Regional food

(first…i’m totally lame.   i made a “marriage tuesday” post yesterday and tried to send it from my phone.   loser.   i still don’t know why it didn’t post.   no logan to bail me out.   maybe my twelve-year-old buddy drake will help me out today…  so while i wait for enlightenment,  i’ll go ahead and post “marriage tuesday” today…right after this one.  make sense?)

last night,  our friends wanted to take us out to dinner. so we had the obligatory “where do you want to go?  you pick.  no, really,  which one of these places would you rather go to?   honest.   i don’t care.”  dialogues.   you know the kind.

in the midst of it,  we started talking about how southern california doesn’t have a signature regional food.   oh,  there is every kind of food imagineable,  but there is no food item that makes the statement,  “buddy,  you are now in california!”

texas,  on the other hand,  does.   barbecue.

back in the great state,  we have every ethnic delicacy.   we have burgers of every size and shape.   we have 27 different variations of tex-mex.   you name it.   but above everything else,  we have a signature.   we have barbecue.

the other day,  i committed the cardinal sin of barbecue culture…something a socal newbie would commit.   i should have known better.   i do  know better.   i referred to “barbecue” as an event…as in “we’re going to get together and have a barbecue”.

i reverted to my former  southern california lifestlye.   i betrayed my newfound texas sensibilities.   barbecue is not a place or an event.   in texas,  barbecue is a food group. the definitive texas cuisine.   the bad mamma-jamma of food groups.

in california,  people get together and have backyard barbecues.   they call up the neighbors and have people bring baked beans and macaroni salad and brownies.   the men all gather around the “barbecue”  and watch as the hamburgers or steaks sizzle.

in texas,  we smoke meat.   ribs.   brisket.   turkey.   jalapeno sausage.   chicken.   pork.   mostly brisket.   it’s dry rubbed or it’s soaked in some kind of marinade (according to region or heritage)  and thrown in a smoker for hours.   when it’s ready,  somebody will yell,  “y’all ready for some barbecue?”. i love texas.

so we’re off today to experience some more socal regional food chaos.   maybe a carne asada burrito.   or some fish tacos from rubio’s or wahoo’s.   or another in and out burger.   or a tommy’s burger with chili.   or maybe even some fresh fish down by the water.

but no barbecue.   i’ll wait till i get home for that.

#barbecue #food #vacation