Goat, the Other Red Meat: La Quebrada, Cicero

Goat, the Other Red Meat: La Quebrada, Cicero

Sometimes, when I’m trying to impress myself with what eating machines we humans are, I ponder how many tons of animal flesh I’ve consumed over my lifetime. Perhaps a small feedlot of beeves, pens of pigs, no doubt…but not nearly enough goat.

I really like goat – it’s moist, flavorful, pleasingly gamey without the full-on funk of, say, raccoon – but it’s not that easy to find in this part of the world. I can count on two fingers the places within 5 miles of my house that sell the stuff: Tropical Taste on First Avenue in Maywood is one, and La Quebrada is the other.

Tonight, with The Wife and kids out-of-town somewhere, I was on my own, so I went over to La Q in Cicero for barbacoa de chivo. I doubt that the good folks there prepare their barbacoa in an earthen pit, but this was some magnificent goat: extremely tender, done with just the faintest hint of pink at the center, sprinkled with pickled jalapeno, simply presented with finely chopped cilantro and onion, a side bowl of frijoles de la Hoya (Guerrero-style pinto beans), and some of La Q’s exquisite house-made tortillas. With a courteous nod to the vegetable kingdom, I had a big glass of carrot juice.

Goat doesn’t seem very fatty, though it has a richness and full mouthfeel that one might associate with a fat-rich meat. It’s packs loads of flavor – as much, I think, as a decent slab of beef.

People sometimes complain that goat is stringy, but my guess is that this is an indication of inept preparation rather than the fault of this noble beast/entrée.

Which brings me to the gist of the lesson.

Goat is unfairly “looked down” upon. People talk about an unsavory “goatiness,” and there are many derogatory expressions related to this animal; I’m talking about “old goat” and “get my goat” (that’s got to hurt, right?). As you may recall, archetypal loser Charlie Brown was always complaining about being “the goat.” In popular culture, the cartoon goat is an unnatural nuisance, a miscreant, and an eating machine (perhaps our own reflection is disturbing), eating clothes right off the line (and even the line itself, as well as tin cans and, in an old Tex Avery ‘toon, a whole train). Goya portrayed the Great He-Goat at the center of an unholy witches Sabbath and Satan’s horns are from…guess what animal? In fact, in Christian symbolism, the sinister goat is set in stark opposition to purer beasts; you know what verse I’m referring to: Matthew 25-33, “And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.” In the final accounting, goats are pretty much damned.

Anyhow, culturally, theologically, and culinarily, goats get a bad rap, and that’s not fair, because that is some tasty meat, and I intend to eat more of it.

La Quebrada
4859 W. Roosevelt
Cicero (708) 780-8110

David Hammond wrote:Anyhow, culturally, theologically, and culinarily, goats get a bad rap, and that’s not fair, because that is some tasty meat, and I intend to eat more of it.

David,

Agree on all counts, goat is tasty and we, or at least I, don't eat enough. From this moment hence (don't you love the word hence?) I intend to have Goat at least once a week. Actually, from last week hence as I had goat as part of my 2-meats and rice at Adobo Express last week.

Barbecue goat is good as well, though it's easy to dry out. Here's a pic of one that turned out well from a couple of years ago at Bob in Ga's farm. Goat is slathered with my chile oil and layered with bacon.



Enjoy
Gary

there are many derogatory expressions related to this animal; I’m talking about “old goat” and “get my goat” (that’s got to hurt, right?). As you may recall, archetypal loser Charlie Brown was always complaining about being “the goat.” In popular culture, the cartoon goat is an unnatural nuisance

One of the phrases which came down in my family, and which I am proudly teaching to my children so it is not lost to the ages, is "that smells/looks/etc. like Bim Gump's old goat."

Who is Bim Gump? Well, if you've been to Lake Geneva, you've perhaps seen the statue of his nephew Andy.

