Fresh approaches take Texas barbecue on beyond “e Trinity” WORDS AND PHOTOS BY FRANCINE SPIERING

nd do you wrap that in a slice of white bread?” plimentary white bread, onions and pickles goes back to the Daniel Vaughn, Texas Monthly’s barbecue editor, (in 1800s, when local meat companies began oering smoked jest) asked Esaul Ramos, owner and pitmaster of 2M meats as part of their business. Rather than put time and eort Smokehouse in San Antonio, in a panel discussion at into making batches of coleslaw and baked beans, they oered “Athe 2019 Foodways Texas symposium. Ramos was talking about these three condiments to encourage people to buy and eat that a sausage he makes (using serrano peppers and Oaxaca cheese) smoked sausage. and the conversation spun about authenticity versus inventiveness, As a European transplant (who grew up with “barbecue” about cooking what you grew up with versus staples in Texas bar- meaning the charcoal grill itself, dusted o on summer days for becue—like white bread. a boatload of kebabs), I didn’t know about a trinity of brisket, “No,” Ramos replied. “I serve that with house-made tortillas.” ribs and sausage—or the tradition of free white bread, onion e Texas tradition of serving smoked meats with com- and pickles with those meats—until I came to Texas. I dove

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EH 23.indd 21 5/23/19 12:13 PM head rst into Houston’s barbecue scene, where creativity and daring As he says it, a big truck thunders past, drowning out his voice. We run alongside traditional trinity. both laugh, and he continues: “It’s that balance between family and Oerings at the Houston BBQ Festival this past April tell all— work that is so hard to get in this line of business.” from Gatlin’s porchetta with Cuban rice and smoked ribeye with In March Elkins became co-owner of Reveille, along with James Chinese ve-spice rub, to El Burro & e Bull’s smoked pork and McFarland, who works in oil and gas, and Michael Michna, U.S. Ma- pineapple pibil tacos, to Southern Q’s smoked Caribbean jerk chicken rine Corps veteran and Houston re ghter. ey showed him how to wings with spicy ranch dressing, to Blood Brothers’ togarashi pulled operate the reverse-ow smoker, and then left him in charge. He is the beef with drunken onions and pickled apple. Still, I also learned that full-time pitmaster now, anked by McFarland and Michna on the in Texas there will always be brisket. at unwieldy tough cut of beef weekends. Kathy, executive chef at Woodforest Grille, joins him when is in and of itself a Texas barbecue tradition, simply seasoned with she can, making pickles, cabbage marmalade or desserts incorporating salt and pepper and smoked for up to 16 hours until tender and juicy seasonal fruits. (although, “simple” is deceptive: It comes down to a very speci c blend “James is a beer nerd and uses the hops and the beer to make of pepper in a range of coarseness—some cracked, some ground—and sausage,” says Elkins. Lone Pint Brewery is just down the road, and kosher salt). McFarland works their IPA into the signature Yellow Rose Sausage. Texas barbecue is all about the smoke, maintaining the wood-fu- Michna is responsible for another of Reveille’s distinctive sausages: an eled re and cooking the meat low and slow. But it means so much all-beef taco sausage made with, among other things, jalapeño, ched- more than a cooking method. dar cheese and cilantro. Barbecue, here, is a reection of the region, a local gastronomy that “ere are a lot of people doing barbecue very well, so what is the is inspired by a pitmaster’s own heritage and—in Houston, at least— next step?” says Elkins. “For me, that is applying the techniques to by rich culinary diversity. It is also about community, brotherhood, dierent products. Playing a