Oxtails. Yes, they are tails, typically from a cow. But way back when, they did indeed come from an ox. To get the tender texture that these bony, fatty cuts are known for, cooks braise them in liquid and you want to make sure you give them a long time to cook. It’s not something you commonly see on dinner tables, but in Joe Muench’s family, they were a real special thing. It was the ’80s – all rotary dial phones, linoleum flooring and brightly colored kitchens. Muench’s German grandmother, who lived with the family for a stretch of time when her grandson was in his formative years, made oxtail soup several times a year. And while he wasn’t cooking yet, Muench was taking it all in, watching his grandmother doing something that was a natural part of her.

“At my house, growing up, mealtime was always a big deal. That’s certainly carried into [adulthood]. I have five kids and so when they were young, that was very much kind of the way we ate as well. We always had dinner together [and] set the table at night. We didn’t just put paper plates on the counter and walk up and just take food out of the pan that was in the oven,” he says. And going back to that growing up period, oxtails were very warmly received. His mom, a “very good cook,” made them, too. So sharing his recipe for oxtail soup here just made sense. As a nod to his mother, Muench uses alphabet pasta as an accompaniment. She was a “snarky lady,” an avid reader and great lover of Scrabble and her playful sensibility started coming out in that soup. “On a Sunday afternoon, she’d be working all day simmering the oxtails and then started making the soup and by dinnertime she just was serving it with a side of alphabet pasta.”

Naturally, Muench serves his oxtail soup with … alphabet pasta. This is a recipe to lean in to. Let go of any intimidation you might feel about working with oxtails. Muench talks you through each step.