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.