I’ll be talking about the FDA summer oyster ban, oyster reef rebuilding after Hurricane Ike and reading from Sex, Death & Oysters this Sunday, November 1 at 12:30 pm at the Texas Book Festival in Austin. Come say hello.

From the Houston Press “Eating Our Words” blog:

This is not your average, everyday barbecue sandwich.

I’m saying the Bohemian Special at Mustang Creek B-B-Q on Highway 59 in Louise is the best barbecue sandwich in Texas. It excels by virtue of architecture alone–a mound of sliced brisket is topped with lengthwise slices of smoked Prasek’s sausage and topped with thick raw onion slices and dill pickles and served on a hamburger roll to which a tiny smidgen of barbecue sauce has been applied. It is held together during the eating process with the aid of a sturdy white paper wrapper.

Mustang Creek is a gas station barbecue joint with excellent culinary credentials–they sell bottles of homemade Czech-style sauerkraut and whole pickles by the cash register. They are also neighbors of Prasek’s Smokehouse which is located in the little Czech community of Hillje three miles north of Louise on 59.

August is suck-it-up time in Texas. It’s close to 100° day after day. For a break, I decided to do a feature about ice cream in the Houston Press. This gave me an excuse to tour the Blue Bell ice cream factory–a very cool place!

photo by Robb Walsh

My wife says I’ve got to be the brokest guy ever quoted in the New York Times Financial section. Here’s part of what John Schwartz wrote in There’s No Future in Being an Oracle (Sunday July 12):

I DECIDED to take one more crack at this: divining the future by means of the old entrails-of-a-goat routine.

Now, goat guts aren’t part of my usual shopping run, but a food writer I know, Robb Walsh, noted on his Facebook page that he had recently bought a whole baby goat to grill up. I sent Robb a note asking if he had gutted the goat himself and, if so, whether he had happened to see the economy’s future in the aforementioned guts.Robb said the goat came pre-gutted but that the kidneys were still attached. While it cooked, he said, the fat around the kidneys melted and dripped, “which caused my mesquite fire to flare up and scorch the loin a little.”

“So if I had to extrapolate stock market advice from the little bit of goat entrails I had to work with,” he wrote, “I’d say when things get cooking and the fat hits the fire, you better move fast or your loin is going to get burnt.”

I might not make the grade as an oracle, but Robb shows real promise. If Ben Bernanke doesn’t work out as Fed chairman, Robb’s got my vote.

If they appoint me Fed chairman, I recommend you bury your money in a coffee can in a place where the goats can’t get at it.

The movie Food Inc. talks about a “curtain” being placed between the consumer and the meat in the grocery store. “The industry doesn’t want you to know the truth about what you’re eating. Because if you knew, you might not want to eat it,” the narrator says. Michael Pollan and the producers of Food Inc. complain that meat processors won’t let them inside their plants. (Golly, I wonder why?)

I agree that consumers need to know more about the animals they are eating than the label on a styrene package in the grocery store can provide. That’s why I wrote the Houston Press and Dallas Observer cover story Mystery Meats. And that’s why I took a video camera inside the slaughter house and meat cutting room and taped the whole process during the class. If you want to remove the “curtain” between you and the meat you are eating, then take a look.

The recipe for this “Backyard Barbacoa” will be included in my next cookbook: The Tex-Mex Grill.

Luling City Market Sausage Smoker---Robb Walsh

I’ll be giving the BBQ history lecture for students taking BBQ 101, a three-day professional training session sponsored by the National Barbecue Association at the Texas A&M Meat Science Center in College Station. The course begins on the morning of Tuesday May 12 and ends on Thursday May 14th after lunch. The class is intended for barbecue pros, but open to anyone.
read more BBQ 101 Class at Texas A&M »

photo by Robb Walsh

One thing this book did do, if nothing else, was inspire me to go out and try my first Galveston Bay oysters (though as of this writing we’re a bit closer to the Easter endcap of the Texan oyster season that I’d have liked). As Walsh promised, they were different than any other oyster I’ve ever eaten: tremendous in size — some were half the size of my fist — with creamy, soft flesh that was an entirely different flavor than the briny, salty East Coast oysters that had previously made up the entirety of my oyster-eating repertoire. Consider me converted, Walsh. -Paula Forbes

photo by JC Reid

Twenty-four members of the Houston Chowhounds group descended on Misho’s Oyster Company in San Leon on Saturday April 25 for a Sex, Death & Oysters signing event.

Misho Ivic took everybody aboard an oyster lug and explained the working parts. The Croatian-American oysterman lead a tour of his oyster processing plant. Refreshments in the form of oysters and Bloody Marys were devoured. Jim Gossen of Louisiana Foods also supplied a gallon of campechana crab salad. It was beautiful day and a good time was had by all.

Canada’s National Post reviewed Sex, Death & Oysters in the April 3 issue in a book review titled Slimy, Salty and HIstorically Vital–in their format each review ends with the question “Buy It or Skip It?” Thank goodness the book got the “Buy It” verdict!

Read the full review:
read more Slimy, Salty, and Historically Vital »