Barbecue Crossroads

Winner of three James Beard Awards, Robb Walsh is the author of ten books, including Legends of Texas Barbecue Cookbook: Recipes and Recollections from the Pit Bosses, The Tex-Mex Cookbook: A History in Recipes and Photos, and Texas Eats: The New Lone Star Heritage Cookbook, with More Than 200 Recipes. He has written for Gourmet, Saveur, and Fine Cooking, and has also been a commentator on National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition, Sunday. In 2010, Walsh cofounded a nonprofit organization called Foodways Texas to preserve and promote Texas food culture.O. Rufus Lovett is a nationally acclaimed photographer and author of the books Weeping Mary and Kilgore Rangerettes. His work has received recognition from the prestigious Alfred Eisenstaedt Awards for Outstanding Magazine Photography. In addition to teaching photography at Kilgore College, Lovett works as a fine art and editorial photographer. His photo essays have appeared in Texas Monthly, American Photo, Photo Review, LensWork, People, and Gourmet. He has also been profiled in Southern Living.

• Preface: Saying GraceChapter One: Pits and PulpitsChapter Two: Eat Dessert FirstChapter Three: The Spiritual Home of BarbecueChapter Four: Convenience StoresChapter Five: Big Pigs and Little PigsChapter Six: Fast Food and Slow FoodChapter Seven: Barbecue BarbariansChapter Eight: The High LifeChapter Nine: Parched PeanutsChapter Ten: Shoulders and Red DipChapter Eleven: Whole Hog and Old HickoryChapter Twelve: Young BloodChapter Thirteen: Bringing It All Back HomeChapter Fourteen: Community BarbecuesAcknowledgmentsBibliographyIndex

This is an homage to a way of life that, unless tended to, may very well pass away in the next decade or two…The color photographs alone demand the book’s size, as do the more than 80 recipes, some of which can be duplicated by home chefs, such as parched peanuts made using a microwave and plain paper bag and melt-in-your-eyes fried pies (never mind what the sugar and cholesterol counts are). Walsh explores the relationship between pits and pulpits, wanders to Memphis (spiritual home of this kind of cookery), focuses on the charms of beer and community feasts, and more with charm, ease, and a methodical pace, reminding us how life and barbecue need to be savored. (Booklist) Lovett's photography shows beautifully decaying signs, weathered hands stoking fires, embers glowing “deep in dark metal caverns, and barbecue platters of all varieties. It's the story of an American tradition that's endangered, for all that it's in vogue. One gets a sense of urgency from Barbecue Crossroads: preserve these traditions before it's too late. (Eater.com) Award-winning writer Robb Walsh captures life and culture like a Steinbeck of the South. The story of barbecue is layered and intimate…There are visceral pleasures: the freshly chopped pork sandwich eaten at a Formica counter, coconut pie eaten over the car hood. But Walsh, who has written extensively about the history of Texas food, always gives you something deeper to chew on…A masterful piece of documentation, the book is a labor of love and time - like barbecue itself. (Dallas Morning News) In the end, you feel privileged to have been invited along and a whole lot smarter about not only smoked meat in all of its many guises, but this lovely and confounding part of the country. (Los Angeles Times)