Hammond,

The Cicero LaQ has become my destination of choice for dinner before one of the many great shows at Fitzgerald's in Berwyn (it's right down the street), and I have had their Barbacoa de Chivo several times now.

Gotta say your description is spot on. I really like this goat - moist, flavorful, and never stringy. I usually wash it down with a large horchata instead of carrot juice, but to each his own.

Their Pechuga Estilo Quebrada w/ the molcajete sauce is damn good too.

It's also worth mentioning that LaQ (at least the Cicero location ) is BYO. It's probably a good idea to bring whatever you'd like to drink with you, as the learest liquor store is quite a few blocks away (Pigmon and I found this out the hard way when Link Wray came to town a couple of months ago).

Hey Chi,

As an aside to the goat, I also sampled the carne estilo Quebrada (me love meat), and felt the molcajete sauce was not quite strong enough to stand up to the beef, which pretty much kicked the crap out of it. My sense is that the pollo pechuga might have been a better choice (better balance between salsa and flesh).

Yes, LQ Cicero is BYO -- I asked the manager if it was okay to bring wine and beer, and he said "Yes, and liquor."

Hammond

PS. Sorry I couldn't make it to Fitzgerald's last weekend (LTH Anniversary dinner and all got in the way)

David Hammond wrote:As an aside to the goat, I also sampled the carne estilo Quebrada (me love meat), and felt the molcajete sauce was not quite strong enough to stand up to the beef, which pretty much kicked the crap out of it. My sense is that the pollo pechuga might have been a better choice (better balance between salsa and flesh).

I can see that. It sure works well w/ the pollo though.

David Hammond wrote:PS. Sorry I couldn't make it to Fitzgerald's last weekend (LTH Anniversary dinner and all got in the way)

No problem - I skipped the Anniversary party due to lack of appetite from some recent surgery. Unusual scene out there for the Hawaiian - Themed "Chicago Exotica" - lots of vendors there, peddling everything from t-shirts to tiki carvings to plastic Japanese "Ultraman" toys & loads of other kitschy stuff. Not my cup of tea, really, but the music was great, especially Los Straitjackets w/ The Fabulous Pontani Sisters. They are always a treat.

ChiNOLA wrote:the music was great, especially Los Straitjackets w/ The Fabulous Pontani Sisters. They are always a treat.

For the benefit of those not familiar with The Fabulous Pontani Sisters, a representative photo:



Hammond

I've been super busy lately, and sadly neglected my GNR reconsideration posting duties. I guess better late then never, right? Not to mention the most important part of the GNR reconsiderations was hoping that we'd drum up some conversation, so here is my contribution.

I'll sum up both La Quebrada and Casa De Samuel since i'm short on time, and they are both cuisines from the state of Guerrero.

I went into La Quebrada with very little expectations, and left with a positive view of a new regional Mexican cuisine. The dishes looked and sounded very basic, but they were all very well executed. From the salsa's to the hand made tortillas to the cecina, all prepared with care, and down right exciting. The Goat birria was awesome, goaty and moist in a delicious consome. I hope to go back soon, wishing it was closer to home.

In contrast, Casa de Samuel has an exciting looking menu, but sadly only about 1/2 of the dishes there to me were even worth eating. Chewy goat, spongy frog legs. The salsas weren't very good. Everything that was good, was still short of exciting, decent sauces, pretty good venison cecina and respectable chiles en nogada.

I know the GNR reconsiderations are over, and also that it was not a one or the other type of deal, but despite that I find Quebrada to be very deserving of its GNR and do not think the same of Casa de Samuel. I did take a few pictures at La Quebrada, and hope to post them soon once I have some more free time.

Nice review of La Quebrada. Got to get there.
I like goat.
I think part of the stigma is like mutton and lamb. 'Kid' is what is actually sold as goat, just like lamb is what is sold. Mutton and goat at one time existed and were sold and I believe gave rise to the sayings and dislike for both goat and lamb.
Frankly, I don't know where to get mutton these days and I know of no one selling anything other than kid.-Dick

I get the goat almost every time I go to La Quebrada, because it is hard to resist. Moist and tender, with the jalapenos and raw onions and cilantro on the side to add some kick - makes my mouth water as I am writing about it.

