Review: Legends of Texas BBQ

I spend a bunch of time on the internet.  Heck, I'm a blogger and "IT professional" so it's almost an occupational hazard.  But a lot of the time online is spent reading about and researching BBQ and Beer.  As a result, I'm not much on cook books.  Most of the info in just about any cookbook can be found at any one of a number of BBQ forums, websites etc.

Nonetheless, I received "Legends of Texas BBQ" as a gift and once I began reading it I found that I couldn't put it down.  This wasn't really as much about the recipes although there are plenty.  Instead, I found myself drawn to the narrative of the history of Texas BBQ.  The stories about the German immigrants and tradition of slow smoking meats and sausages in the Texas hill country were fascinating.  I enjoyed the tales of meat counters serving up fresh BBQ on butcher's paper to ranchers, roughnecks and laborers.  And I especially enjoyed the photography.  The book is full of black and white photos of legendary pit masters, BBQ stands, and people eating BBQ at a variety of places.

While I haven't tried many of the recipes in the book, I would highly recommend this for anyone who has an interest in the history of this past time and specifically Texas BBQ.  In fact, I'd love to use this book as a roadmap for an attempt to eat my way across Texas.

Cheers,
Braddog