The Ultimate Guide to Texas Barbecue by Daniel Vaughn
Daniel Vaughn knows Texas barbecue so well that in 2013 Texas Monthly magazine hired the Dallas architect to write about the subject full time. He’s the only guy who might have a better job than mine. Published by Anthony Bourdain’s division of Harper Collins, the book takes us along with Vaughn and his architect/photographer, Nicholas McWhirter, as they taste their way across the state to truck stops in the dessert and chic restaurants in the metropolitan areas in search of the truth in Texas barbecue.
In all, their hegira took 35 days, covered 10,343 miles, and made stops at 186 joints. Along the way we meet the characters and artists who set the state’s signature food apart from any other state and he enlightens us on the various styles and his favorites.
A quote: “The people who pack Cooper’s crave the unique flavor of the meat offered there, but man y don’t realize that it is the result of a barbecue method that is completely different than the one used in the smoked meat temples in more famous barbecue towns like Lockhart, Luling, and Taylor, Texas. But then, that is Central Texas, and this is the Hill Country.” He then goes on to describe the cooking method at Cooper’s, one of my all-time favorites, and how it differs.
