irrig8r
07-18-2008, 07:55 PM
I got hungry listening to a story about Texas BBQ... I don't have any Pearl or Lone Star or Shiner Bock...but I bet some brisket would go down nicely with my New Belgium Skinny Dip. (http://www.newbelgium.com/beers_skinnydip.php)
* 1853 – The town of Stafford gave away free barbecue to the public to celebrate becoming a stop on the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos, and Colorado Railway.
* 1860 – Sam Houston spoke at the "Great American Barbecue," a political rally thrown by the American Party in Austin. All citizens of the state were invited to attend and eat for free.
* 1891 – The citizens of Whitney, a Central Texas town with a declining population, held a barbecue to promote the benefits of citizenship. They gave away 3,500 pounds of barbecue.
* 1926 – Edgar Byram Davis closed what was probably the biggest oil deal in the state up to that time. He got $12 million (half of it in cash) for his Luling oil holdings, and to celebrate he held a free barbecue. Attendance estimates ran as high as 35,000.
* 1941 – At his inauguration celebration, Gov. W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel set up pits on the grounds of the capitol building in Austin and gave away barbecue to all comers.
* 1964 – President Lyndon Johnson hosted Mexican President-elect Gustavo Díaz Ordaz at a state dinner at the LBJ Ranch outside of Johnson City. Catered by Walter Jetton, this dinner for 250 is reported to be America's first official barbecue state dinner. The menu consisted of barbecued brisket, pork ribs, chicken and sausage, ranch-style beans, sourdough biskets, German potato salad, coleslaw, pickles, sliced onions, apple pie, fried iced tea and six-shooter coffee.
* 1991 – The XIT ranch's annual reunion in Dalhart cooked 11,000 pounds of beef in pits dug with backhoes. The meat was served to 20,000 guests.
The Etymology of BBQ
* A wealthy Texas rancher fed all his friends mutton, pork and beef roasted over open pits. In one cookbook, his name is given as Bernard Quayle; in the other it is Barnaby Quinn, but in both versions the branding iron has his initials BQ with a straight line, or bar, underneath. Thus, Bar B Q became synonymous with fine eating—or so the story goes.
* The Oxford English Dictionary traces the English word for "barbecue" to the Spanish word barbacoa, which is, in turn, a variation of babracot, a word that comes to us from the Haitian Taino dialect of the Arawak-Carib language. The Taino word babracot was a noun that meant the framework of green sticks that form the grill.
* Corpus Christi barbecue legend Joe Cotton used to tell journalists that the word barbecue came from the French phrase, barb á queue, meaning from the beard to the tail. The phrase supposedly refers to the fact that the whole animal is roasted. The Oxford English Dictionary calls this particular etymology "absurd conjecture."
Courtesy of Legends of Texas Barbecue Cook Book by Robb Walsh
* 1853 – The town of Stafford gave away free barbecue to the public to celebrate becoming a stop on the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos, and Colorado Railway.
* 1860 – Sam Houston spoke at the "Great American Barbecue," a political rally thrown by the American Party in Austin. All citizens of the state were invited to attend and eat for free.
* 1891 – The citizens of Whitney, a Central Texas town with a declining population, held a barbecue to promote the benefits of citizenship. They gave away 3,500 pounds of barbecue.
* 1926 – Edgar Byram Davis closed what was probably the biggest oil deal in the state up to that time. He got $12 million (half of it in cash) for his Luling oil holdings, and to celebrate he held a free barbecue. Attendance estimates ran as high as 35,000.
* 1941 – At his inauguration celebration, Gov. W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel set up pits on the grounds of the capitol building in Austin and gave away barbecue to all comers.
* 1964 – President Lyndon Johnson hosted Mexican President-elect Gustavo Díaz Ordaz at a state dinner at the LBJ Ranch outside of Johnson City. Catered by Walter Jetton, this dinner for 250 is reported to be America's first official barbecue state dinner. The menu consisted of barbecued brisket, pork ribs, chicken and sausage, ranch-style beans, sourdough biskets, German potato salad, coleslaw, pickles, sliced onions, apple pie, fried iced tea and six-shooter coffee.
* 1991 – The XIT ranch's annual reunion in Dalhart cooked 11,000 pounds of beef in pits dug with backhoes. The meat was served to 20,000 guests.
The Etymology of BBQ
* A wealthy Texas rancher fed all his friends mutton, pork and beef roasted over open pits. In one cookbook, his name is given as Bernard Quayle; in the other it is Barnaby Quinn, but in both versions the branding iron has his initials BQ with a straight line, or bar, underneath. Thus, Bar B Q became synonymous with fine eating—or so the story goes.
* The Oxford English Dictionary traces the English word for "barbecue" to the Spanish word barbacoa, which is, in turn, a variation of babracot, a word that comes to us from the Haitian Taino dialect of the Arawak-Carib language. The Taino word babracot was a noun that meant the framework of green sticks that form the grill.
* Corpus Christi barbecue legend Joe Cotton used to tell journalists that the word barbecue came from the French phrase, barb á queue, meaning from the beard to the tail. The phrase supposedly refers to the fact that the whole animal is roasted. The Oxford English Dictionary calls this particular etymology "absurd conjecture."
Courtesy of Legends of Texas Barbecue Cook Book by Robb Walsh