I took my family to the annual Father’s Day BBQ in Millheim, Texas yesterday. The event is a fundraiser for the old German dance hall built by the Millheim Harmonie Verien, a German music group founded in 1872. My daughter won a strawberry cake with cream cheese icing at the…
Hog Heaven: 2012 FTX BBQ Summer Camp
BBQ Summer Camp Counselers: From top left: Robb Walsh, Dr. Davey Griffin, Hoover Alexander, Dr. Jeff Savell, Dr. Elizabeth Englehardt, Mary Kimbrough, Ray Riley Kneeling: Thomas Larriviere, Daniel Vaughn, Marvin Bendele, bottom row: the hog. Saturday night’s dinner this year at Foodways Texas (FTX) BBQ Summer Camp was a traditional…
Heritage Hog BBQ
Here’s some video shot by Jay Francis of the community barbecue we did on March 31 to benefit Foodways Texas. Thanks to Revival Market and the Houston Chowhounds group for their generous support!
Community BBQ Calendar
Corporate money and the cutthroat “do anything to win” attitude has ruined BBQ cook-offs. And artisan barbecue is becoming rare in restaurants. But cook-offs and restaurants aren’t where American barbecue came from anyway. The oldest barbecue tradition in America, the community barbecue, continues largely unnoticed in churches, clubs and lodge…
2nd Annual Foodways Texas Lifetime Achievement Award Winner: Vencil Mares
On Friday, March 23, Vencil Mares of Taylor Cafe in Taylor, Texas received the 2nd Annual Foodways Texas Lifetime Achievement Award at that organization’s symposium in Austin. In World War II, Vencil served as corpsman during the invasion of Normandy. When he got home, he took a job at Southside…
Do You Like to Shoot Up?
Is injecting a great technique–or a nasty habit? My traditionalist barbecue friends think injecting a pork shoulder or whole hog with brine or flavorings is heresy. The pitmasters of yesteryear certainly didn’t do it. But injecting is standard procedure on the barbecue cook-off circuit. Most competitors, like Chris Lily and…
The Generation Gap
At El Hidalguense, the Huatecan restaurant on Long Point Road in Houston, barbacoa de borrego is the special on Sundays. The seasoned lamb is cooked in a built-in pit lined with maguey leaves. The rich broth from the bottom of the pot is the first course, followed by barbecue lamb…
Whole Hog: Building the Pit
My friend Richard Flores, a veteran barbecue cook-off competitor, has always wanted to cook whole hogs in a classic Southern pit. And I have to come up with a whole hog recipe for my upcoming Southern barbecue cookbook. So we decided to work together on the project. I showed him…
World BBQ Tour
Houston “Where the Chefs Eat” Culinary Tours are offered by the Houston Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. Sunday, February 26, 2012: World BBQ with Chef Chris Shepherd and Robb Walsh Underbelly’s Chef Chris Shepherd and Cookbook Author Robb Walsh team up to showcase the best—and culturally-inspired—BBQ Houston has to offer. Of…
Pride & Joy: SFA’s New Movie
The Southern Foodways Alliance filmmaker, Joe York, has been working on a big project for the last few years. The feature length project formerly titled “Southern Food, The Movie” and now called “Pride & Joy” is nearing release. Looks like its going to be shown first on Public Television stations…