How did I end up here, 2,000 miles away from home eating copious amounts of meat? It wasn't a fluke airline diversion or a last second work request, it was some surf photography, that lead me to Mexico, some $2 al pastor tacos and birria on the side of a road and an unforeseen epiphany. As an adult, I could simply take vacations to eat food, take pictures and write about it. I came here with the auspicious idea of indulging in, arguably, Americas quintessential culinary tradition. This state specifically, with 13% of our nation’s cattle inventory, it should be no surprise that cooking them has spawned a sub-culture and art form all its own. Nothing is more synonymous with summer than the apotheosis of American cooking…BBQ. Born of the south and to this day, dominated by that region, BBQ is everywhere. Up in the Northeast we have the ocean and therefore seafood restaurants. Down South, they have cattle, and with it, incidentally, they have BBQ. There is no shortage of opportunities to feast in this time-honored style of cooking. This land has a proud and storied history of fighting for independence, is the final resting place of such famous Americans as Davy Crocket, Jim Bowie, and William B. Travis. It was once a part of Spain, Mexico, independent, the United States, the Confederacy, and once again the United States. It has seen the rise and fall of presidents and is home to big American oil. Where is this magical land you might ask, well, it all ascends from none other than the great state of Texas.
BBQ was first encountered by Spanish explorers on the island of Hispaniola and landed in America in the early 16th century, in what is now Mississippi. It has evolved with the times, and the meat, starting with pork but later incorporating beef, most notably the famed brisket. Add in some beef ribs, that are literally the size of your forearm, and you’re quickly getting somewhere. While there are certainly regional specialties, recipes, ingredients, and dominance such as ribs in Kansas City, pulled pork in North Carolina, Texas is known for it's cattle, and as such, brisket rules supreme here. The brisket in all its forms, moist, lean, and even the burnt bits have something for everybody and as far as BBQ is concerned, Texas is its home.
While I’ve been enjoying this little adventure for the past few days, eating at such distinguished places as Franklin's, Black's, Salt-Lick, and Snow’s, after the amount of food I have consumed, the best I can do is sit back on a grey overcast Sunday, digest, and write. Staying on the "The Ranch", a beautiful, quiet, 300 acre farm situated in Bastrop, about 30 miles southeast of Austin, the solitude of sitting 1/2 mile from the road, over the hill, and away from everything is entirely welcome. There’s nobody asking me for anything, nobody to respond to, no heavy footsteps of the considerate neighbors above me "quietly" chasing their 2 y/o toddler running around. A recent exchange of messages revealed that they try to respect that I retire to bed at 8:30. They do this by holding, what I can only assume to be, a personal, albeit continuous, rendition of the Kentucky Derby who’s start is signaled by apparently dropping bowling balls on the floor, at about 5:00, and lasting approximately 4.5 hours, on a near nightly basis. How is this related to food or my trip? It’s not!
It just so happens that Austin, and the greater Austin area, is ranked amongst the finest cities in the country for BBQ. This is evident by the hordes of people, seen patiently waiting, en masse, in the noon-time Texas heat, or at 5:30 in the morning, just to get their fill of this orgasmic, taste bud satisfying delight . The only creatures as capable of feasting in this hot and humid environment are the bloodthirsty mosquitos. These are not your average garden variety New Hampshire vampiristic insects though. Having left the cool confines of my car to snap a few photos, a swarm descends on me at noon, on a 90° day, in direct sunlight, something is clearly not right. I quickly retreat back, close the door and realize they’ve all followed me; they are in fact out for blood. Down go the windows while accelerating, anything airborne is quickly sucked out of the vehicle like a Hollywood airplane rapid decompression scene. They say everything is bigger in Texas, the mosquito swarms certainly live up to that.
You may be wondering why anyone would stand in the heat for hours, wake up at 4am, or drive 12 hours to wait in line? Well…saying it’s good is an understatement the size of Texas itself. This isn’t your neighborhood Chick-Fil-A, where speed and efficiency are king, metrics measured in minutes and likely seconds, and an assembly line of workers jettison out sandwiches like photon torpedoes from the Starship Enterprise. No, this slow-cooked, smoked, nirvana and the amount of food that can be properly prepared in a single day is finite…and once it’s gone, that’s it. With BBQ, patience is in fact, a virtue. The 4am wake-ups for me? Nothing new, second nature, a lifetime of training from 2-hour commutes to hiking trailheads, trout streams for fly-fishing, or sunrises photography, no, this is normal. This is the hour you’ll find the seekers, those hardy souls committed to some endeavor, the impassioned, maybe the slightly deranged. People who seek something just outside the fold.
