Wednesday, October 17, 2012

... the best barbecue in Texas?

Lockhart is a small city which is the county seat of Caldwell county. Almost 13 thousand people live here. The city was originally name "Plum Creek" thanks to the battle of the same name which was won by the Texans over the Comanche, back in 1840. The name was later changed to Lockhart.

                                          Caldwell County Courthouse, Lockhart, Texas 
                                          ©Mayra F. Gonzalez

Even though Lockhart has played host to numerous film sets (i.e. A small town in Texas, 1976; What's eating Gilbert Grape, 1993; Waiting for Guffman, 1996; The Faculty, 1998; The Newton Boys, 1998, it is widely known for its Barbecue joints. The Texas legislature (house resolution No. 1024, 76th legislature, regular session, 1999) proclaimed Lockhart as The Barbecue Capital of Texas.

Some of the most famous Barbecue places here are: Blacks Barbecue, Chisolm Trail barbecue, Kreuz Barbecue, and Smitty's Market Barbecue.

Well, passing through town at noon was a good idea and we went to the first barbecue place we could find. ... and it was Smitty's Market.

Front Left: Sign showing name, map, and activities in Lockhart. Smitty's market in the back
©Mayra F. Gonzalez

This place was established by Nina Sells in the building where Kreuz Market was originally located. Smitty's Market has been named one of the Best Barbecue in Texas by Texas Monthly Magazine.

We entered through a dark, smoky-scented hall with old benches 'attached' to the walls, and ended up in front of the guys selling the stuff. We decided on Sausage, Brisket, and Pork chops. They are traditionally served on butcher's paper and accompanied by a few slices of bread and a plastic knife. Once you pay, you can proceed to the adjacent big room with long communal tables.

Sausage, brisket, pork chop at Smitty's Market 
©Mayra F. Gonzalez

The people that serve you are not of the friendly type (at least, not the day we went!), but the customers that surrounded us were! Once inside, we asked for cole slaw and someone pointed out the freshly made barbecue sauce (... not that the place recomends using, anyway!) .

Our thoughts on  this small feast? The sausage was O.K., good taste, but we prefer the consistency of the sausages we frequently buy from Snook, TX (Slovacek). (... but also from the Meat Market in Giddings, TX!); The brisket was a disappointment, too dry, it was sort of  O.K., not a big deal, we prefer the brisket from either C & J Barbecue and J. Cody's, in Bryan, Tx, or Junek's BBQ in College Station (Wellborn), TX (... the main reason for such comparison is that we live in College Station, and we have visited and enjoyed those three Barbecue places!); The pork chop was also Ok, nothing out of the ordinary. The Cole Slaw was really good (for me; my wife did not cared much about it!) and the Barbecue Sauce was not good at all (I understand that a staple of the place is to eat with no Sauce, which is fine with me!).

Next time in Lockhart we'll try another place, will compare, and let you know!

I am out for now! Buen Provecho!



... why this new blog! ...

Even though I started another blog (http://beignetsycafeconleche.blogspot.com/) at the beginning of this 2012 and have been lazy to continue it, I decided to start this new one ...

... the purpose? When I started http://beignetsycafeconleche.blogspot.com/ I did not have a clear purpose and wanted to write whatever came to my mind. ... In this one I will try to talk about travelling and food, places I have visited, or something related to such visit, ...

... but why this name? A camouflage passport is a passport issued in the name of a non-existent country that is intended to look like a real country's passport.

Even  though I was born and raised in Venezuela, one of the most beautiful and incredible countries in the world (...for me, anyway ...!) I have lived out for quite a few years now. Even though Venezuela now might be great for some and bad for others, (especially if we are referring to political issues ...!) there is no doubt that the country is completely different that what it was when my  family and I left, back in 2001. ... hence the reason for the chosen name!

Ahh! ... even though the other blog was written in spanish, this one will be in english ... I need to practice! ... (... but of course, I will probably slip a few phrases or words in spanish ... let's see how this goes! ...

To finish this, let me show you an old picture of one of my favorite places in venezuela. The picture was taken by the great U.S. naturalist William Beebe and it appears in his book "High Jungle."

Rancho Grande Building, 1948, Henri Pittier national Park, Aragua, Venezuela