Texas smoked brisket

Last updated
Brisket with smoke ring Smoke Ring.jpg
Brisket with smoke ring

Texas smoked brisket or barbecue brisket, is an American dish made with brisket that is popular in Texas.

Contents

Smoked Texas style brisket with smoke ring. Smoked Brisket with smoke ring.jpg
Smoked Texas style brisket with smoke ring.

History

Precursors

During the late 1800s, many Ashkenazi Jews, as well as Czechs and Germans, emigrated to Texas. These immigrants brought with them their cuisine, which included brisket. Brisket was a very important and popular food in Ashkenazi Jewish culture and cuisine, and has been eaten by Jews since at least the 1700s, as it was cheap and they were allowed to eat it despite their strict dietary laws. When these immigrants arrived in Texas, they were able to procure beef much more easily than in their home countries as Texas had many heads of cattle available for purchase. [1]

Jewish immigrants were the first to smoke brisket in the United States. By the early 1900s smoked brisket appeared on Jewish deli menus across Texas. [1] The first mention of smoked brisket appears in newspaper advertisements in 1910 geared towards the Jewish community of Texas, Watson's Grocery in El Paso and Naud Burnett grocery store in Greenville both sold smoked brisket in their Jewish deli counter, alongside other foods such as smoked whitefish salad and chopped liver. In 1916, Alex and Moise Weil (of French Jewish descent) advertised smoked brisket alongside pastrami in an advertisement for their grocery store in Corpus Christi. [2]

1950s to present

In the late 1950s, Black's BBQ in Lockhart credits themselves as the first restaurant outside the Jewish community in Texas to serve smoked brisket exclusively in their barbecue restaurant. It wasn't until the 1960s when most of the barbecue restaurants in Texas began adopting brisket. [2]

Smoked brisket is one of the most popular dishes enjoyed in barbecue joints in Texas today.[ citation needed ]

Serving

Smoked brisket is commonly served with pickles and onions, and sometimes Texas toast.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brisket</span> Cut of beef

Brisket is a cut of meat from the breast or lower chest of beef or veal. The beef brisket is one of the nine beef primal cuts, though the definition of the cut differs internationally. The brisket muscles include the superficial and deep pectorals. As cattle do not have collar bones, these muscles support about 60% of the body weight of standing or moving cattle. This requires a significant amount of connective tissue, so the resulting meat must be cooked correctly to tenderise it. According to the Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Second Edition, the term derives from the Middle English brusket which comes from the earlier Old Norse brjósk, meaning cartilage. The cut overlies the sternum, ribs, and connecting costal cartilages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delicatessen</span> Shop selling cured meats and sausages, expensive cheeses, caviar, or luxury confectionery

Traditionally, a delicatessen or deli is a retail establishment that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessens originated in Germany during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the mid-19th century. European immigrants to the United States, especially Ashkenazi Jews, popularized the delicatessen in U.S. culture beginning in the late 19th century. Today, many large retail stores like supermarkets have deli sections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pastrami</span> Meat preserved by partial drying, seasoning, smoking, and steaming

Pastrami is a food originating from Romania usually made from beef brisket. Later recipes use lamb, pork, chicken or turkey. The raw meat is brined, partially dried, seasoned with herbs and spices, then smoked and steamed. Like corned beef, pastrami was originally created as a way to preserve meat before the invention of refrigeration. One of the iconic meats of Eastern European cuisine as well as American Jewish cuisine and New York City cuisine, hot pastrami is typically served at delicatessen restaurants on sandwiches such as the pastrami on rye.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewish cuisine</span> Culinary traditions of Jewish communities around the world

Jewish cuisine refers to the worldwide cooking traditions of the Jewish people. During its evolution over the course of many centuries, it has been shaped by Jewish dietary laws (kashrut), Jewish festivals and holidays, and traditions centred around Shabbat. Jewish cuisine is influenced by the economics, agriculture, and culinary traditions of the many countries where Jewish communities have settled and varies widely throughout the entire world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Appetizing store</span> Type of retail establishment

An appetizing store, typically in reference to Jewish cuisine in New York City, particularly Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine, is a store that sells "food that generally goes with bagels", although appetizings can also be served with a variety of breads. Appetizings include smoked and pickled fish and fish spreads, pickled vegetables, cream cheese spreads and other cheeses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kosher style</span>

Kosher style refers to foods commonly associated with Jewish cuisine but which may or may not actually be kosher. It is a stylistic designation rather than one based on the laws of kashrut. In some U.S. states, the use of this term in advertising is illegal as a misleading term under consumer protection laws.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israeli cuisine</span> Culinary traditions of Israel

