Skip to main content

This San Antonio Restaurant’s Special Menu is 300 Years in the Making

Cured-at-Pearl-Bison-Tartare
Cured at Pearl
Cured at Pearl

It’s not often that a city gets to celebrate a 300th anniversary. Hell, our country has a whole hasn’t even done that yet, which is why it’s something special when a town reaches that mark.

Recommended Videos

This year, San Antonio, Texas will join just a few dozen other spots in the U.S. in celebrating its tricentennial with a yearlong celebration of all that is San Antonian.

Founded as the Mission San Antonio de Valero (you might remember it better as the Alamo) on May 1, 1718, San Antonio became the first chartered civil settlement in Texas in the 1730s. It has slowly grown into the seventh most populated city in the country and the second in Texas.

Cured-at-Pearl-steve-mchugh
Josh Huskin
Josh Huskin

One of the chefs leading the charge is Steve McHugh (pictured right) of Cured at Pearl. This James Beard Award nominee cut his teeth in the restaurants of another tricentennial city, New Orleans, before heading west to San Antonio, where he opened Cured in 2013.While there will be ample educational events and opportunities for San Antonian-themed entertainment throughout the year, one of the things we’re most excited for is the food and drink that will be on display during that same stretch of time. With so much history to draw from, it’s no surprise that chefs around the city are tapping into the San Antonio area’s roots and foodways to present new looks at classic cuisine.

For the 300th anniversary, McHugh says, they wanted to take what they already do at Cured at Pearl — that is, celebrate seasonality, local farmers, and food purveyors — and take it to the next level by incorporating ingredients and dishes that have been around for centuries, but have for one reason or another, fallen by the wayside. McHugh calls these “forgotten ingredients.”

“As a chef, I’m always tinkering and learning and trying to understand my surroundings and the city I live in and understand the foodways that have been here for hundreds of years … even some before the Spanish ever arrived,” he adds.

Cured-at-Pearl-Winter-Squash-and-Pepper-Salad-with-Pecans
Cured at Pearl
Cured at Pearl

As the seasons change, McHugh says, he will be swapping out different native ingredients in dishes and drinks. In January, for example, he highlighted pecans, which traditionally were harvested in winter and stored until later when the protein in the nuts could be used to sustain those in the area.

Another example would be the Three Sisters Chow-Chow, a dish that highlights three main crops used by different Native American groups across the country (winter squash, maize, and climbing beans). Chow-chow itself is a traditional dish that is made of pickled vegetables (the vegetables vary by region) that is well-known in Pennsylvania, New Mexico, and the South, as well as the Maritime Provinces of Canada.

McHugh is excited to work with mesquite, specifically mesquite pods ground into flour.

“In the world of Texas barbecue, people use mesquite to smoke meats. If you ask them, they’ll say it imparts a sweetness to the brisket or the other meats,” he says. “It’s the same with the pods. They’re very sweet and have a caramel-y, coconut-y, graham cracker-y flavor that works really well things like porridge or Blondies.”

Cured-at-Pearl-prickly-pear-punch
Cured at Pearl
Cured at Pearl

A food menu of forgotten ingredients wouldn’t be complete with an accompany drinks menu, and here, too, McHugh has incorporated local ingredients to show off San Antonio’s rich history. Two cocktails, the Prickly Pear Punch and the Royel, both involve items that have been used as staples for centuries. The Prickly Pear Punch, obviously, uses prickly pears (a cactus fruit native to Southern Texas) while the Royel makes the most of mesquite beans (in the form of Wild Rag Mesquite Bean Vodka, which is made a few hours from San Antonio in Sandia, Texas).

The thrill for McHugh, he says, isn’t centered on a particular ingredient. Instead, it’s about showing off the unique cuisine of the region and bringing older foodways back to the forefront of locals’ minds.

“I’m really excited about reintroducing things that people haven’t had or even heard of before. With beautyberries, for example, we’ve had so many people say ‘We didn’t know you could cook them and eat them.’  That’s exciting for me because so many people have these things in their yards and can then look at them in a new light.”

You can find out more about Cured at Pearl (including the mouth-watering, to-die-for meat menu) here and more about San Antonio’s Tricentennial here.

Sam Slaughter
Sam Slaughter was the Food and Drink Editor for The Manual. Born and raised in New Jersey, he’s called the South home for…
What is steak frites? Your new favorite comfort food
How to master the French classic of steak and fries
Steak frites

I've lived in Italy before, which afforded me a quick 2-hour plane ride to Paris in the summers. I'm from the United States, and I don't speak French, so I wasn't exactly familiar with the menu the first time I went to a restaurant in the City of Love. I picked something that looked familiar ... steak frites. I got perfectly seared steak next to a golden mound of crispy fries; it felt familiar and comforting.

So, what is steak frites? It’s one of the simplest, most iconic dishes in French cuisine. A bistro classic, it's exactly what it sounds like: steak and fries. But don't let its simplicity fool you — when done right, it delivers big flavor with minimal fuss.

Read more
Purity Coffee unveils Brazilian cold brew for home brewing
A new clean coffee blend designed specific for cold brewing
Purity Coffee Cold Brew

Health-focused coffee company, Purity Coffee, has just released its latest innovation: Cold Brew. The new Cold Brew is a single-origin Brazilian coffee, specially crafted for cold brewing at home. Purity Coffee is known for its high-end, mold-free coffee—this blend, which uses beans rich in antioxidants and prebiotic compounds. The latest cold brew blend is designed explicitly with gut health in mind, setting a new standard in health-conscious coffee. Available in whole bean or ground coffee, the new Purity Coffee Cold Brew blend is a medium-roast coffee with tasting notes of cocoa nibs and peanut butter.

The Purity Coffee Cold Brew, now available online, can be easily used with any of your favorite at-home cold brew methods. Just steep for at least 6 to 7 hours to ensure maximum flavor extraction, as well as the extraction of caffeine and antioxidants. This coffee blend, along with all products by Purity Coffee, undergoes rigorous third-party testing for mycotoxins, impurities, and other contaminants, leading to the best-tasting cup of coffee. As health-conscious coffee consumption continues to rise, coffee drinkers are increasingly paying attention to potential toxins and mold that can be present in their coffee. As a regular cold brew drinker, I'm especially excited about this new release by Purity Coffee.

Read more
How to make a dairy-free Grasshopper cocktail like a pro
How to make a classic cocktail with a twist
The Mommy Grasshopper.

So many great cocktails, so little time. This week, we thought we'd get a fresh take on a classic cocktail recipe. Naturally, we reached out to those who know them best, aka pro bartenders.

The Mothership is a great bar in Milwaukee. The place resides in the Bay View neighborhood and mixes up some top-shelf drinks. And they were nice enough to offer a fresh take on The Grasshopper, the cocktail that's done everything from feature in timeless bar jokes to shows starring Kristen Wiig.

Read more