The sweet melodic tune of my alarm rouses me at 4:00am. It’s not a jarring tone, and therefore isn’t the sort of catastrophic shock to my system that alarm clocks produced in the analog days had the tendency of doing. My natural reaction is to the simply get out of bed and peer out the window. Granted dawn is a couple hours off, due to the illuminating porch-light, I can see the telltale sheen, reflections indicating that it has rained, in fact it still is. I briefly entertain the thought of going back to bed, but this is life and sometimes it rains. Why the hesitation? I’m about to, deliberately, go wait in a line, outside, for the several hours. I gulp down a cup of coffee, take a quick shower, have another cup for good measure and get about my business. Sneakers and jeans it is, I place a rain jacket on the couch, grab my camera bag, my folding stool, the handy umbrella next to the door and make my way out. After an hour drive, I arrive at my destination in the dark. Vaguely illuminated by the streetlights, I can see that the line has already formed, it’s 5:30. Still raining. I grab my camera, stool, umbrella…where’s my rain jacket? I later find it patiently waiting on the couch where I wouldn't forget it. My saving grace is the masterful set-up here at Snow's, a large canopy umbrella at each station. Good Karma.
Earlier isn’t necessarily easier, but it’s sure safer. Some establishments have more smokers, higher capacities, and can accommodate the crowds right into the evening. At places like Snow’s, with a fairly sizable capacity, but still only open once a week, the line starts early. Showing up at 5:30am, with the line already formed, I happened to by #58. Though considering their notoriety, probably not a bad deal. If you miss it, well there is no tomorrow, but rather a “better luck next week”. In my case, there’s not a tomorrow, or a next week, it’s a one and done shot. Having been ranked the best BBQ in Texas in 2008 and 2017, the throngs of folks showing up prior to sunrise is impressive and understandably so. This is so much more than just food, it’s an experience, it’s once again a testament to culture and tradition that dates back centuries. The brisket here after cooking through the night pushes all the buttons for me and certainly well worth the 4am wake-up and wait. It's not often that I consume this amount of meat at 8:30 in the morning, but as with most things in life, exceptions and compromises should be made. Brisket & ribs at Snow's certainly fills my breakfast needs, especially after the wait of 3-hours that was incrementally interrupted by the crack of beers openin. As the saying goes, "you can't drink all day if you dont start in the morning." If you're living, and depriving yourself of some of lifes most simple pleasures, like delicious food, in an attempt to stave off the inevitable, I have news for you...you're not. None of us are getting out of this alive. Make no mistake, this isn't "health food", this is food to enjoy for everything that it is. The rendered fat, the salt, this is eating for enjoyment and based on the continuous stream of people, Texas enjoys their food, especially at Snow's.
The food itself, regardless of the location is something to behold and enjoy. Beef ribs at Black's left me feeling like Fred Flintstone gnawing on brontosaurus ribs. For whatever reason, we don't see these in the northeast. These aren't the pork ribs that are the size of fingers, not even close, these are 2lb behemoths the size of my forearm, cocooned in tender, smoked, salt and pepper rubbed meat that freely flakes off the bone and into your mouth. The sumptuous, tender meat vaguely reminded me of corned beef in its texture and ability to be simply deconstructed from the bone with little effort. I quickly ditched the utensils and opted for a more neanderthal approach of simply using my fingers to separate meat and bone. This was messy, but appropriate, and I enjoyed every second of tearing into it. In between chunks of rib meat, I recalled the moist brisket that was also on my plate. It melted in my mouth like butter. I have never had anything like this, there's no substitute for this level of flavor. The smoke, salt, pepper, rendered fat all coalescing into a saporous symphony in my mouth. There is nothing, that I've had, in the northeast that resembles this and while I'm grateful for the opportunity for this trip, I'll be disappointed until I return. Anthony Bourdain once said "Your body is not a temple, it's an amusement park. Enjoy the ride." Regardless of what this may have done to my arteries, this was entirely worth it.
