Monk: Flightless Bird is a podcast where journalist David Farrier, the New Zealand-born host the podcast is named after, explores various American customs through the lens of a curious outsider.
In this episode from March 2023, David meets up with Texas Monthly Barbecue Editor Daniel Vaughn to live a day in the life of a barbecue reviewer. That means a barbecue road trip to 4 of Vaughn’s favorite barbecue joints. Starting in Austin, David and Daniel visit Micklethwait Craft Meats before heading on to City Market in Luling, Smitty’s Market in Lockhart, and finally Distant Relatives back in Austin.
Along the way, David gets a primer on American (and specifically Texas) barbecue, learns what it means to be a pitmaster, and even dispels the myth that Texas don’t like barbecue sauce. And after a full day of barbecue where he experiences profuse meat sweats and almost gets sick, he ultimately earns the respect of Vaughn due to his “intestinal fortitude.” Which is just about the highest of praise coming from a professional barbecue eater.
Note: the barbecue part of the episode starts at 27:00 after some introductory discussion on New Zealand food customs.
Description: In this week’s Flightless Bird, David Farrier travels to Austin, Texas to investigate America’s love of BBQ. Why do 7 out of 10 adults in America own some kind of BBQ device, and why is there so much BBQ in Texas? David meets up with the BBQ editor of Texas Monthly, Daniel Vaughn. David discovers that Daniel has eaten at over 2,000 barbecue spots all over the planet… 2,119 to be precise – many of them in Texas. Daniel agrees to take David on a day of BBQ eating, from Austin to Lockhart to Luling – shoving brisket and sides town their gullets in a feeding frenzy of epic proportions.
