Althouse: Serious Texas BBQ.

August 8, 2009

Serious Texas BBQ.

It's a restaurant in Durango, Colorado: Serious Texas BBQ.

41 comments:

Lem Vibe Bandit said...: there.; 8/8/09, 10:57 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: In light of this post I will start fresh.; 8/8/09, 11:03 PM
traditionalguy said...: Do PETA and Chick-fil-a know what people in Durango do to innocent cows? No end of life counseling for Chuck and Angus, no species apologies, no last wishes granted before mobs of voracious Durangans strike out and kill and strip their meat off their bones to devour them for a few moments of protein pleasure. My kind of people out there.; 8/8/09, 11:07 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Althouse is all you need.; 8/8/09, 11:08 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: ..the question is are you going to get what you need after Obamacare comes into effect?; 8/8/09, 11:14 PM
Michael Haz said...: I believe that there is a place on this earth for all of God's creatures.

On the plate, next to the mashed potatoes.; 8/8/09, 11:15 PM
Albatross said...: Did they have brisket? It ain't really serious Texas BBQ unless they got brisket.; 8/8/09, 11:18 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Goodbye to John Hughes

Pretty in pink; 8/8/09, 11:22 PM
Unknown said...: WOW! Ann, are you in Durango? I read your blog all the time, I live up by Durango Mountain Resort 30 minutes north of Durango.; 8/8/09, 11:28 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Rielle Hunter is going to take time.; 8/8/09, 11:29 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I think I have him, not Rielle Hunter.

I cant.. a woman and her baby? common!; 8/8/09, 11:31 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Baby.Come.Back.

It was a long hard fought campaign your honor..; 8/8/09, 11:38 PM
BJM said...: *Drool*

You're killing me here, it's late and I'm hungry. Is anything better than than BBQ-d pig meat? I think not.

I assume you ditched the bread, cuz it ain't real Texas BBQ unless a couple of slices of fluffy white sandwich bread is slapped on top of the serving.; 8/9/09, 1:32 AM
Mark D. said...: Those look like pork ribs...Isn't real Texas BBQ always beef???; 8/9/09, 1:47 AM
Kev said...: I thought maybe you'd made it to Texas already until I read the last caption. I was going to have to see what route you were taking, so I could find out if you were passing close to me.

It's funny how many restaurants outside of Texas have "Texas" in the name; I also saw one of the first "Texas Road House" restaurants in Colorado long before I saw one here in Texas.; 8/9/09, 1:54 AM
The Dude said...: There is no beef in barbeque. Chicken, either.; 8/9/09, 7:14 AM
Paco Wové said...: Serious Texas

In Colorado? Them sounds like fightin' words.; 8/9/09, 7:42 AM
traditionalguy said...: Do you mean to tell me that Texas Barbeque is now only that plain ole hotsauce flavored pig meat? That is a sure sign of the end of the world as we know it. Suddenly Obama's offering of end of life counseling "for free" seems to make more sense. What is there left to live for? The Death Panel counselors will probably offer grandmaw all the free pig meat she can eat if she agrees to eat it. Pork sushi could become the new Pill to balance the budget; 8/9/09, 7:58 AM
knox said...: You guys should check roadfood.com or the diners, drive-ins and dives site for yummy places to stop on your road trip.; 8/9/09, 8:10 AM
knox said...: Mark, I had the same question. I've always wanted to try real Texas brisket BBQ.; 8/9/09, 8:11 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: BBQ outside of the South is generally bad. I'm not saying this particular BBQ was bad, only that most is.

We got some on a trip from Seattle to Chicago... BLEH!; 8/9/09, 8:25 AM
Leland said...: If that is a Serious Texas BBQ, what beer are you drinking?; 8/9/09, 8:27 AM
bearbee said...: There is no beef in barbeque. Chicken, either.

As a committed vegetarian, supporter of PETA, HSUS and other animal causes, I was curious about traditional Texas BBQ.

According to Texas pit bosses the tradition is a wide and varied:

It includes plenty of recipes, but the best part is the fascinating lore about the history and folkways of Texas barbecue. The cliche about Texas barbecue is that it's about beef - open pit mesquite barbecue. Actually, Texas barbecue is a mixture of Southern, Midwestern and Southwestern elements.

So in east Texas, people make classic Southern pork barbecue, in the west, there's a lot of Mexican goat or cow head barbacoa, and this tradition has spread beyond the Latino population. As Walsh says, no matter how much cowboys like beef, it wasn't worth slaughtering a cow for a meal, but a single goat was about enough to feed four or five cowboys.