Most of the goat I eat I cook myself. The trick is to get baby goat. "Old goat" is derogatory for a reason -- gamier, stringier, and tougher. The people who think goat is stringy almost certainly had an old goat. (Old goat is still cooked, but usually stewed. You don't want to roast anything older than one year.)

But baby goat is beautiful -- tender and moist, with a flavor somewhere between lamb and veal.

While you may not see goat in a store's meat case, it can usually be obtained by just asking the butcher at your nearest ethnic grocers (Hispanic, Mediterranean, Eastern European, and Indian in particular). But make sure you specify baby goat.

Or just go to the restaurant mentioned above, if you don't want to cook your own.

I don't know of a single source for "old goat".
'Kid' is what is sold and when you order 'baby' goat it's the same I suspect. It's called Chivo in Spanish and I have yet to be dissapointed in purchasing from any SuperMercardo I frequent.
Fresh Farms on Touhy will get you a 'baby' goat and based on my experience with thier 'baby' lamb, it will be excellent.-Dick

I've never seen it identified as "old goat," but I have seen "stewing goat," which I was assured was "more mature" and therefore needed longer cooking. But that was a few years ago. Maybe everyone now has kid/baby goat.

This thread reminds me of a friend with a fondness for mixing metaphors. We long ago agreed that the sentiments of "that really gets my goat" and "that really burns my cork" could be most powerfully expressed by combining them into "that really burns my goat!"

budrichard wrote:I don't know of a single source for "old goat".
'Kid' is what is sold and when you order 'baby' goat it's the same I suspect. It's called Chivo in Spanish and I have yet to be dissapointed in purchasing from any SuperMercardo I frequent.
Fresh Farms on Touhy will get you a 'baby' goat and based on my experience with thier 'baby' lamb, it will be excellent.-Dick

I actually just switched to raising goats for meat due to the many problems with lambs. I’m taking a few to be processed December 10 but unfortunately they are “old goats”. One is a mom that won’t nurse her kids so she must go. The other is a buck who is getting a little pushy.

Our kids are not quite ready yet, still a few months away. I’m hopeful that the older animals won’t be too bad. If we like them I’m sure we’ll love the younger ones.

Made it back to La Quebrada (Cicero Location) with a group of LTHers earlier this week and left very pleased.

What sets La Quebrada apart from the legions of Mexican joints (and makes it worth the trip out to Cicero) is their dedication to making everything from scratch. Plates come with some combination of their punchy pico de gallo, creamy guacamole, and a side of fantastic refried beans. The tortillas are made fresh as well and served in generous quantities. The salsas all feature a robust roasted chili flavor and the red salsa is chunky and served warm. The tables seat 8-10 people, clearly aiming at large Mexcian families, which matches the made-from-scratch family-style vibe of the place. In short, bring a crowd, watch a telenovela, and chow down on Mexican comfort food. A perfect night in my book.

We got to order a lot of different things and nearly all of it was excellent. The enchiladas with salsa verde were an eye opener. It's a dish I usually avoid since it's typically served with chalky tortillas and bland sauce, but at La Quebrada it's a showcase for their delicious tortillas and bright salsa. Another highlight was the fried smelts that were crunchy and very garlicky. I enjoyed the cecina so much I brought an extra order home. The beef is pounded thin and cured which makes it intensely beefy and tender. It was fantastic dabbed with guacamole and refried beans and wrapped in a warm tortilla.

All in all, it was a great meal. I'll definitely be back.

turkob wrote:Made it back to La Quebrada (Cicero Location) with a group of LTHers earlier this week and left very pleased.

