Snow’s brisket is famous. It comes with the somewhat dubious Calvin Trillin seal of approval. Ever since Texas Monthly rated Snow’s the best barbecue joint in Texas, I have felt it my duty to join the crowd and make a pilgrimage to the hamlet of Lexington. Yesterday, I got lucky–I scored a sample [...]]]> Snow’s brisket is famous. It comes with the somewhat dubious Calvin Trillin seal of approval. Ever since Texas Monthly rated Snow’s the best barbecue joint in Texas, I have felt it my duty to join the crowd and make a pilgrimage to the hamlet of Lexington. Yesterday, I got lucky–I scored a sample of their brisket at the Texas Monthly Barbecue Festival without a pre-dawn drive in the country.


But I was called out in public for not sampling Snow’s until now: “What took so long, Robb?” asked @BarbecueSnob Daniel Vaughn via twitter.

Back in 2008, I explained my recalcitrance and questioned Calvin Trillin’s judgement at length in a post on the Houston Press blog. To sum it up–Snow’s is only open briefly on Saturday mornings. To insure a place in line, I have been told I need to be there by 8 am. The joint is better than two hours from my house in Houston, so that means getting up on Saturday morning at five something to go stand in line for brisket. Not an appealing prospect, especially when you have a wife and kids with their own Saturday morning agendas. And then there are the doubts. My inner curmudgeon finds something a little suspect about a barbecue joint that is open so seldom. “Anybody can make great barbecue for a few hours on Saturday morning,” Rick Schmidt at Kruez Market scoffs.

But I gave Snow’s brisket a fair chance. And to be honest, it wasn’t nearly as good as Franklin’s brisket which was being sliced a few booths away. Apparently, my opinion was shared by the rest of the crowd who voted for the “People’s Choice Awards.” Franklin’s won the Best Brisket category. And Franklin’s is actually open at lunch time. Kudos to the Texas Monthly Barbecue Festival for providing a chance to finally compare the two famous briskets side by side.

A new feature of the Texas Monthly Barbecue Festival this year was The Barbecue Genius Counter, staffed by students and professors from the Texas A&M Animal Sciences Department Meat Science Center. At last, an opportunity for barbecue fanatics to find answers to such burning questions as: What is a tri-tip and how do you cook it? And: Where can I find an 80 pound whole pig for my barbecue pit?

The Barbecue Genius Corner was also answering questions about Foodways Texas BBQ Summer Camp which be held again next June at the Texas A&M Meat Science Center in College Station. The event is limited to 50 students and is sure to sell out. Your best bet to get a ticket is to become a member of Foodways Texas right away since Foodways Texas members will get advance word when tickets go on sale.

From Foodways Texas: This Houston Chronicle story by Greg Morago about our 1st Annual Barbecue Summer Camp brings back tasty memories. Stay tuned for details on our 2nd Annual Barbecue Summer Camp planned for Summer 2012 in College Station. We expect the 2012 camp to sell out, so become a member of Foodways Texas [...]]]> From Foodways Texas: This Houston Chronicle story by Greg Morago about our 1st Annual Barbecue Summer Camp brings back tasty memories. Stay tuned for details on our 2nd Annual Barbecue Summer Camp planned for Summer 2012 in College Station. We expect the 2012 camp to sell out, so become a member of Foodways Texas for 10% off registration and to make sure you get first chance to purchase tickets. We had a blast at Texas A&M this year and can’t wait for next summer. Hope to see you there.

Greg’s story after the jump:

Camp ‘Cue

By GREG MORAGO Copyright 2011 Houston Chronicle

June 28, 2011, 3:50PM

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GREG MORAGO PHOTOS : CHRONICLE A beef brisket is in the smoker at Foodways Texas and Texas A&M’s barbecue summer camp.

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The first thing we taste at barbecue summer camp is defeat.

But if you’re going to get a sobering barbecue reckoning it might as well come in the form of the smoke-burnished brisket at Martin’s Barbecue in Bryan. It is here — the first stop in a three-day immersion into meat and smoke that I signed up for at Texas A&M – that my fellow campers and I realize (as we fill our mouths full of glistening ribs, brisket and chicken) that as amateur barbecuers we’ll never equal the skill of a Martin’s or iconic pits such as Louie Mueller, Snow’s, Southside Market, Smitty’s, Kreuz or City Market. It’s rather cruel, this first lesson; akin to rolling in a Lamborghini to freshman auto mechanics class.