In the center of the state, there's a sizable colony of Germans and Czechs, who follow their own European tradition of smoking pork, though sometimes in Texanized form. The famous Elgin sausage (the "gin" pronounced as in "begin," not as in the liquor) is basically a smoked German garlic sausage with extra red pepper.

This has given a unique spin to Texas barbecue. The German and Czech places were originally markets that only sold their barbecue out their back doors. The reason was that their barbecue customers were migrant cotton pickers who went to the shops for something to eat because regular restaurants wouldn't serve them (or, to put it another way, because the cotton pickers wouldn't have to take off their dirty coveralls and dress up if they were just eating a handful of barbecue behind a butcher shop).; 8/9/09, 8:45 AM
Ralph L said...: This place is on the main drag south of downtown, right? We were going to eat there last year, but it was too crowded and we were hungry.

BBQ outside of the South is generally bad
BBQ to the west of Guilford County is generally bad. Tomato-based sauce! Yuk!

Twice a year, my employers' church makes the best I've had, several thousand servings in one day. The head cook drinks a six-pack before seasoning the pig shoulders. Dutch courage, except they're German.

A common mistake around here is to put pepper and vinegar in the slaw, too. There's enough in the meat--the slaw needs to contrast and counteract it.; 8/9/09, 9:27 AM
The Dude said...: If Guilford county is the point where tomato based sauce takes over, then you are correct. I might move the dividing line a county or two to the east, but that's just me.; 8/9/09, 9:31 AM
Ralph L said...: Tradguy, I don't think Chick-fil-A has reached the midwest yet, so they don't know about Eat Mor Chikin. There's one in Fredricksburg, VA, but I don't believe they've penetrated the DC area.; 8/9/09, 9:31 AM
Ralph L said...: Guilford is where the two schools meet. Some is tomato, some ain't. I've never seen the red stuff here in Alamance.; 8/9/09, 9:40 AM
somefeller said...: "It's a restaurant in Durango, Colorado: Serious Texas BBQ."

Makes sense, since Colorado is basically one of our colonies. That meat doesn't look like any kind of brisket I've ever seen, though.; 8/9/09, 9:52 AM
Big Mike said...: I used to make business trips to San Antonio and El Paso, and I've been to a couple conferences in Austin. Consequently I can barely stand what passes for BBQ around here. I wish you hadn't posted this -- I'm already getting hungry and I just ate brunch.; 8/9/09, 10:18 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "WOW! Ann, are you in Durango? I read your blog all the time, I live up by Durango Mountain Resort 30 minutes north of Durango."

LOL. We're staying at the Durango Mountain Resort. Maybe you are in the condo next door!; 8/9/09, 10:23 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I'll go stand on the balcony and wave. See if you see me.; 8/9/09, 10:23 AM
Ann Althouse said...: This is Purgatory.; 8/9/09, 10:24 AM
Ralph L said...: Feels more like Hell around here.; 8/9/09, 10:26 AM
The Dude said...: Sure, it's warm, but it is August in NC, right?; 8/9/09, 10:31 AM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/9/09, 11:15 AM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: This is hilarious watching Durango on a blog I read every day. That's a block away from my house.; 8/9/09, 11:16 AM
Unknown said...: "LOL. We're staying at the Durango Mountain Resort. Maybe you are in the condo next door!"

WOW x MILLION!! Too cool! I live in a neighborhood about 2 miles south of where you are staying then (right by the Castle Rock cliff)
Amazing, I was fly-fishing Purgatory Creek yesterday, which runs not far from the Condos where you are staying. Maybe you saw me, I was wearing a Palin 2012 t-shirt...LOL; 8/9/09, 11:37 AM
The Drill SGT said...: It may be great, but I agree with Mark:

that can't be serious Texas BBQ. It looks like Pork, rather than honest Texas Beef Brisket.

Whoever peddled that lie wasn't a Texican.

PS: I like Pork BBQ, for the record; 8/9/09, 3:17 PM
J. Cricket said...: I love the way that guy is shielding himself from the invasive, impolite camera gaze by the Queen of Rudeness.; 8/9/09, 4:15 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "If that is a Serious Texas BBQ, what beer are you drinking?"

Lone Star!; 8/9/09, 9:05 PM
Dave TN said...: "Lone Star!"

For the love of Pete, please switch to Shiner Bock.

As a former Texas transplant (not a real Texan), I can back up the other opinions that Texas BBQ must be beef - no pork! I'm a vegetarian, so it doesn't really matter to me. My wife and I will be eating some BBQ Seitan later this week. Yum!; 8/10/09, 10:54 AM