National Barbecue Day: Unique American Cooking?

Nadene Goldfoot                                               

 Texas Barbecue 

Today is National Barbecue Day as reported on ABC this morning, and it looks delicious, even at this 8am morning!  I remember visiting my brother, David in Austin, Texas and we all went out for barbeque!  It was delicious and new to my palette.

We Jews usually tend to stay in the kosher line of eating beef not infested with a lot of veins and arteries but that parts others refuse to bother with, like the brisket.  We're famous brisket cooks, done in the oven slowly for hours till falling apart and so tender.  That's what you do with the tougher parts.  We are not to eat or touch blood, this is why the choice. 

 The nice thing about barbecue and watching the meat turn on a spit is that it also got very well done, falling apart almost and tender as can be.  

Now, where does barbecue come from?  Why, Texas, of course, out on the plains where cowboys rode the herds to market and the cook of the group probably did a barbecue with baked beans for them all.  We've seen lots of John Wayne movies.  Texas as progressed and has great barbecue restaurants.     

Is there any other place in the world who might practice barbecue?  How about Eastern Oregon?  There are plenty of cows out there, as my father should have known.  He'd drive out there to buy cattle at the auction yards in his cattle truck, a modern way of doing it which skips the cowboys and horses bit.  No, I remember a lot of Chinese restaurants there that produced delicious fare.  How about Australia?  Anywhere else?  How does Texas compare with anywhere else?

Well, my research finds that we have barbecue everywhere in Oregon!  In our own Willamette Valley we have :  "A serious foodie destination, Storrs Smokehouse in Newberg is the sister restaurant to the Painted Lady Restaurant, a tribute to chef/co-owner Allen Routt’s Southern roots. Routt serves up his family recipes — mouth-watering brisket, pulled pork, chicken wings and St. Louis-style pork ribs — paired with Pacific Northwest flavors like the house-made Oregon pinot noir barbecue sauce and homemade ice cream and biscuits. Call ahead to hear the daily offerings and arrange takeout."Definitely not a kosher find for me, but mouth-watering for many, it seems.  

If I fly to Brooklyn, NY, I will go to Izzy's Brooklyn Smokehouse which is a Kosher barbecue joint serving platters, sandwiches, sides & desserts in relaxed surrounds, Dine-in and even curbside pickup and even delivery!  *****  It's a 5-star restaurant!  

LBJ, Texas Democrat,  had a ranch in Texas and served barbecues.  Barbecue is apolitical.  Everyone likes it!  In fact, this food might be the glue to bring the two groups together.  Did anyone ever think of that?  Evidently not since Lyndon Baines Johnson 1963-1969.  Come to think of it, the Bushes also had a huge ranch.  

     The Bush family, Texas Republicans,  had barbecues too!  They had those over 1989-1993 and then from 2001-2009.  No wonder  the Republican senators are snarling; they're hungry for barbecue!   

Texas is pretty much a Republican state, and so is eastern Oregon.  Did that have any bearing on the cooking habits of barbecue between Johnson and the Bushes?  How does barbecue stack up in each of our 50 states?