But deliciously humbling. We come to this camp – an experimental first collaboration between Foodways Texas, a year-old organization designed to promote the food culture of Texas, and A&M’s Meat Science Department – to better understand the mechanics of barbecue. We are a diverse group that includes a software developer, attorney, real estate appraiser, CPA, oil and gas man, teacher, construction worker and salesman, to name a few of the professions that make up our meat-loving student body. The class of this inaugural Barbecue Summer Camp consists of about 40 men and one brave woman who possess varying degrees of barbecue skill ranging from none (that would be me) to plenty (intense enthusiasts including some on barbecue teams).

But we all share one thing in common: passion and respect for meat that’s been made long, languorous love to by hot, heavy smoke. We wanted to understand how to take protein from hanging on the hook to falling off the bone. We hungered to understand barbecue. And to eat it.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/food/7630629.html#ixzz1QhxdMddC

Dr. Jeff Savell, the head of the Meat Science program at Texas A&M, led the whole hog demonstration at the first annual Foodways Texas BBQ Summer Camp last weekend. In fact, the pit was located in Dr. Savell’s backyard. The three day crash course in barbecue arts and science included some thoughts about [...]]]>
Dr. Jeff Savell, the head of the Meat Science program at Texas A&M, led the whole hog demonstration at the first annual Foodways Texas BBQ Summer Camp last weekend. In fact, the pit was located in Dr. Savell’s backyard. The three day crash course in barbecue arts and science included some thoughts about BBQ culture from me, a sneak preview of a new Foodways Texas movie about pit master Vencil Mares of Taylor Cafe, and a whole lot of hands-on seasoning, smoking and work in the meat science lab.

Dr. Davey Griffin’s anatomy lectures featuring a step by step breakdown of a whole side of beef and a whole hog were among the most popular parts of the program. Dr. Christine Alvardo’s talk on brining, marinating, injecting and tumbling was also well received–as was her half day presentation on poultry. Dr. “Nick” Nickerson offered a chemical comparison of smoke from various hardwoods that was the first presentation of its kind.
The involvement of Texas A&M Meat Science professors made the Foodways Texas BBQ Summer Camp a much more sophisticated learning experience than your typical barbecue cooking class. But we still spent a lot of quality time cooking, carving and eating barbecued brisket.

Additional catering was provided by Goode Company Barbecue of Houston and Southside Market out of Elgin. Third generation barbecueman Bryan Bracewell from Southside Market was on hand all weekend to help answer questions. Next year’s Foodways Texas BBQ Summer Camp is already being planned.

In the cookbook published years ago by Antoine’s restaurant of New Orleans, the author claims that when the dish known as Oysters Rockefeller was first invented, the French chef was actually looking for a substitute for escargot. Had that chef looked a little harder, he might have found a much closer cousin to [...]]]>

In the cookbook published years ago by Antoine’s restaurant of New Orleans, the author claims that when the dish known as Oysters Rockefeller was first invented, the French chef was actually looking for a substitute for escargot. Had that chef looked a little harder, he might have found a much closer cousin to the European snail.

In a recent post titled Bycatch of the Day: Texas Whelks,we wrote about the oyster-eating sea snails variously known as oyster drills, biganos and whelks. As mentioned, Chris Shepherd served these at the Foodways Texas symposium lunch in Galveston simmered in a spicy crawfish boil. We loved the flavor–but craved a little garlic butter.

Tommy Tollet at Tommy’s Steaks and Oyster Bar in Clear Lake took that idea to it’s logical end. After simmering Texas whelks until tender, he dressed them up like escargot. Each whelk gets wrapped in a spinach leaf and broiled in garlic butter with a topping of parmesan in one of those cute little escargot dishes. The result is amazing. The whelks have a little more flavor and chewier texture than the snails–I ate mine with garlic toast and single malt Scotch.

Tommy’s Steaks and Oyster Bar is considering putting Texas whelks on the menu. Reef and several other Houston restaurants also feature them as specials.

