Moist

My last few eating adventures have evolved around the Texas staple, barbecue. If you want to eat barbecue, just close your eyes and follow your nose. Everywhere there is a hunk of some kind of meat smoking its way to deliciousness.

I did a little research and found out that the mother ship of barbecue can be found in Lockhart. In fact, folks have a hard time exclusively recommending one of the three places in Lockhart that make barbecue. I made the final decision based on the detailed analysis involving the complex steps of-- pulling into Lockhart, looking up and following the giant arrows pointing to Black's 

My companions included Thom, my nephew;  Sally, my daughter; and John, my husband. We strolled in the front door and were quickly cued up in front of heating trays with all sorts of asides that included; potato salad, cole slaw, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, green beans and ...banana pudding. I passed on everything but the cole slaw. Sally opted for the green beans, which are her favorite vegetable.

The next decision was much more,difficult. There before us was a giant butcher block that looked like it was about 50 years old. On top of it was an assortment of meats. There were giant beef ribs, smaller pork baby back ribs, links of smoked sausage and there in all its splendor, the brisket that I had been hearing about and seeing on TV for the past six months. The man with the knife layed out a sheet of heavy brown paper and asked, "So, what would ya'll like?" What followed was a flurry of hesitations and blurted suggestions.

 Finally John said, "What do you suggest?" 

I quickly added, "We've come here all the way from Maine and we don't want to miss anything."

"Well welcome," said the friendly woman on the other side. "We're pretty famous for our brisket and sausage."

So we easily ordered both. The next decision was the simplest one to make.

"Would ya'll like your brisket lean or "moist"? 

This was nicest word for "fatty" that I'd ever heard. It's so much easier to say, "oh yes. I'll have the moist brisket than I'll have the fatty brisket." In fact, I think moist brisket tastes better than fatty brisket. It certainly sounds better. In fact, for the rest of the day...and still...I used the moist euphemism repeatedly. "Look at the moist cow out in that field", "That woman is rather moist", etc.

Now there was a minor disappointment at Black's...the string beans. Being in the company of an expert string bean eater, I quickly learned that the Black family barbecue establishment was not the Black family fresh vegetable farm. Sally made it clear that meat smoking and vegetable steaming did not fall into the same galaxy of food perfection. As I gazed across the table at Sally's disappointed eyes, I scanned the table before her and there sat the grayish green string beans, barely eaten. Her disappointment was the bittersweet reminder that even fresh green beans deserve a place in the meat dominated foodie universe.

But, speaking of meat, our server recognized the tell tale tourist qualities of our crowd, which included the oooohs and ahhhs and mmmmms and finger licking that the others seemed capable of foregoing. After I effusively thanked her and asked if I could take here picture next to the butcher block, she looked at me affectionately and asked, "Would y'all like a tour of the smoking ovens?" I was delighted and my guests politely came along for the ride.

We ended our day back in Austin at a food truck called Gourdough's that served yet another incredible  "doughnut". We shared the grilled banana doughnut and the strawberry shortcake doughnut. Both were topped with an amazing cream cheese frosting. The banana one had bananas grilled with brown sugar and the strawberry one had fresh sliced strawberries. But the doughnut on the bottom was delicious-- crispy on the outside and "moist" on the inside. We were all happy to share, but I was secretly willing to increase my own moisture a bit more if I had the opportunity.