the gentlemen with the straw cowboy hat told me that i was too fine to be denied a thing. so of course i asked for some fresh cooked pork skin for my co-hort and i, at her request. needless to say, that wasn't on the menu and the yankees didn't know to ask for it. so whenever i went back to that table, i got a nice-sized sheet, gratis. who knew i was that cute?
everything was a small sampler that kept you coming back for more. very frustrating. bbq is for poor folks. whoever heard of paying $8 for one rib? and yet, the yankees do it. and gladly.
the crackling made us happy, and there were longer lines elsewhere but i was over the moon when i found southside market and bbq: delicious tender brisket with that oh-so-german elgin county sausage, crackers, a just right slice of longhorn cheese, pickles and not too much sauce on anything. i don't know if i could have been happier: sitting there with that makeshift paper boat in my lap, munching away and letting out a hoot involuntarily every so often, and then after i was halfway through it, i had to declare, to everyone and no one in particular: "now, this is what bbq is supposed to taste like!" in an instant, i was transported back to The Nation's Capital, when eating world class bbq and tex-mex and czech/hill country baked goods was something that i took for granted. it was just that good.
my friend asked me to explain and inbetween mouthfuls, i tried.
texas was settled mostly by german peasants but also swedes and czechs. during world war II, german p.o.w.s were incarcerated in the texas countryside and stayed when the war was over. (they were treated very well by the way: fresh vegetables and fruit to eat, beer to drink, meat, the works. but i digress...) elgin county is considered to be the sausage capital of texas, and southside market has been making sausage for 123 years. so they kind of know what they're doing.
it was more than a little strange, the way this southern thing was brought to the city, like a culinary amusement park, replete with the sights and sounds of another region. it felt imported. and yet in spite of the yankee feeding frenzy and how corporate the set up seemed to be, i left the park feeling more than a little homesick for the southland.
