The ribs are outstanding at Martin’s Barbeque in Bryan. The brisket I sampled was very moist and tender, although it had that slightly steamed texture of a brisket that had been held for awhile in foil or a sealed hotel pan. The German potatoes are a favorite here, but all the sides are excellent. But the real attraction at Martin’s is the ancient Texas barbecue joint atmosphere. The tile floor in the kitchen has been worn down to the cement and the flues above the old brick pits are covered with creosote stalactites.
It was a long way to a grocery store and I had a lot of homegrown tomatoes and cukes. That’s when I discovered that Bloody Mary mix makes a pretty decent gazpacho base.
When we vacation at Greer’s Ferry Lake in Arkansas, we get boxes of homegrown Arkansas tomatoes along with cucumbers, okra, peppers, and squash delivered to us courtesy of Bill and Rosie McBroome. The retired couple live just outside of Conway, Arkansas, and they maintain a quarter acre garden that Bill plows by tractor. Bill told me he had harvested around 400 pounds of tomatoes so far this year and his vines would be producing through the summer. Rosie makes tomato juice, canned tomatoes and salsa out of some of the overflow. Bill gave us a box with around 35 pounds of tomatoes in it, neatly stacked with layers of newspaper in between.
The same East Texas produce stand that had the “Big Ass Melons” sign I posted previously also had this great mayhaw jelly sign. I didn’t buy any because I loaded up on mayhaws this season to make my own jelly. I still have a gallon in my freezer. I am a little tired of mayhaw jelly though and I started thinking of other things to do with mayhaws. A mayhaw margarita came immediately to mind. But instead of trying to perfect the mayhaw syrup myself, I gave some mayhaws to Bobby Heugel at Anvil. Bobby had never heard of mayhaws.
Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA) film maker Joe York interviewed customers at Taylor Cafe yesterday on the subjects of barbecue and philosophy. York is here in Texas shooting segments for an upcoming SFA movie tentatively titled “Southern Food: The Movie.”
I haven’t been blogging much lately because I’ve spent the last week working with York on getting some tasty bits of Texas on tape. Hopefully, SFA will allow Foodways Texas (FTX) to reuse some of York’s footage for our own upcoming short films and informational videos.
Foodways Texas (FTX) was formed this week in a three day organizational gathering at Texas A&M. The founding group of 50 came from all over the state and included academics, chefs, food producers and food writers. They adopted this mission statement: The mission of Foodways Texas is to preserve, promote and celebrate the diverse food cultures of Texas.
On the way to Minute Maid Park on Sunday, I stopped by to visit Joe Hernandez at his new place “Mr. Joe’s Deli” on Preston. The last time I saw Joe was in 2001 when the Houston Press ran a story about the light rail construction putting Joe and a lot of other small family-run restaurants out of business.
It was great to see him back. His sandwich shop on Main Street used to be famous for its Philly Cheese Steak but now he is branching out into the New Orleans Roast Beef Sandwich poor boy genre. My buddy Paul Galvani also reports Joe’s Deli is serving a remarkable hand-formed hamburger. I promise to try both soon.
In 1967, Frito-Lay Corporation launched a national advertising campaign featuring the Frito Bandito. Initially, the commercials appeared during children’s television shows, where they were an “unqualified success,” leading Frito-Lay to use the character in all its television and print advertising. In January 1971, a $610 million suit was filed against Frito-Lay in Federal court “for the malicious defamation of the character of the 6.1 million Mexican Americans in the United States.” Under increasing pressure as members of congress, local television stations, and the press joined the cause, Frito-Lay reluctantly dropped the Frito Bandito campaign. (From Chon A. Noriega’s article in The Tex-Mex Cookbook)
My daughter gave me a Frito Bandito T-shirt for Father’s Day. Do I put it in a display case–or do I wear it to my favorite Tex-Mex restaurant?
Sorry about the lack of blog posts lately, I’m on summer vacation. We always spend Fourth of July on Greer’s Ferry Lake in Arkansas. I am doing a little fishing, a little cooking, and whole lot of napping.
Driving through East Texas on the way up here, we saw a lot of homemade signs for watermelon stands. I always want to stop and buy the watermelons and the signs too. This Big Ass Watermelon sign would have looked great in my backyard.
Texas country hip-hop artist Cowboy Troy will be the headliner at the Hempstead Watermelon Festival on July 18th. Hempstead is the watermelon capital of Texas. The festival is timed to coincide with the peak of the watermelon season. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to be there.
After I published a post titled A Short History of Shrimp and Grits in the Houston Press last year, I got a comment from Nathalie Dupree who reminded me that she had written an entire cookbook on the subject. Dang! That’s dedication.
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