Spicy Birria Tacos for a Hot Summer Evening

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We’re tempted by cold foods on these hot days, but that’s actually not the best idea. Not to be a spoilsport – and nobody loves ice cream as much as I do – but if you really want to cool off, you might want to rethink those frozen treats. In fact, cold foods decrease your internal temperature almost immediately, which triggers your system to increase your body temperature. On the other hand, eating spicy foods containing capsaicin tells your nervous system to perspire and flush. The more spicy food you eat, the more you sweat from your head, which is your body’s main heat regulator. And it’s the sweat that cools you down as it evaporates.

When it comes to spicy, just ask chef Athena Sterig. She brought her birria Gordita tacos to the Brewery Sylvaticus in Amesbury, Mass. on a recent hot Friday night, and after consuming her tasty offerings, I really did feel cooler – and also well satisfied by these delicious treats.

Athena, who grew up in southern California, told me that her family was a melting pot of nationalities. It was her grandmother who was most known for her cooking. According to family lore, “If she were mixing, the flavor from her hand would make things better.” But her grandmother passed away when Athena was young, so it was her mother who passed along her knowledge in the kitchen. When living in San Diego near the Mexican border, Athena tried tacos sold by a woman operating a pushcart that Athena thought were the best thing she had ever eaten. She experimented and taught herself to make them. After she married, she and her husband moved to Massachusetts to be on their own. It was there that she offered some of her tacos to a neighbor who owned a pizza restaurant, and the neighbor suggested that Athena sell them. That’s how her Birria Gordito business began.

Though she saved money from a foodservice job to go to culinary school, the pandemic ruined that idea. Once food purveyors were able to open up again, Athena began selling her tacos. When someone mentioned that she should set up and sell at breweries, she jumped at the suggestion. Since then, she has made appearances at local breweries and distilleries. Lacking a deep-pocketed investor, she and her husband have bootstrapped her business, which has limited her options. She currently brings a six-foot table that serves as the cooktop for an electric griddle. If she were able, she’d buy a trailer or a food truck. And she’d expand her menu beyond just tacos to Mexican street corn, birria nachos, burritos, and churros.

How to make a birria Gordita taco

But for now, she’s selling mostly tacos. Athena marinates chuck and beef shank as long as possible – at least overnight – in a concoction that includes 10 different chilies. Then she roasts the meat low and slow in the oven. When done, she allows the birria to cool, skims the chili oil from the top to use in frying tortillas, tears apart the beef, then returns it to the liquid. It’s a pot of this mixture that she brings to local events to complete her tacos.

Once she’s set up at a location, Athena begins the process by frying corn tortillas in some of that hot chili oil. She flips them over, and on one half of the tortilla, spoons a generous portion of her birria, sprinkles on a handful of chopped onions and cheese, then closes over the other half. She fries the tortilla on both sides till the filling is hot and the cheese has melted. She serves them with chopped cilantro and a small cup of birria liquid to dip your taco in before that delectable bite.

If you’re anywhere nearby, it’s well worth the trip. She’s a great conversationalist while preparing your meal. And those tacos go down well with those brewery suds. Or maybe try making some birria Gordita tacos yourself! If you’d like to check out Athena’s next appearance, go to her Instagram account @birriagorditatacos.

On these hot days, what do you like to eat? Do you like spicy foods?

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