Legends of Texas Barbecue Cookbook: Recipes and Recollections from the Pit Bosses

This book is much more than a bunch of regional recipes. It's stuffed full of reading about the origins of barbecue in Texas and profiles many of the people, places and restaurants involved in this unique food of the state. Reading about the history of foods is fascinating and this book is a great history lesson about some very unique folks and their special brand of cooking.

There are lots of large and small photographs showing the folks that cook this food and some restaurants. Some are old and some are much newer; all are in sepia-tone which suits the book perfectly. All of the recipes have their own page and the few that carry over to a second, are on the facing page. Recipe titles and ingredients are in a dark brown with the head notes and instructions in black, all easy to read. The very interesting sidebars are also in a combination of black and brown type and cover subjects as diverse as the "Legends" - influential Texas individuals, one etymology of the word barbecue which the Oxford English Dictionary calls "absurd conjecture", the history of goats in Texas, and everything you could want to know about different types of ribs.

Besides the many expected recipes for ribs, brisket, sausages, and loins, there are lots of recipes for the rubs, mops, sauces and condiments used to make all this taste so good. Side dishes like slaws, beans and salads are included too. The range of recipes gives you a good idea of how meals are put together, centered around the meat of course.

Although I enjoyed the history sections the most, the information included on how to select a home barbecue rig such as smokers, barrels, pits and gas grills is very helpful. Other useful sections cover fuels, loads of tips in sidebars throughout, a chapter on markets, restaurants and other resources, online sources, a glossary of terms, barbecue associations, measuring equivalents charts and a cook-off calendar. Plus a well-organized index. The glossary even includes instructions like how to warm tortillas and how to prepare fresh and dried chile peppers.