TX

How Pitmaster Kelly Nevarez Brought Mexican Spice to Texas Barbecue

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Monk: Kelly Nevarez of LaVaca BBQ in Port LaVaca, TX brings the Hispanic influences of her family and culture to her barbecue not only in terms of spices used in the rubs but also twists on Texas barbecue such as smoked pork and brisket tamales wrapped in butcher paper. LaVaca is very much a family operation, with Kelly’s parents Christine and Lupe very much in the mix from making blue corn tortillas to smoking the fajita meat for the steak fajitas. It seems like they have something special going on at LaVaca BBQ.

Description: At LaVaca BBQ in Port LaVaca, Texas, the Nevarez family draws from their Hispanic culture and Texas upbringing to make Big Red pork ribs, smoked pulled pork and brisket tamales, beef cheek barbacoa, steak fajitas on blue corn tortillas, and more.

Friday Find: “How Houston Pitmaster Quy Hoang Is Bringing Asian Flavors to Texas Barbecue”

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Monk: If I’m ever in Houston anytime soon, Blood Bros is going to be at the top of my list. Pitmaster Quy Hoang shows Eater’s Smoke Point the ropes of their operation.

Description: At Houston-area barbecue joint Blood Bros, pitmaster Quy Hoang combines his love for Texas barbecue with Asian influences to make gochujang ribs, smoked char siu pork belly fried bao buns, brisket burnt end steam buns, Thai red curry and chili sausage, and more.

Linkdown: 9/14/22

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Featured

Monk: Greenville, SC has added a heavy hitter in barbecue today as Lewis Barbecue has opened the doors of its second location. John Lewis has taken over the former 30-year location of Tommy’s Ham House, and even earned the blessing of owner Tommy Stevenson. The original Charleston location earned a 4.5 hogs from both Speedy and Monk in separate visits in 2017 and 2018.

Eater Carolinas has all the behind the scenes information:

Lewis Barbecue is open Wednesdays through Saturdays, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Native News

Midwood Smokehouse has made it to the finals of the News & Observer Barbecue Bracket against Wilber’s Barbecue; voting ends Thursday, 9/15 at noon

Chopped vs pulled: who you got?!?!?

Three pitmasters – Dr. Dana Hanson of NC State, Michael Markham of Big Mike’s BBQ in Raleigh, and Matthew Register of Southern Smoke – give their tips for backyard smokers and beginners

Non-Native News

Adrian Miller joins the Southern Foodways Alliance Fall Symposium

I haven’t listened yet but I’m already pre-jealous of the Tales from the Pits epic bourbon and barbecue roadtrip

Kerlin BBQ in Austin had its last day of service after 9 years this past week

Barbecue Bros AV Club: “BBQuest” Season 3

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Monk: Kelsey Pribilski and the Texas Beef Council are back for the third season of “BBQuest,” and this time they’ve brought along author, live fire chef, and beef expert Jess Pryles of Hardcore Carnivore.

While the first two seasons focused on Kelsey’s (at times unsubtly staged) solo quest to try secret menu items at barbecue restaurants across Texas, with aspiring meat scientist Pryles in tow in season three they go beyond the pit (as the show is subtitled) to also talk with the cattle ranchers across the Lonestar State that provide the beef for Texas barbecue.

Each episode is structured to pair the barbecue restaurants with a cattle rancher that may be taking a similar approach, whether that’s the traditional route of barbecue paired with the old school cattle ranchers or the newer fusion barbecue restaurants and the next generation of a cattle feed yard that are using technology to innovate in the space.

Pribilski and Pryles have an easy chemistry and I like the duo compared with the rotating guest host approach they did for the first two seasons. Each episode runs about 20 minutes which makes for an easy watch. Between spotlighting the newer barbecue joints and shining a light on an industry that folks may unfortunately overlook when visiting those joints, “BBQuest” is well worth the time of streaming viewers hungry for barbecue content.

All 4 episodes of “BBQuest” are available to watch on Hulu or on the Beef Loving Texas YouTube page