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Oxtails are a popular dish in both African American and Caribbean soul food, and even though it’s called an oxtail, the tail can be from any type of cattle. Just as pig’s feet and chitlins were considered “throwaway” foods, which enslavers gave those they enslaved, so is the origin of oxtails as being considered a less desirable cut of meat.
But our African, African American, Caribbean and South American ancestors learned to cook oxtails in a way that made them a delicious delicacy. The meat’s many bones are full of gelatin, which makes it perfect for slow-cooked dishes like stews. After a few hours of boiling or braising, the meat becomes a very tender dish, which has been loved for centuries.
Living High on the Ox
There was a time when oxtails were only sold in soul food restaurants like This Is It Soul Food in Houston, Texas, which sells about 620 pounds of oxtails every week. “We’re known for our oxtails, and our customers say our oxtails are the best on this side of heaven,” exclaims owner Craig Joseph.
“During slavery, our ancestors learned how to braise it and stew it up and made oxtail soup, smothered oxtails with gravy, and they made it so tender it would fall off the bone,” Joseph states with pride. “We had to be creative and innovative in order to survive.”
But today, oxtails can be found on the menu of white tablecloth restaurants. As a result, the price of what was once considered a “low-brow” meat has increased. “When my grandfather [the founder of This Is It Soul Food] started cooking oxtails, they were 29 cents a pound. That was back in the 1960s and 70s,” Joseph remembers.
“Then they went up to about 50 cents a pound, and now they’re about 14 to 15 dollars a pound!” He adds, “Today, it’s across the board for what race and culture of people are eating oxtail.”
Global social media has helped to increase the trend of celebrating food from diverse cultures and that has increased the interest in cooking with oxtails, especially among foodies and celebrity chefs who brought even more attention to the versatile meat.
An increase in demand causes an increase in price, which decreases the number of people who can afford to enjoy it. In fact, the song “Oxtail Blues” by Jerron Paxton laments the increased cost of a meat that was once only eaten by African Americans. The song starts with, “Can you believe they done made these oxtails so high…and now they sellin’ neck bones that the rich folks buy.”
In 2020, the pandemic had a negative effect on the meat supply chain, which also increased the cost of oxtails. “When the economy slowed down and the price increased [to about eight dollars a pound] during COVID, we tried to only sell oxtails on the weekends,” Joseph admits. “But on the days we didn’t have oxtails, the customers would leave. So we had to go back to having them every day,” he laughs.
Oxtails: Caribbean vs. American Style
Typically, the difference between the African American and Caribbean styles of cooking oxtails is the spices used. “As a Haitian chef, I can tell you that we pan sear it and slow braise it in Creole sauce,” says chef Alain Lemaire of South and Central Florida.
The caterer and Food Network celebrity chef continues, “Your main dish will be “ke bèf nan sòs” (Creole stewed oxtail), and the staple ingredients you’ll find are epis (Haitian spice blend), tomato paste, bouquet garni (thyme, scallions, and parsley tied in a bundle), scotch bonnet peppers punctured with whole cloves. And the entire thing is finished with bell peppers and onions. It is usually served over diri kole (red beans and rice) or plain jasmine rice.”
“To make our oxtails, we prefer to buy the meat from grain-fed cows because it isn’t as tough,” Joseph discloses. “We use the typical seasonings like salt and pepper, garlic, Accent, chicken base and fresh vegetables.” He adds, “It’s a three- to four-hour process, so you have to take your time with oxtails. And the gravy is what sets it off.”
In Baltimore, Maryland’s Little Italy neighborhood, chef Tyra Myricks of Waiting to Oxtail prefers cooking oxtails similar to the Caribbean style. “I’m not Caribbean, but I grew up in New York with lots of Caribbean restaurants. So my oxtails are inspired by Caribbean flavors like jerk, curry and pimento,” states Myricks. “I think it’s a cool cut of meat because once you cook it down, it falls off the bone.”
Myricks moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles at age 16. She lived there for ten years and opened a pizza shop, where her top seller was oxtail pizza. “Then, when I moved to Baltimore, people would send me little reels on Instagram with anything that had to do with oxtails,” notes Myricks.
“Then, Instagram started an Influencer Bonus program where you would get money if you made reels and got a certain amount of viewpoints,” she continues. “So I tried to figure out what kind of reels I could make that would gather engagement, and I came up with seeing how many dishes I could make using oxtails. And people started saying, ‘Yo, you need to sell these,’” she laughs.
RELATED: Beyond the Flavors: Exploring the Heart and History of Haitian Food Culture
Oxtails 2.0
Though Myricks makes the traditional Caribbean-style oxtail platter with rice and peas, cabbage and plantains, she loves showing how diverse the tender meat can be through her creative dishes that take oxtails to a whole new level.
“Our dishes have a fusion of cultures,” she explains. “So we have oxtail fried rice, which is a nod to Asian culture. It’s fried in sesame oil and topped with house-made yum-yum sauce, which is made from the oxtail gravy. Then we have oxtail tacos, which is a tribute to the [Latinx] culture. It’s served with a mango pico de gallo, and we provide a side of oxtail consomme to dip in.”
She continues, “We have the oxtail chopped cheese – chopped cheese is a New York staple that I grew up on. It’s typically a burger patty with American cheese chopped into the ground beef, but we substitute the ground beef with chopped oxtails and flavor it with sazon seasoning, then it’s put on a hero or Kaiser roll.” Myricks also makes oxtail ramen, oxtail mac and cheese and oxtails and grits.
“A lot of older people go with the traditional oxtail platter because it’s the only one of our dishes where the oxtail is not deconstructed,” notes Myricks. “For the other dishes, we take the oxtail off the bone, and it’s shredded. The younger customers enjoy those, with oxtail tacos and oxtail fried rice being our biggest sellers,” she shares.
“Oxtails have come a long way,” Joseph exclaims. “Today, it’s like eating steak or prime rib.” But even though this once humble meat is now found on fine dining menus, Myricks says beware. “You can’t just go to any restaurant and get good oxtails,” she warns.
“Only certain places know how to make them taste great. And they’re too expensive to not be great.” Lemaire concludes that it’s important to know a food’s cultural heritage. “Food and history can never be separated. We must preserve and continue to pass on not only the techniques but also the four w’s: when, where, what, and why.”
To see oxtail plates on the menu for take-out or sit-in at This Is It Soul Food, visit their website and Facebook page. To book Chef Alain Lemaire or to see print and broadcast media where he’s featured, visit his website. To order the diverse oxtail dishes for take-out from Waiting to Oxtail, visit their Instagram page.