What sets La Quebrada apart from the legions of Mexican joints (and makes it worth the trip out to Cicero) is their dedication to making everything from scratch. Plates come with some combination of their punchy pico de gallo, creamy guacamole, and a side of fantastic refried beans.
<snippage>

This (emphasis added). I do love LQ but it's the simple things they do that so many others seem to take shortcuts on. Refried beans at so many places range from meh to bleh. LQ's beans are out of the park - the next day when I'm remembering flavors one of the first things that comes to mind are the beans. I mean everything else is damn good, too - I'm a sucker for the lomo en chile de arbol (yes, extra spicy please) - but it's all elevated by the attention to detail on the sides, especially those beans. Hmm, think I'm heading out to Cicero this weekend.

Public service reminder - remember to bring your receipt from the store where you bought your BYOB.

Kman wrote:

turkob wrote:Public service reminder - remember to bring your receipt from the store where you bought your BYOB.

Why?

mrefjl wrote:

Kman wrote:

turkob wrote:Public service reminder - remember to bring your receipt from the store where you bought your BYOB.

Why?

Umm, so you can drink it?

Is it common that you have to present the receipt at a BYO?

What if it a bottle I bought several years ago and I've been saving it?
I have to confess this idea of presenting the receipt confuses me as well.

I think it's to prove that you didn't buy it there since they don't have a liquor license. I've never seen it anywhere else, but they did ask for one when we were there.

turkob wrote:Made it back to La Quebrada (Cicero Location) with a group of LTHers earlier this week and left very pleased.

What sets La Quebrada apart from the legions of Mexican joints (and makes it worth the trip out to Cicero) is their dedication to making everything from scratch. Plates come with some combination of their punchy pico de gallo, creamy guacamole, and a side of fantastic refried beans. The wheat tortillas are made fresh as well and served in generous quantities.

FYI, those are corn tortillas, still my favorites. The dish that I've been telling my family about for 2 days is the octopus. I doubt I would have ever ordered that, now I cannot wait to introduce my family to this ultra-tender, spicy sauced, mushroom accented little appetizer.

Thanks for organizing.

Fixed. Thanks

Though they asked for the receipt, they still accommodated us when we couldn't produce one.

First time at LQ and I loved it!

In case anyone else is looking for ordering suggestions, I thought these were all winners:
Pulpo Al Ajillo (octopus)
Charales Al Gusto w/garlic (smelts)
Cecina Estila Guerrero
Arrechera La Sabrosita (steak sautéed in chili de arbol with pork skin, black beans and cilantro)
Enchiladas Verdes (as turkob noted, SO much better than expected )
Picaditos Estillos Guerrero (both red and green sauce versions)

And, my favorite dish of the night, Costillo de Res al Gusto--unbelievably flavorful thin sliced ribs. Thanks Pigmon!

Guac was serviceable (lime issues may have been a factor), pork guisado and Barbacoa dishes were good but a step behind the others to me.

Can't wait to return.

Thanks to turkob for organizing!

La Quebrada is a serious shortlist spot for us. We usually love hitting it in the morning especially for their fresh (corn) tortillas, densely roasted salsa, costillas de res, and...believe it or not, their beautifully rolled enchiladas verdes made with the homemade tortillas and pleasantly tart/acidic tomatillo sauce. Some can bitch that the stuffed shredded chicken tastes spent, but its construction along with the strength of its other components certainly outshine that possible shortcoming. The costillas, with their shockingly appealing thin rubberband-esque cartilage rings is another special offering there as well.

The management and servers here usually couldn't be more kind.

I am fairly certain those tortillas are made with part flour and part masa which is not as uncommon as many may think. For the record, I think I'm the only one who doesn't think they're great. They're adequate, but are light on the corn flavor and dry, not as in old dry, just not considerably moist or anything. I would take fresh off the truck milagro or atotonilco over them any day.

Tortillas aside, I have long loved La Quebrada and was happy to jump on an excuse to get in on this event, thanks for setting it up Turkob! My favorite dishes were the pork guisado with red sauce, and the grilled meats such as the beef ribs and cecina, though just about everything was as exciting and flavorful as I remember.

