100 Favorite Dishes, No. 75: Pig's Head Carnitas at CBD Provisions

Leading up to September's Best of Dallas® 2016 issue, we're sharing (in no particular order) our 100 Favorite Dishes, the Dallas entrées, appetizers and desserts that really stuck with us this year. This year, a friend of mine bought the pig’s head carnitas from CBD Provisions for his Super Bowl...

By Brian Reinhart

June 27, 2016

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "18855504",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17105533",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105532",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105535",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

Leading up to September's Best of Dallas® 2016 issue, we're sharing (in no particular order) our 100 Favorite Dishes, the Dallas entrées, appetizers and desserts that really stuck with us this year.

This year, a friend of mine bought the pig’s head carnitas from CBD Provisions for his Super Bowl party, and now all Super Bowl parties without a pig’s head will forever be ruined. The takeout party order came with a stack of tortillas, a variety of garnishes and a handful of good salsas.

But the star was that pig’s face, with butter-soft, fork-tender meat underneath crisp, snackable skin. The meat is so juicy, fatty and rich that just two tacos can be filling, and three can be belt-busting. But there’s something compulsive about that ultra-intense pork flavor and otherworldly soft texture. Brined for four days, the heads are steamed, slow-roasted and finished off with a couple minutes at 500 degrees to crisp up the skin (as documented on this video).

At that Super Bowl party, we stood around the pig, picking at it with forks until the teeth were grinning back at us. The pigskin in my friend’s kitchen was a bigger hit than the pigskin on TV.

KEEP THE OBSERVER FREE... Since we started the Dallas Observer, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Dallas, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.

Brian Reinhart has been the Dallas Observer's food critic since spring 2016. In addition, he writes baseball analysis for the Hardball Times and covers classical music for the Observer and MusicWeb International.

Contact: Brian Reinhart

Follow:

Twitter: @bgreinhart