by Kriston Capps
The New Yorker‘s Calvin Trillin spends a lot of time clearing his throat before he coughs up the lede in his food-issue story about Texas Monthly‘s annual barbecue survey: The magazine’s editor is a committed vegetarian from Queens. Note to self: Cancel subscription to Texas Monthly. Trillin himself hails from Kansas City. Better cancel the New Yorker, too. As a friend from back home put it: “I don’t trust New Yorkers, Missourians, nor carpet-bagging vegetarian editors to tell me about brisket, or about anything really.”
I don’t really see why they thought to name Snow’s even if it is the best. Trillin picks up on the fact that the top-dog designation is enough to overwhelm humble Snow’s BBQ, open only on Saturday, which is about the only day that Lexington, Texas, is much open, either. But the worse disservice in my mind is that Texas Monthly has inadvertently created the perception that Snow’s didn’t earn the spot. That was my immediate reaction. It smacks of journalism. Moreover, as everyone knows, Texas Q is dominated by a Security Council of smokehouses: City Market in Luling; Louie Mueller in Taylor; and Kreuz Market, Black’s, and Smitty’s in the seat of barbecue, Lockhart. These are long established—partly by Texas Monthly but primarily by word of happy mouth and long tradition—as the names to beat in Q. To see Snow’s in the top slot in the first year that the magazine offers ordinal rankings is like seeing the BCS spit out a team like Boise State in the top slot over a team like (say) Texas. Mercurial selection undermines confidence in the results, even if the results are accurate in the end.
Better not to bother with ordinal rankings and instead invite another big player to the table. And by all means, Snow’s could be the real deal: There’s good fat and a nice pink smoke ring on the brisket, a handsome pit (although I do believe they’re using meat thermometers—pity), and good ambiance. They’re serving up Elgin sausage, which is the mithril of sausage. And they’ve got all the basics right: wax paper, Texas toast, no sauce, etc.
Is it the best? I have no clue. Like a lot of people I’m eager to try out the dark horse, so I hope Snow’s is still around the next time I’m able to get home. (I need to drive down by that way anyhow in January, so I bet I can swing it.) But to be clear, there’s nothing impossible about it. Lexington is about as far away from Austin/Central Texas as Lockhart, where some foodies have been known to order Thanksgiving—for delivery, by air. Hell, Lexington’s a stone’s throw from Elgin. I’m just saying: Snow’s is not outside the realm of barbecue or of possibility.
And yes, let me just acknowledge up front: Kansas fancies itself a Q state, North Carolina really likes vinegar, etc. Let’s keep the tedious Texas-Q envy comments to a minimum, hm?
Photo by Kent Wang used with permission under a Creative Commons license
I readily acknowledge that Texas has the best smoked brisket anywhere in the world. Being in Houston, I don’t have access to the best of West Texas Q, but Goode Company does an acceptable job. I don’t love their sauce, but all their meats are first-class. It’s just as well that they don’t try the pork shoulder, though, because you can’t beat Stamey’s in Greensboro, NC for a good chopped pork sandwich.
Luling’s only about a 2 hr drive from Houston. And if you’re heading to Austin, you can hit Lockhart right afterwards and get three of the top five in one day. Well worth the road trip.
Regarding Texas magazines sending hordes of readers to unprepared places, the Dallas city magazine, which is very superficial but occasionally does good journalism, chose an extremely small place in a VERY non-white part of town as its best burger a few years back. The hordes started crossing the river. Quite entertaining.
When I was in Austin for Netroots Nation in July, I did a serious Q tour of the local places. The best, by far, was the Iron Works. All of the four dishes – ribs, brisket, chicken and sausage – were excellent. The sausage was absolutely phenomenal.
Sadly, cranking out a Ph.D. doesn’t leave a lot of time (or money) for impromptu BBQ pilgrimages, but your mention of Austin put me in mind of the Salt Lick. They make some damn tasty habanero sauce — Lauren’s, I think it’s called.
As a friend from back home put it: “I don’t trust New Yorkers, Missourians, nor carpet-bagging vegetarian editors to tell me about brisket, or about anything really.”
But then you’re ruling out jewish brisket, which is delicious! I won’t get into which is better, because jewish brisket and texas brisket are basically two different foods that share a name. But both are delicious.