Of the numerous dishes we ordered the only thing which was a disappointment was the goat barbacoa (birria). My hunk was pretty dry and had little to nothing going on with flavor. I remember loving the birria last time, ordered with consome. I don't remember it even being the same cut of goat, so maybe when you order it in soup you get some different cuts, maybe the soup kept it moist, or maybe it was just a matter of timing or bad luck. With 9 out of 10 dishes being excellent, this is not a bad hit rate.

I look forward to many more visits to La Quebrada and definitely consider it a GNR.

I enjoyed the recent LTH meal at La Quebrada, especially the scratch garnishes, beans, and grilled carnes, all of which were very consistent with Aurora, where I've been twice lately (http://www.laquebradaaurora.com/), and which also proudly displays the GNR swag.

And forget eating them: their toasty, oil-less tortillas are as worthy a part of a foodie facial treatment as the hot towels at Kuni's. Don't knock it 'til you've tried it.

laikom wrote:I am fairly certain those tortillas are made with part flour and part masa which is not as uncommon as many may think.

Tortillas aside, I have long loved La Quebrada and was happy to jump on an excuse to get in on this event, thanks for setting it up Turkob! My favorite dishes were the pork guisado with red sauce, and the grilled meats such as the beef ribs and cecina, though just about everything was as exciting and flavorful as I remember.

I believe you're right about the flour/masa mix in the tortillas -- I wasn't that crazy about the flavor, either, but they were soft and perhaps more absorbent than tortillas that are all masa.

Had the cecina a few days ago and still thinking about it. The dried/salted then rehydrated/griddled meat seems almost light, and for meat that seems to have relatively little fat, very tender and flavorful.



Just as crustacean loves pork, beef loves guacamole. And because cecina seems relatively low fat, the guacamole adds a rounded richness to each mouthful of flavorful beef.

David Hammond wrote:

laikom wrote:I am fairly certain those tortillas are made with part flour and part masa which is not as uncommon as many may think.

Tortillas aside, I have long loved La Quebrada and was happy to jump on an excuse to get in on this event, thanks for setting it up Turkob! My favorite dishes were the pork guisado with red sauce, and the grilled meats such as the beef ribs and cecina, though just about everything was as exciting and flavorful as I remember.

I believe you're right about the flour/masa mix in the tortillas -- I wasn't that crazy about the flavor, either, but they were soft and perhaps more absorbent than tortillas that are all masa.

God knows as I age, there's more I realize I don't know than know, but, I've never heard of a cross-flour-corn tortilla*. And it just seems so unlikely to me. For one thing, corn tortillas are simply the default to almost all of Mexicans but for up North (or as a burrito, which is a new-ish invention); moreover, as its name suggests, La Quebrada has its origins in Guerrero, whose cuisine is very corn-centric (thank you RST). For another, flour tortillas, unlike corn tortillas, are made with lard or oil. It would seem odd, again, to for the two to mix.**/***

I did run across a piece just the other day quoting Diane Kennedy, saying to the effect, that there are no good tortillas anymore in Mexico. She was decrying the overwhelming prevalence of masa harina/maseca instead of people doing the lye/grind thing when making tortillas. I'm sure that's what's happening here. Still, compared to other tortillas hecho a mano in Chicago, especially compared to say, Frontera, I like Quebrada's a lot. They just taste so satisfying in the mouth, I think, comparable, I guess, to a good baguette.

*I stopped myself and googled, and yes there are some tortilla recipes that mix corn and flour, but they are not exactly what I'd call Diane Kennedy style recipes.

**Of the two corn-flour tortilla recipes I found on page 1 of Google, one does include lard or shortening.

***Even more googling shows the occasional corn tortilla recipe with lard, but again, not in the vein of what I'd call an authentic source.

Here's the Diane Kennedy article: http://munchies.vice.com/articles/youre ... -about-it/