Elizabeth S.D. Engelhardt

A thought-provoking anthology that has more hits than misses. The editors' potluck (their term) combines interviews with barbecue producers with essays that attempt to take broader views of society, history and culture; as a lifelong Yankee I'm not familiar with central Texas and this book did provide a more complete (and complicated) picture of the barbecue scene than the myths provide. Unfortunately the historical-sociological essays sometimes repeat stories or claims that were found a few pages earlier, as if the editors thought no one would read the book straight through or wouldn't remember quotes from one page to the next. (It's also a shame that one of the personal essays is more about the author's outsider angst than anything else.) The detours into barbecue-related film references, song titles, etc. are silly but entertaining. All one needs is a plate of brisket to go with the book!… (meer)

I got this book thinking it would be amusing. Instead I find the author has collected hundreds of outstanding stories of a simple way of life in which the vast majority of the barbecue place owners have followed. The stories are full of determination to produce high quality food, with side dishes from scratch while keeping prices low so the average town resident can eat there anytime. The work ethic involves a lot of working with the hands, starting at 4AM every day and in some areas such as Austin, staying open until very late at night. In the accompanying photos which are mostly of the people making the bbq and readying the pits, cutting wood, building the pits and so on, you can readily see the simple rural life. There are no smartphones, no high-tech food processors. There is a lot of attention to preparing the side dishes, potato salad and beans from scratch, just like the meat.

This is not a book of recipes, but a travel through rural Texas and its way of life and the work ethic of its people. It belongs with Texas culture books, not with food books. On rural Texas culture and that work ethic, it is one of the best I have read.… (meer)