At the Foodways Texas Gulf symposium P.J. Stoops spoke at a bycatch panel. He explained that somebody is interested in eating nearly everything caught in a fishing boat. For lunch, Chris Shepherd demonstrated the point by serving the sea snails variously known as “oyster drills, biganos,” or “whelks.” Shepherd boiled these in crawfish [...]]]>

At the Foodways Texas Gulf symposium P.J. Stoops spoke at a bycatch panel. He explained that somebody is interested in eating nearly everything caught in a fishing boat. For lunch, Chris Shepherd demonstrated the point by serving the sea snails variously known as “oyster drills, biganos,” or “whelks.” Shepherd boiled these in crawfish boil for an hour and a half. They were nice and tender with a flavor not all that different from escargot. I would have liked them in garlic butter sauce–but I applaud Shepherd for allowing us to taste them unadorned first. To eat them, you pull the sea snail out of the shell with a nail and then peel off the tough foot.

Oystermen find these in their dredges quite often. They are known as “oyster drills” because they bore into the shells of oysters and suck out the oyster meat. The oystermen used to throw them in the parking lot to kill them–they were delighted to find out that chefs were willing to pay for them. I have had these in France on fruit de mers platters and in the Virgin Islands where they are called whelks. In the Virgin Islands they quick cook them in a pressure cooker, then slice them thin and sautee them in a little garlic butter–the same way they serve conch.

The panel titled: “The Strangest Thing in the Nets: Bycatch, ‘Trashfish,’ and Gulf Sustainability,” was moderated by food writer Jenny Wang with panelists Bryan Caswell of Reef, Jesse Griffiths of Dai Due Supper Club, and P. J. Stoops of Louisiana Foods weighing in on the impact of current fishing practices in the Gulf of Mexico.

“Many don’t realize that the Gulf of Mexico is the second most productive fishery in the world,” said P. J. Stoops “However, unless we increase awareness and change our harvesting methods, access to seafood options we enjoy today will be drastically reduced in as few as 5 to 10 years.”

At the time of the Civil War, oysters from Pepper Grove Reef in East Galveston Bay were very popular in oyster bars. So were the oysters from Lady’s Pass and several other spots. Galveston Bay oysters were always identified by place name back in the late 1800s.

As promised in Greg Morago’s [...]]]>
At the time of the Civil War, oysters from Pepper Grove Reef in East Galveston Bay were very popular in oyster bars. So were the oysters from Lady’s Pass and several other spots. Galveston Bay oysters were always identified by place name back in the late 1800s.

As promised in Greg Morago’s story in last Sunday’s Chron, those oyster place names were revived on Saturday. At a festive dinner at Gaido’s, attendees of the Foodways Texas “Gulf Gathering,” the organization’s first annual symposium, got a chance to participate in an historic oyster tasting. Oysters from the famous old Galveston Bay oyster appellations were carefully harvested, shucked and displayed with their place names. The new Galveston oyster bar probably looks exactly like the Galveston oyster bars of the 1880s.

A Gulf Oyster Bar Photo by Jody Horton

Some of the Gulf’s top oyster producers were present at the dinner. Many thanks to Tracy Woody from Jeri’s Seafood, the Halilli family at Prestige Oysters, and Misho Ivic from Misho’s Oyster Company for donating the Texas oysters. And thanks to Bill Walton of Auburn University’s Shellfish Lab, and John Tesvich from Ameripure Oysters in Louisiana from bringing us some oysters from the other Gulf States.

The Oystermen's Table

Lisa Halilli samples the oysters Photo by Jody Horton

The assembled tasters talked about differences in “saltiness, sweetness, and creaminess” Some oysters were judged too small, some too big. Everybody had a favorite, but there wasn’t any one oyster that came out a clear winner. The variances in flavor were easy to discern. Even the oyster men who attended the tasting were surprised by how distinct each oyster tasted.

Where do we go from here? Three restaurants have already contacted Jim Gossen at Louisiana Foods to request help in setting up Gulf-appellation oyster bars. I will keep you posted about where you can buy Texas oysters by place name.

Jonathan Savell demonstrates the whisky drinking rituals of the early cowboys at Nick Nickelson’s chuckwagon during the Foodways Texas Charreada on Sunday. The event was a sellout with over 300 people in attendance. There were five chuckwagons and a host of cowboy cooks demonstrating various traditional cooking techniques. Dutch oven sourdough biscuits and [...]]]>

Jonathan Savell demonstrates the whisky drinking rituals of the early cowboys at Nick Nickelson’s chuckwagon during the Foodways Texas Charreada on Sunday. The event was a sellout with over 300 people in attendance. There were five chuckwagons and a host of cowboy cooks demonstrating various traditional cooking techniques. Dutch oven sourdough biscuits and cobblers were available for tasting along with some excellent grilled tenderloin. A mariachi band and two country music groups took turns performing and a host of Fort Worth restaurants put out the spread. Rahr beer was much in evidence.