Israeli cuisine primarily comprises dishes brought from the Jewish diaspora, and has more recently been defined by the development of a notable fusion cuisine characterized by the mixing of Jewish cuisine and Arab cuisine. It also blends together the culinary traditions of the various diaspora groups, namely those of Middle Eastern Jews with roots in Southwest Asia and North Africa, Sephardi Jews from Iberia, and Ashkenazi Jews from Central and Eastern Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbecue in Texas</span> Regional style of food preparation in the United States

Texas Barbecue refers to methods of preparation for barbecue unique to Texan cuisine. Beef brisket, pork ribs, and sausage are among the most commonly known dishes. The term can also include side dishes that are traditionally served alongside the smoked meats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montreal-style smoked meat</span> Style of smoked meat corned beef created by Jewish immigrants in Montreal, Quebec

Montreal-style smoked meat, Montreal smoked meat or simply smoked meat in Quebec is a type of kosher-style deli meat product made by salting and curing beef brisket with spices. The brisket is allowed to absorb the flavours over a week. It is then hot smoked to cook through, and finally is steamed to completion. This is a variation on corned beef and is similar to pastrami.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texan cuisine</span> Food and drinks from Texas

Texan cuisine is the food associated with the Southern U.S. state of Texas, including its native Southwestern cuisine influenced Tex-Mex foods. Texas is a large state, and its cuisine has been influenced by a wide range of cultures, including Tejano/Mexican, Native American, Creole/Cajun, African-American, German, Czech, Southern and other European American groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuisine of Houston</span> Various cuisines in Houston, Texas

This article discusses the various cuisines in Houston, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Jewish cuisine</span> Food, cooking, and dining customs associated with American Jews

American Jewish cuisine comprises the food, cooking, and dining customs associated with American Jews. It was heavily influenced by the cuisine of Jewish immigrants who came to the United States from Eastern Europe around the turn of the 20th century. It was further developed in unique ways by the immigrants and their descendants, especially in New York City and other large metropolitan areas of the northeastern U.S.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewish rye bread</span> Bread commonly used in Jewish deli sandwiches

Jewish rye bread is a type of rye bread commonly made in Jewish communities. Due to the diaspora of the Jews, there are several geographical variations of the bread. The bread is sometimes called sissel bread or cissel bread, as sissel means caraway seed in Yiddish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brisket (Jewish dish)</span> Ashkenazi Jewish dish

Brisket is a popular Ashkenazi Jewish dish of braised beef brisket, served hot and traditionally accompanied by potato or other non-dairy kugel, latkes, and often preceded by matzo ball soup. It is commonly served for Jewish holidays such as Hanukkah, Passover, Rosh Hashanah, and Shabbat. It is commonly found in Jewish communities worldwide, though it is most commonly associated with Jews in the United States, where it has been considered the most important and iconic Jewish main course since the early 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine</span> Cooking traditions among Ashkenazi Jews

Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine is an assortment of cooking traditions that was developed by the Ashkenazi Jews of Central, Eastern, Northwestern and Northern Europe, and their descendants, particularly in the United States and other Western countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewish deli</span>

A Jewish deli, also known as a Jewish delicatessen, is a delicatessen establishment that serves various traditional dishes in Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine. They are typically known for their sandwiches such as pastrami on rye, as well as their soups such as matzo ball soup, among other dishes. Most of these establishments are traditionally considered Ashkenazi. Like much of the Jewish cuisine stemming from the period of the Jewish diaspora, the emergence of the Jewish deli developed in accordance with local culture. These days, Jewish delicatessens serve a variety of Jewish dishes. While some delis have full kosher-certification, others operate in a kosher-style, refraining from mixing meat and dairy in the same dish, despite potentially using non-certified ingredients. There are also delis that serve food without adhering to any traditional Jewish dietary restrictions, offering non-Kosher dishes such as the Reuben sandwich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noodle kugel</span> Traditional Ashkenazi Jewish noodle casserole

Noodle kugel, also known as lokshen kugel or kigel, is an Ashkenazi Jewish casserole that is traditionally served as a side dish and popular variety of kugel made with lokshen noodles and either a variety of dairy or pareve ingredients, often served on Shabbat and Jewish holidays.

References

  1. 1 2 "How Passover Brisket Became Texas Barbecue". Food and Wine. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  2. 1 2 "The History of Smoked Brisket". Texas Monthly. Retrieved 21 October 2019.