Meat mountains in Texas
“Why Texas?” The question went again and again when talking about summer holiday plans. The choice of Texas over many of USA’s metropolises seemed odd to many. To me, the choice was obvious as we were going BBQ hunting.
Texans sure take their meat seriously! Most places there would be 3-4 types of meat on offer, sausage, brisket, ribs. The meat was typically bought by the pound and came with coleslaw and pickles on the side. There seemed to be various approaches on how to handle the BBQ sauce itself. In some places the sauce was drizzled over the meat when handed over the counter, others encouraged us to dip the meat into the sauce and served it on the side. In most places there was free flow of bbq sauce.
Here’s a small recap of the places we visited:
Our first encounter with the Texan BBQ culture was South Side Market in Elgin. We were so excited finally to be in a real BBQ joint. It was my first time ever to try brisket. I found it surprisingly tender. We were off to a great start.
The Salt Lick is probably the most exposed BBQ place in Texas due to their apperance on a tv show a couple of years ago. You could really tell the place was geared to accommodate a lot of guests. The parking lot was huge and there were signs leading you to BBQ heaven.
Smoke filled the nostrils as we entered the restaurant. Loads and loads of meat was bbqing – mouth-watering!
The first time we actually saw the pits was at Cooper’s BBQ. You’d choose the meat before entering the restaurant.
We were at Black’s as soon as they opened. Meat makes an excellent breakfast.
It was so unbelievably hot at the pits. Temperature outside was around 40c – inside it was even hotter. I couldn’t believe the men working the pits weren’t melting away.
Before ordering we had a peak into each pit to see what looked good.
Our last BBQ stop was City Market in Luling. We orded some brisket and a couple of sausage rings.
We thoroughly enjoyed our BBQ-adventure. I lost count on how many pounds of meat we consumed during our trip, but I do know that every bite was tasty and tender. I am sure many BBQ-connaisseurs will argue that one place is better than the other. Being such a BBQ-rookie I wouldn’t be able to give a fair rating.
Eating alongside the Texans gave me a sense of being allowed a glimpse of proud Texan history as well as everyday life. For me it was a great privilege.
Visited: August 2011
Estimated price: We rarely paid more than 20 USD per person
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