Brisket (and Brexit) changing London
There are big changes coming to the United Kingdom, and I’m not talking about the recent Brexit vote to leave the European Union.
Real Texas barbecue has finally arrived in London.
Barbecue is big in the U.K. and getting more popular every year. Barbecue festivals and competitions there sell out with regularity, and barbecue joints have opened in every major city
But barbecue quality across the pond has always been questionable. Most of it has been a pastiche of various American styles — southern U.S.-inspired ’cue at Bodean’s and Texas style at Red’s True Barbecue, to name two examples. Neither of these well-known English chains puts out exceptional barbecue by our standards, based on my experience from a couple of years ago.
Smaller joints, such as John Hargate’s Bar-B-Q Shack in Brighton, do a better job of replicating the American barbecue experience. Unfortunately, they often are hampered by environmental regulations that limit the cooking equipment they can use to “pellet smokers,” which use small wood chips rather than full logs of burning wood that give meat our beloved smoky flavor.
That’s all going to change, if native Texan Joe Walters has his way. Walters, originally from Dallas, has been a wellknown fixture in the U.K. scene for the past few years. I met him in 2014 when he was making barbecue out of a brewpub in the trendy Shoreditch area of London. It was the best barbecue I tasted on that trip, but the small kitchen and tiny Ole Hickory smoker he was using prevented him from producing the fully authentic Texas barbecue he grew up eating.
Last week, on July 4, Walters opened his fullfledged Texas Joe’s Slow Smoked Meats in the Bermondsey neighborhood of London. He installed a legitimate smoker — a Southern Pride SPX-500 — and is currently using American-sourced Creekstone Farms briskets.
The smoker turned out to be a significant investment in both time and money. Though gas-assisted, Walters is using it as an all-wood-burning smoker, which produces a significant amount of smoke. He was required to add “scrubbing” technology, which mitigates the amount of carbon and smoke released into the air. He even spent a little extra to have the Southern Pride custom-painted burnt orange — the color of his alma mater, the University of Texas.
Of course, importing Texas post oak wood would be cost-prohibitive, so he sources a comparable English oak from a local firewood company.
One aspect of Texas barbecue he won’t be replicating is the trend of selling out every day after lunch. Ambitiously, Walters is overseeing two “cooks” per day — an overnight cook to make barbecue for lunch and another in the morning so there will be fresh smoked meat for dinner service. Fortunately, the lease on the new restaurant space includes an upstairs apartment, so Walters and his staff can more easily tend the pits both day and night.
Walters is currently serving a full menu of Lone Star State favorites. In addition to the Creekstone brisket, he’s serving locally sourced pork ribs, belly and shoulder. In a nod to his English surroundings, he’s added mutton shoulder and ribs to the mix. A brisket plate will run visiting Americans about $18 currently, though currency fluctuations because of the Brexit vote may bring that price down in the near future.
Walters — whose fashion sense leans toward rhinestone-encrusted western wear and cowboy hats — is the first to admit that he’s ruffled a few feathers by claiming to offer the only truly authentic Texas barbecue in London. In a country where barbecue has become a competitive sport, those are fighting words.
But Walters’ talent and experience, combined with his investment in the right equipment and ingredients, will make his Anglo-Texan barbecue hard to beat.