I've lived in Texas long enough to know that barbecue is not what you do in your backyard, that's grilling. Real Texas barbecue is cooked over a (preferably ancient) pit, long and slow. It's beef brisket, but there is room on the pit for chicken, sausage (hot links), and ribs.
People get in fights over what's the best bbq in Texas, but road trips to Lockhart and Llano and Taylor are sacred pilgrimages for a Texas foodie. There's nothing better than pointing to your meat and having the pit master slice it off right there and hand it to you on a piece of butcher paper. You pay by the pound and often the sides are an afterthought. Why would you clutter up your stomach with marginal potato salad or coleslaw when you can fill it up with meat nirvana?
Many pit afficionados forego sauce, seeing no need to cover up the perfectly-smoked meat. But I have to admit I am addicted to good sauce. Any good sauce. I like it Texas smoky, Kansas City spicy and South Carolina mustardy. But I love, love, love the North Carolina-style vinegar sauce.
Why else would I have slow cooked pulled pork today (besides the fact that you can cook a cheapo-cut of pork shoulder and eat on it for days)? Most Texas folks don't think pork measures up and doesn't even deserve to be called barbecue. So, here's my little secret. I make pulled pork just so I can make a batch of that delicious, scrumptious North Carolina vinegar sauce. I make it with the pan drippings, vinegar, some spices, pepper, a touch of hot sauce and a little ketchup. And although the smell when you get that vinegar going is a bit, uh, cough-inducing, the payoff is worth it.
Just between us, I'll even admit to putting (lots of) extra sauce on my plate just so I have to sop it up with some more bread.
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1 comment:
Ummmm, BBQ... we had BBQ from Rudy's in Austin last night - brisket, ribs, and chickem - yum!
-D
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