The Southeast is believed to be the birthplace of barbecue by many. The Carolinas and Texas along with the cities of Memphis and Kansas City, are the epicenters from which all other barbecue across the country originates. (Source: "A Sociology of Rib Joints" by Philip D Holley and David E Wright Jr.)
Deep in the Heart of Texas
As barbecue continued to move west out of Memphis and into Texas, German settlers began putting their mark on the slow and low method of cooking, the most notable came from all the space that Texas had to offer and consequent ability to raise cattle. While pork dominated the barbecue landscape through the East Coast and into Memphis, it was Texas that brought beef into the mix.
Like Memphis, Texas also uses a dry rub with sauce applied after the meat is done and just before eating, but the formula morphed into something more unique to the Lone Star State. Mostly comprised of salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder and onion powder, some will also add chili powder, especially farther west. Texas uses a tomato-based sauce with brown sugar added by some according to preference. But Texas’ barbecue calling card is its penchant for brisket.
There’s not really a singular reason that the brisket became the measuring stick and cut of choice for all things Texas barbecue. “I’ve been in this market since the 70s and there used to be a couple of barbecue places that specialized in briskets, but they really took off when boxed beef came along,” says Jeff Savell, Ph.D., Regents Professor, E.M. “Manny” Rosenthal Chairholder, leader of the Meat Science Section in the Dept. of Animal Science at Texas A&M Univ. and moderator of the wildly popular Camp Brisket and Barbecue Summer Camp, co-hosted by Foodways Texas and A&M. “So once you had boxed beef, then you could end up specializing in things. Somehow, brisket became the thing that Texas specialized in compared to other places.”
Kansas City, Here I Come
Kansas City represents the last stop on barbecue’s stylistic journey through the country. In Kansas City, barbecuers combined the best of the Carolinas, Memphis and Texas, to create their own unique traditions. Due to its location, the railroads and stockyards, and cattle drives, among other variables, Kansas City embraced all species rather than specializing in just beef or pork.
Vinegar-based, sweet tasting and peppery hot sauces all cohabitate along with dry rub barbecue in some of the nation’s most famous joints in and around the Kansas City metropolitan area. Taking Texas’ specialty, brisket, and cutting off the burnt ends, the town created its own specialty barbecue item.
Today, the Kansas City metropolitan area boasts well over 100 barbecue restaurants. Some of them famous bucket list stops for everyone from former presidents of the United States to barbecue lovers from across the country and world.
What started out as a cheap and efficient way to cook for Native Americans, settlers and colonists on the East Coast, has slow cooked itself into the hearts of American diners.
