The subject of oxtails came up on The Food Show (airs 2-4pm weekdays on WGSO 990AM) recently and I marveled at the escalating price of this once-ignored commodity. I wondered if oxtails would become the new short ribs, a once-dissed part of the cow now coveted by chefs and home cooks alike.
While I don’t remember when that transition occurred, I knew it had happened by the time Katrina arrived nearly twenty years ago. The new school that our daughter was temporarily attending in DC was having a potluck welcome party for parents. I brought short ribs and hashbrowns. The dish was enormously expensive because I hadn’t checked the prices of short ribs for a while. They came out great and were a big hit, but the main takeaway for me was that short ribs had somehow arrived on the gourmet list.
That is where they have remained, getting more and more expensive. And now is the moment for oxtails. Same trajectory. I remember helping Tom with the stock for his 5 Onion and Pepper Soup (see recipes) many years ago. It started with oxtails. I didn’t like the name, and I didn’t like the look, which suggested a big blade went right across the tail, leaving the bone in the center.
But every time the boiling was done, the clumps of braised tender meat surrounding the bone were significant. And appealing. I nibbled on these. As a person who loves braised beef, these little nuggets were superb. I began to look forward to the task of making stock so that I could eat the detritus, which I would rebrand to myself as spoils.
And now oxtails occasionally pop up on menus, and I expect to see them following short ribs into the top tier of braised beef morsels. They don’t have the fat that short ribs have, which in my mind makes them marginally less desirable. But I’ll never pass on a chance to eat oxtails.
While posting on IG recently, I noticed that Oak Oven Restaurant was offering oxtail specials. This little Harahan gem is an Italian favorite of ours, so I knew they would elevate oxtails far beyond the humble service of stock meat.
We noticed a few changes since we last visited Oak Oven. One is a hideous mural on the outside of the building that everyone is required to see since it is in the parking lot by the front door. Even if you choose to park on the other side you still have to drive past it. A tall fence separates the restaurant parking lot from the school next door. The other is an empty space in what used to be outdoor dining.
We sat inside on one of the wooden benches with unupholstered banquettes that surround the exterior walls. The large blackboard of daily specials offered two oxtail preparations: one was a pizza and the other a “sandwich” which amounted to the same oxtail mixture inside a folded pizza crust. Both contained Jerk seasoning, though the latter included it in a Balsamic salad dressing for Romaine lettuce. I went with the pizza.
The specials board also offered a seafood gumbo, which I wouldn’t have expected here. Oak Oven has a fall soup that is on my list of all-time favorites. The butternut squash soup had some crabmeat tossed in at the end, and the soup was obscenely luscious. That was not on the board today so I tried the gumbo.
Tom ordered the Gulf fish of the day with a crabmeat preparation. And for fun, I asked to include a kid’s meatball and spaghetti. In the meantime, we munched on some housemade focaccia that was soft, warm, and herbal with a decadent olive oil and pepper dipping sauce with some tomato notes. Not in the same tier as the housemade focaccia at the Pelican Club, but closer to that than anyone else.
The gumbo arrived and I was immediately struck by the very generous amount of shrimp and gigantic lump crab meat. This little cup was densely filled with “stuff”: rice, seafood, and herbs. It packed a wallop of flavor, firing on the sensors with all cylinders. It was very good, and Tom swooned over it.
Next came the meatball and spaghetti, which was a fine portion. Exactly what I wanted. The sauce was integrated Pomodoro-style like the Italians but not the Americans do it, and the meatball was roasted in the oven before adding it. I liked the size and slight crust of this meatball and inside was the perfect texture. The sauce had a tinge of sweetness that I don’t remember from previous visits. This hit the spot.
Our entrees came and Tom dove into his gorgeous pile of Provençal-style fish. Here was a mound of angel hair pasta tossed in a Sicilian pesto and topped with a large slab of pan-seared Drum in a sauce of tomatoes, herbs, garlic, and mushrooms. This was as sensational in taste as in looks.
The oxtail pizza was not especially impressive visually. A typically gorgeous Neapolitan crust with the charred bubbles was completely filled with a blanket of Mozzarella, Alfredo Sauce, Jerk Sauce integrated into this somehow, scallions, and a drizzle of housemade Freno Hot Sauce. Peaking out from this blanket were bits of the braised oxtail. I wasn’t all that interested in eating it, but it was why we came. I took a bite and then wanted the entire thing. This was so delicious I had to call the waitress and have her take it to keep me from doing just that. Now that it is home I will have to try to control myself, doubting my prospects of success.
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Tom consumed his entire plate of food, so dessert was out of the question. But I do love the housemade gelato selections here, which change daily.
While we were there I asked about the outside space and was assured it was empty only because the unique tables were being refinished. And I asked about the brief tenure of the second location in Mandeville. They gave it up after COVID because they got tired of waiting for the labor market to improve. Too bad. I would love to have an Oak Oven Restaurant closer to us than Harahan.
