Food and Wine took some time this week to evaluate our great nation's best barbeque cities in a feature titled "Best BBQ Cities."
First noticeable local on the list is Tim Love. Standing next to a grill, right? No, in a Hellman's mayo commercial. What the heck is the deal with the mayo? No mention of Love's barbeque joint in the article though.
The first "city" mentioned is "Central Texas: Austin and Surrounding Hill Country." It appears the latter refers to Lockhart's Smitty's Market (although technically, the hill country is west of Austin, and Lockhart is flat southeast).
For Austin they give props to Franklin BBQ, where "Aaron Franklin spends 14 hours smoking his salt-and-pepper-rubbed brisket, which usually sells out in less than three."
Interesting thing here: the picture on the Central Texas page is a classic Carolina pulled pork sandwich with slaw.
Next is "East Texas: Dallas & Around." Yes, just like that. But, we shouldn't be all nitpicky about geographical grouping. More importantly, our 'que is described as genereally smoked and "... sliced and served on a bun with thick tomato-based sauce."
Smokey John's BBQ and Home Cooking and Mike Anderson's BBQ are both recognized. Now, will the real East Texas please stand up? Thank you, Stanley's Famous Pit Bar-B-Q in Tyler.
South Texas is next on the list: "The defining dish in this area is beef barbacoa, traditionally whole cow head wrapped in maguey leaves or foil and cooked overnight in an underground pit filled with hot coals."
While "traditionally" should be emphasized, it's good to see barbacoa get a little love.
KC, St. Louis, Memphis, Nashville, California, Chicago, Atlanta, Oahu and New York City round out the list, making it more aptly titled, "Barbeque Across the Entire United States Including Tyler."
