Juan Zaragoza was just a toddler in 1969, when he left La Barca, Jalisco. But he never forgot the midafternoon cries of the cleaver-wielding birrieros, who carried big wooden boxes of steamed and roasted goat meat on their heads through the streets of the small Mexican city.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Like barbecueing in the U.S., the process of making birria varies and attracts fierce partisans, and these variations have found their way to Chicago, where birrieros hail from La Barca and other cities such as Ocotlan and Arandas. La Barca is known for its birria tatemada, a term that comes from the verb tatemar, “to toast” or “to char,” and is most frequently used in reference to chiles. For birria tatemada the meat is seasoned with mole, then browned in a second oven or on a griddle before serving.
The Zaragoza family settled in Pilsen, but Juan’s father, a celebrated former boxer and ballplayer, made sure the family’s ties to home were strong. On trips back the family’s first stop was Birrieria Miguel, a venerable counter in the market presided over by Miguel Segura, a birriero who learned his craft from his father. “This guy, he’s an artist,” says Zaragoza. “He opens at nine o’clock every day. He’s got 40 people already waiting before he arrives.”
Unlike most birrieros, he makes his consomme, which is tomato-based, without drippings from the meat. It’s a method he learned by videotaping Segura’s wife, and it results in a clean broth without the fat and excessive saltiness that can ruin a plate of chivo. After steaming, he lightly applies an ancho-based mole to the meat and transfers it to an oven behind the counter for the tatemada. He’s hired a 32-year-old Guanajuato native named Maria Guadalupe Jungo to come in a couple times a week to make tortillas on a mesquite wood press he brought back from La Barca. When these are freshly pressed and heated on the grill until slightly puffed, they’re an exquisite vehicle for the goat, lightly drizzled with the consomme and garnished with salsa, onions, cilantro, and lime.
4852 S. Pulaski 773-523-3700birrieriazaragoza.com
