting, but anything's possible.

>Maybe they were going to have some good old American cole slaw on the
>side.

That's possible. And the traditional fish-taco cabbage ingredient
it pretty much a slaw. (Though I make it with all sour cream,
no mayonaisse and it seems to work well that way.)

Steve

Steve Pope wrote:
>
>
> I have not seen a savory meat dish made with cabbage, in
> any Mexican setting, but anything's possible.
>
> Steve

Posole, a savory pork stew, is often made or garnished with shredded
cabbage.

Whirled Peas > wrote:

>Steve Pope wrote:

>> I have not seen a savory meat dish made with cabbage, in
>> any Mexican setting, but anything's possible.

>Posole, a savory pork stew, is often made or garnished with shredded
>cabbage.

Way cool. Thanks.

Steve

> wrote in message
...
>I was recently in a bordertown, Douglas, AZ, where I was raised, and
> was in line at a grocery store. The person in front of me was
> purchasing about five 100lb bags of charcoal,and about 100 heads of
> cabbage, and just about the same number of onions. I asked him what he
> was using all the cabbage for, and he mentioned the name of something
> I could not understand. Would anyone know of a Mexican dish or meal
> that might be made with these ingredients. I thought maybe something
> like Haluski, but where would the charcoal come in. It was interesting
> that in front of the grocery store someone was roasting chili peppers
> over an open fire, and selling them in maybe twenty-five pound bags.

I've had Mexican coleslaw and also pico de gallo that had cabbage in it.
Not sure how the charcoal would figure in though.