Deathbed Taco
Deathbed Taco
June 20, 2025
James Beard award-winning author Hank Shaw (of Hunter Angler Gardener Cook)'s latest book focuses on the people and foods along both sides of the border between the US and Mexico.
Borderlands: Recipes and Stories from the Rio Grande to the Pacific features recipes for traditional foods to fish, game, and wild edible plants, to regional specialties and offbeat favorites. When Hank sent us a preview of his new book, we were struck by the Deathbed Taco, a life-changing taco made for him by Patricio Wise of Nixtaco on his birthday years ago. He was kind enough to share the recipe with us here. OJO: these tacos are not of the "less is more" variety. For days when you're looking for something really extra, these hit the spot.
Of the taco, Hank says: "It was smoky, grilled, well-aged ribeye on a flour tortilla with a costra, topped with roasted bone marrow, topped with Monterrey pequin salsa, with extra pequins and some onions and cilantro.
"The combination is otherworldly. Chewy, almost translucent tortilla. Crispy, rich melted cheese. Smoky, perfectly cooked ribeye of the highest quality. Dollops of ultra rich roasted bone marrow, or as we like to call it, beef butter. All that richness meets its match with the bracing Monterrey salsa, plus a few extra pequins because I like it hot. Some crunchy, bright white onions and a sprinkling of cilantro round everything out.
"There are a lot of components, but none are overly technical or difficult. If you want to scale back on the richness, use venison backstrap in place of ribeye. Do not skip the bone marrow. The one trick to this recipe is timing: Most of it must be cooked and served within an hour or so. I’d expect nothing less for my last taco…"
(And yes, you can make flour tortillas using the Masienda Tortilla Press.)