The event raised money and spread the word about Foodways Texas. For more information, check out the website at FoodwaysTexas.com

Many thanks to Greg Morago for the excellent article “Just Shuck It” in this Sunday’s Houston Chronicle on the subject of branding oysters by place names. And thanks to Brett Coomer for the awesome oyster photos.

The big oyster seminar and historic tasting of Texas oyster appellations are coming up this Saturday February [...]]]>

Many thanks to Greg Morago for the excellent article “Just Shuck It” in this Sunday’s Houston Chronicle on the subject of branding oysters by place names. And thanks to Brett Coomer for the awesome oyster photos.

The big oyster seminar and historic tasting of Texas oyster appellations are coming up this Saturday February 26 at the Foodways Texas “Gulf Gathering.” Check out the complete symposium schedule and buy your ticket now at FoodwaysTexas.com

For many years, Texas oysters have been sold as a commodity product–all of them dumped into the same shucker’s pile as it were.

Meanwhile, oysters from the Pacific Northwest, Cape Cod and Canada (as well as England and France) are marketed by place names. Northern oyster bars like Grand Central Oyster Bar offer consumers [...]]]> For many years, Texas oysters have been sold as a commodity product–all of them dumped into the same shucker’s pile as it were.

Meanwhile, oysters from the Pacific Northwest, Cape Cod and Canada (as well as England and France) are marketed by place names. Northern oyster bars like Grand Central Oyster Bar offer consumers as many as 32 oysters to choose from.

So why aren’t Texas oysters sold by place names? Well it turns out they were…in the late 1800s. In a few weeks, at the Foodways Texas symposium on Saturday February 26, you will be able to taste Texas oysters from 6 of those famous old reefs side by side. This is probably the first time in a hundred years that Pepper Grove oysters, once the most famous in Galveston Bay, will be offered by their place name.

Jim Gossen and Robb Walsh compare oysters

The oyster event is only a part of two days of excellent programming at our “Gulf Coast Gathering,” the first annual symposium of Foodways Texas. Four meals, a shrimp boil at the Seaport Museum (where we will drink Saint Arnold’s Elissa aboard the tall ship Elissa), and several impressive speakers are also in the line-up.

Check out the complete schedule and buy your tickets today at FoodwaysTexas.com.

Jon Rowley

Some of the most famous names in the oyster business will be on hand for the historic event. Marine biologist Dr. Sammy Ray; former Gourmet Contributing editor and international oyster expert, Jon Rowley; Louisiana Foods oyster maven Jim Gossen; and some of the top oystermen in Texas will be sitting on the panel–and eating oysters at Gaido’s afterward. There’s also an extensive fish dinner planned.

If you are coming in from out of town, check the hotel blocks, but do it today because our hold on these rooms is about to expire. If you want to stay in Houston, or you are going to the rodeo barbecue cook-off on Friday night February 25, you might want to buy the one day symposium pass and a ticket on the Bloody Mary Express, a bus that will take you down at 8 am Saturday morning and bring you back after the dinner at Gaido’s at 10 pm.

However you do it, please be there for this historic event!

The Fort Worth Culinary Charreada will take place from 4 until 8 p.m. Sunday February 20th at Clear Fork Station, 4971 East I-20, Willow Park, Texas, just west of Fort Worth. Tickets are $45 per person or $80 per couple; kids 12 and under get in free. Click to purchase tickets.

Terry Chandler [...]]]>

The Fort Worth Culinary Charreada will take place from 4 until 8 p.m. Sunday February 20th at Clear Fork Station, 4971 East I-20, Willow Park, Texas, just west of Fort Worth. Tickets are $45 per person or $80 per couple; kids 12 and under get in free. Click to purchase tickets.

Terry Chandler and other cowboy cooks will offer old-fashioned campfire cooking from their chuckwagons, while Lou Lambert, Lanny Lancarte, Grady Spears, Dena Peterson, Molly McCook, Gerard Thompson, Jerrett Joslin, Gwin Grimes, Paula Lambert and other food geniuses will serve specialties from their Texas repertoire. Rahr Beer, Republic Tequila and Fall Creek Vineyard wines will be poured, and music will include mariachis and country groups. Kids’ activities are planned as well.