St. John’s Eve: The Ancient Irish Fire & BBQ Festival

Looks like I’ll helping out with the barbecue duties at the St. John’s Bonfire Festival at Burren College of Art.  June 23, Midsummer Night, the shortest night of the year, is celebrated all over Europe. In the pre-Christian era, Midsummer Eve was an Ancient Greek festival called Adonia. It was the…

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Local Flavors: Irish Charcoal

A year ago, while eating a pulled pork sandwich at the Eatyard in Dublin, I noticed the name “Irish Artisan Charcoal” on a steel plate attached to a barrel smoker. Since I moved to Western Ireland in January, I have sorely missed my Texas offset smoker. And I eagerly await…

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Texas Monthly’s Top 50 BBQ Joints in Texas

Every four years, Texas Monthly publishes their list of the Top 50 BBQ Joints in Texas. I don’t envy my friend Daniel Vaughn, the Texas Monthly barbecue editor, in the period following the big reveal. The announcement is inevitably followed by mean-spirited second guessing and accusations of bribery and bias….

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Portrait of Irish BBQ as a Young Art

The Pitt Bros Barbecue Test Lab is a repurposed shipping container in the incredibly hip EATYARD, a gathering spot for food trucks and other street food vendors in Dublin. Pitt Bros BBQ restaurants has two brick and mortar locations plus the food stand at EATYARD, making it the largest barbecue chain in…

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Millheim Father’s Day BBQ

Here’s some images by O. Rufus Lovett from last year’s Father’s Day BBQ at Millheim. I’ll be out there early in the morning! Come say hello. BBQ is served at 11 am–$10 a plate. Plenty of co’ beer on hand. Gambling for homemade cakes. See you there! Millheim Harmonie Verein’s…

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Beef Ribs Are Hot

Beef ribs are in the spotlight lately. It’s all about the flavor: a well-cooked beef rib is just as succulent as a perfectly cooked brisket, but with a softer, silkier texture. Louis Mueller’s in Taylor has been cooking beef ribs since they opened. And Pecan Lodge in Dallas has gotten…

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