C & J BBQ, College Station, Texas
I’m spending this holiday weekend at my in-laws in College Station, TX (home of Texas A&M University), and since for the second time we are celebrating a wedding (this time my brother-in-law’s and last time mine) with some brisket from C & J Barbecue, I thought I’d post a bit of a primer on Texas BBQ.
First, in Texas BBQ is all about the beef brisket. Compared to the brisket we’ve had around the Bay Area, Texas brisket tends to be leaner and well-trimmed. At C & J’s it has great smoke and it’s very tender. Compared to other times we’ve had it, though, this time the brisket was pretty bland, lacking in meat flavor.
The sauce was good as usual. A lot of Texas-style sauce tends to be tomato based, but I find it to be a pretty good compromise — thick, rich, but with a stronger tomato flavor and less sugar than you’ll find in a molassas-based sauce.
Another unique thing about Texas BBQ is that it is often served with a large plate full of sliced dill pickles, jalapenos, and chopped onions. Tamar says cheddar cheese hunks are also a frequent side.
When Tamar and I had brisket catered to our wedding, we figured it would be better to serve our out-of-town guests some great local fare than some mediocre baked chicken. But we went gourmet with all the other side dishes. This time we celebrated Darren & Christine’s recent wedding with the whole deal. The caterers brought beans, potato salad, and sweet tea (of course). The beans were clearly home-made, and I thought perfectly sweet. The potato salad was a little plain, but well seasoned and chunky style, not like the puree we often get in the Bay Area.
In addition to brisket there was also sausage and smoked chicken. The sausage was decent, nothing to write home about, but I thought the chicken stole the day away from the brisket. Great smoke flavor, tender and delicious.
We didn’t have any pork this time, but I’ve had their pork ribs before. I remember them as decent, but I don’t think the tomato-based sauce goes particularly well with pork.