Donde Está el Rabo Encendido?

Hola mi gente! Another customer question from the mailbag that I thought I’d share with you all. As always, if you’d like to ask a question, share your love of Cuban cuisine, or any type of Cuban Love at all, please send an email to info@pambiche.com I would love to hear from you! Gracias, and as always, #eatcuban

Question:

On Oct 11, 2024, at 5:46 PM

Sent via form submission from Pambiche

Name: Michelle

Email: michellexxxx@gmail.com

Message: Are you no longer serving Oxtail? Also, is the plantain that is roasted, sweet plantain? Thank you! Michelle

Answer:

Hola Michelle!

Thank you for your interest and inquiry. Unfortunately, the cost of oxtail has risen so much over the years that it has priced itself out of our customers price range and right off of our menu. This is a phenomenon that has been going on with many cuts of meat that were once inexpensive but after their “discovery” and subsequent popularity, the laws of supply and demand take over and these items go from food of the frugal to fashion foodie fodder. Check out this article that came out a few months ago in the NY Times. Here’s another in Today. It seems that oxtail is only the latest in a long list of peasant foods that became bougie, chicken wings, beef tongue, bone marrow, catfish, tilapia, pork belly, calf liver, it goes on and on.

The last menu iteration we had Rabo Encendido on, we had the dish priced at $40, this is simply how it costed out, and at $40 it just didn’t move. Frankly I don’t blame people for not shelling out that kind of money for oxtail, it’s offal meat. Not that it’s not worth it, our oxtail was out of this world! It’s just hard to wrap your head around paying that kind of money for offals.

What are offals?
Offals are the edible internal organs and bones of an animal, including the heart, liver, kidney, and tongue, and yes the tail. The term comes from the word "off-fall", which refers to the parts of an animal that fall away from the carcass after slaughter. Oxtail, the tail of a cow, is considered offal even though it's not an internal organ.

Historically seen as a by-product of butchering, oxtail has typically been considered a subsistence food like saltfish, and lobster, forever the poor man's meal, but as more people “discover” oxtail the price has increased as the demand for it grows. Oxtail can now sell for up to $10 per pound. Another reason for the skyrocketing price of oxtail, is that much like the tongue, there is only one tail per animal slaughtered, that’s not much yield per animal for a product that is in high demand.

At Pambiche, we sold Rabo Encendido on our menu for 20 years. It was a staple of Pambiche’s menu. We prepared the dish with love, served it with pride and folks returned the love with loyal patronage. Hell we probably helped popularize the dish! In 2000, when we opened, oxtail was .50 per pound. Now it fluctuates between $7-9 wholesale and when 30% of that is the fat that encapsulates the tail, that needs to be removed, it increases the cost per pound by that same 30%.

Honestly, I’d rather eat oxtail, especially Cuban Rabo Encendido, like we used to prepare at Pambiche, over any cut of steak. It’s one of my personal favorite all-time meat dishes. So, I understand why folks are disappointed when they don’t find it on our menu. I am even more disappointed than any of my customers. In 2000, when I introduced Rabo Encendido on the Pambiche menu, we had to promote the plate, push it, we gave special training to our waitstaff on how to sell it, and initially it was a hard sell. People were afraid to pick up the pieces of tail with their fingers and get messy. We had to explain that oxtail is like ribs, pigs feet and fried chicken, you eat it with your hands, gnaw off the gelatinous pieces of cartilage and suck on the bone, then you mix the saucy meat into the white rice so that not one drop of the sauce gets missed and you devour that glazed meaty rice like the true delicacy that it is. Who cares what you look like to the rest of the folks in the dining room. Your only care at that moment is what’s going into your mouth! Needless to say, it worked. Over the years, Rabo Encendido became a signature menu item that Pambiche became famous for.

Now 25 years later we have to deny our beloved patrons the gastronomic pleasure that we sold them on. Not because we don’t want to make Rabo Encendido, but because it became too expensive. So don’t shoot the chef mi gente, we’re all in this together. Fortunately our menu has a slew of Cuban delicacies to choose from and the food is coming out better than it ever has as we are always looking for ways to improve!

The other good news is, the Rabo Encendido recipe that we produced for 20 years at Pambiche will be on the forthcoming cookbook, that will be a collection of recipes, secrets, traditions, techniques and behind the scenes stories from the past and present. Follow us on IG & Facebook and keep pambiche.com’s blog page bookmarked for all the latest and greatest.

To answer the second question, yes we oven roast our ripe plantains in olive oil and they are delicious, far superior to deep frying, and you still get the yummy caramelization and soft chewy mouthfeel. This method will also be in the book ; )

We appreciate you thinking of Pambiche and look forward to serving you the very best in Cuban Creole Cuisine and Classic Cuban Cocktails!

Chef John Maribona

Cuban Love at all, please send an email to info@pambiche.com I would love to hear from you! Gracias, and as always, #eatcuban