African American origins of barbecue
The history of Texas barbecue, like most complex topics nowadays, has been shortened and simplified for easy understanding by consumers conditioned by soundbites and tweets.
With regard to the two most prominent types of Texas barbecue, the Central Texas style originated in meat markets opened by Czech, German and Polish immigrants in the area around Austin in the mid-1800s. East Texas style originated in the mid-1700s in the southern United States by enslaved Africans who adopted techniques learned from Indigenous peoples of the Americas.
As far as compressed histories go, these narratives give a solid accounting of Texas barbecue history. But what happens when you scratch below the surface?
Much has been written about the history of Central Texas-style barbecue. So much so that “Texas barbecue” is now most often associated with this style.
East Texas style and its southern U.S. origins are often missing from barbecue history, although that changed this year with the publication of Adrian Miller’s magisterial book “Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue.”
East Texas style is still alive and well in Houston, and reflects the evolution it has gone through over the decades, ironically adopting Central Texas-style brisket as a main menu item.
But what if you want to actually taste barbecue as it existed in states such as Virginia and North Carolina of the 1700s?
Until recently, this wasn’t possible in Texas, where brisket and beef ribs dominate barbecue menus.
This changed in February when chef Damien Brockway opened the Distant Relatives
barbecue trailer in east Austin, featuring ingredients and techniques adopted from genealogical and historical research into his own African American heritage.
Brockway is a classically trained chef with stints at finedining restaurants in San Francisco, New York and Boston. He landed in Austin in 2012 and most recently held the executive chef position at Jester King Brewery.
Like many hospitality workers, the COVID lock down of 2020 allowed for time to engage in more personal pursuits, and Brockway’s research into his own genealogy revealed that his mother’s side of the family came from enslaved people of Virginia, who ultimately came from West Africa.
This resulted in a deep-dive into the cuisines of countries including Nigeria, Cameroon and Mali.
“This area of West Africa is known as the ‘Pepper Coast,’ ” says Brockway. “We decided to use a type of pepper called ‘Grains of Paradise.’ ”
It’s a clever transformation of the traditional black-pepperencrusted Central Texas style with a more fragrant, floral spice with a flavor-profile closer to cardamom and ginger.
With regard to the meats, Brockway only recently added brisket because of customer demand — this is Austin, after all — but the real magic happens in his other proteins, such as pulled
pork. The pork shoulder was moist and superbly cooked, with a more fragrant and complex rub than the typical salt-and-pepper version you find at many Texas barbecue joints. It’s paired with a molasses-based sauce.
Side dishes are also a focus here, based around Southern staples including beans, rice and corn. The “burnt ends and blackeyed peas” is one of the best barbecue side dishes I’ve tasted all year — it could almost be a whole meal. Black-eyed peas cooked in fragrant spices (think allspice and nutmeg) are combined with smoky ends of lean brisket.
Brockway, along with junior sous chef Wesley Robinson and assistant pitmaster Omari Mackey, have created something unique in Texas barbecue that goes beyond the classic trinity of brisket, pork ribs and sausage. They are serving up a delicious window into African American origins of the Lone Star State’s favorite cuisine.