Texas BBQ

By Wyatt McSpadden, John Morthland and Jim Harrison

To Texans, barbecue is elemental. Succulent, savory, perfumed with smoke and spice, it transcends the term “comfort food.” It’s downright heavenly, and it’s also a staff of Texas life. Like a dust storm or a downpour, barbecue is a force of Texas nature, a stalwart tie to the state’s cultural and culinary history. Though the word is often shortened to “BBQ,” the tradition of barbecue stands Texas-tall. Photographer Wyatt McSpadden has spent some twenty years documenting barbecue—specifically, the authentic family-owned cafes that are small-town mainstays. Traveling tens of thousands of miles, McSpadden has crisscrossed the state to visit scores of barbecue purveyors, from fabled sites like Kreuz’s in Lockhart to remote spots like the Lazy H Smokehouse in Kirbyville. Color or black-and-white, wide angle or close up, his pictures convey the tradition and charm of barbecue. They allow the viewer to experience each place through all five senses. The shots of cooking meat and spiraling smoke make taste and smell almost tangible. McSpadden also captures the shabby appeal of the joints themselves, from huge, concrete-floored dining halls to tiny, un-air-conditioned shacks. Most of all, McSpadden conveys the primal physicality of barbecue—the heat of fire, the heft of meat, the slickness of juices—and also records ubiquitous touches such as ancient scarred carving blocks, torn screen doors and peeling linoleum, and toothpicks in a recycled pepper sauce jar.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jul 25, 2012
• ISBN: 9780292786295

Book preview

Mesquite fire (P.1) : COOPER'S OLD TIME PIT BAR-B-QUE : Llano

Red-hot coals (P.2) : COOPER'S OLD TIME PIT BAR-B-QUE : Llano

German steel (P.4) : KREUZ MARKET : Lockhart

TEXAS BBQ

PHOTOGRAPHS BY

WYATT McSPADDEN

FOREWORD BY

JIM HARRISON

ESSAY BY

JOHN MORTHLAND

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS PRESS AUSTIN

NUMBER TWENTY-THREE

JACK AND DORIS SMOTHERS SERIES IN TEXAS HISTORY, LIFE, AND CULTURE

Publication of this work was made possible in part by support from the J. E. Smothers, Sr., Memorial Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Copyright © 2009 by Wyatt McSpadden

Foreword by Jim Harrison © 2009 by Jim Harrison

Essay by John Morthland © 2009 by John Morthland

All rights reserved

Printed in China

First edition, 2009

Requests for permission to reproduce material from this work should be sent to:

Permissions

University of Texas Press

P.O. Box 7819

Austin, TX 78713-7819

www.utexas.edu/utpress/about/bpermission.html

The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (R1997) (Permanence of Paper).

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

McSpadden, Wyatt.

Texas BBQ / photographs by Wyatt McSpadden ; foreword by Jim Harrison ;

essay by John Morthland. — 1st ed.

p.   cm.   —(Jack and Doris Smothers series in Texas history, life, and culture ; no. 23)

ISBN 978-0-292-71858-6 (cloth : alk. paper)

ISBN 978-0-292-78629-5 (e-book)

1. Barbecue cookery—Texas—Pictorial works.

2. Restaurants-Texas-Pictorial works. I. Morthland, John. II. Title.

TX840.B3M456 2009

641.5'78409764—dc22

2008035548

Book and jacket design by Nancy McMillen, Nancy McMillen Design, Austin, Texas

For Nancy, the soul of this project and the heart of our family.