Craft Barbecue is Reconnecting With its Meat-Market Origins

Without cotton, there would be no Central Texas-style barbecue.

It’s a plausible argument. Like many historical developments, this style of barbecue emerged from a clash of two longstanding traditions — the rise of the cattle industry and cotton as a cash crop in turn-of-the-century Central Texas.

The story goes like this: Czech and German immigrants arriving in Galveston traveled west along the San Felipe Trail and settled in Central Texas, bringing with them knowledge of animal butchery as well as techniques for food preparation and preservation, specifically the hot and cold smoking of meat.

To read the rest of the story, please go to: Houston Chronicle