Tradition in the City

Is the art of tradition lost in a modern world? Are there any lasting cooking traditions in your family?

The art of a true Pitmaster is steeped in tradition. Unfortunately what I know as tradition now falls under the heading of old fashion. The art form of a Pitmaster is an unappreciated skill in urban settings unless it’s infused with vanilla notes and reduction sauces. But go to the backwoods of some hick town and folks like to see the fire and keep it simple. They don’t want the bougie stuff. What about the city settings makes the expectation different?

Although Bigmista was raised in Texas, he was not raised on Texas barbecue. His love and passion for the art came much later in life and was helped along by his Brethren. While Bigmista is a phenomenal cook in his own right, he knew jack all about bbq except how to eat it. He started out on the bbq competitor circuit way back when and it blossomed into a business. That is the very short version because right now it’s really not about him but about the tradition of barbecue that we try to hold on to.

When I got on this barbecue rollercoaster with this man I was hell-bent on staying true to the Texas barbecue I grew up with. Now I was raised in and around Los Angeles but my momma and ‘nem are from Texas. Not only that, they were church going folks so I grew up on barbecue sales at the (not ) where all you got was beans, potato salad, and cheap white bread. My uncle still does it like this for his church. This kind of church barbecue was what they learned from their daddy on the farm. You know where Bigmista learned to barbecue? [...]