Lack of diversity in barbecue? You’ve obviously never been to Houston
City’s rich history features contributions from black, white, Hispanic, Cajun, Asian and other influences
As barbecue goes global, media outlets continue to search for new and interesting topics to write about. There is now international demand for barbecue, both in the form of actual smoked meats as well as in the stories about barbecue’s history and culture.
One current issue concerns a lack of racial diversity among those who make barbecue, as well as in the topics barbecue writers choose to cover.
It started with a “listicle” that national media outlets produce to tap in to the daily flood of Internet clicks on barbecue subjects.
Titled “America’s most influential BBQ pitmasters and personalities,” the list on the Fox News website included a dozen or so well-known figures in American barbecue. Commenters on the post immediately noted that everyone on the list was white. Subsequently, writers such as John T. Edge and Daniel Vaughn took the list to task, pointing out the long history of African-American contributions to American barbecue.
Then, improbably, the British got involved. Recently, the BBC website featured a piece titled “Black pitmasters left out of U.S. barbecue boom.”
Previously in Londonbased the Guardian newspaper, American food writer Michael Twitty wrote a piece titled “Barbecue is an American tradition — of enslaved Africans and Native Americans” provocatively datelined on the Fourth of July. The takeaway from this piece was “… enslaved Africans have largely been erased from the modern story of American barbecue.”
As someone tasked with documenting the modern story of American barbecue, this certainly got my attention.
But is it true? I’d like to address the issue in the context of Houston barbecue.
As a Houston barbecue writer, I must admit to some amusement seeing national and international media discuss a lack of diversity in American barbecue and its coverage.
I am fortunate to live in a city with a rich history of barbecue, featuring contributions from black, white, Hispanic, Cajun, Asian and other influences.
These influences inspire my writing. I’ve written about John Davis, a black pitmaster who started cooking barbecue in Houston in the 1930s and whose influence is still felt today, as well as the traditionally black “barbecue wards” of Houston, specifically the Fifth and the Third, which still foster a flourishing barbecue community of all races and backgrounds.
There’s also John Avila, a son of Houston’s traditionally Hispanic East End neighborhood who is opening his own barbecue joint soon, in addition to Tejano barbecue traditions such as barbacoa and Cajun traditions including smoked boudin.
Although female pitmasters are few and far between in Texas, the wives and partners of male pitmasters often have a defining role in the success of the restaurant and are worthy of stories themselves.
So what’s behind the latest brouhaha over the “whitewashing” of American barbecue? In my opinion, national and international media outlets choose the path of least resistance and write about “celebrity” pitmasters who offer easy access to quotes and photographs. And indeed, they are almost always white.
As Houston food writer Robb Walsh so aptly put it: “National press is infatuated with white, male hipster BBQ.” Researching the history of American barbecue in all its diversity is hard work. Documentation is scarce. Food writing for a mass audience barely existed before 1950 because people were mainly concerned with getting enough food to stay alive, not with how it tasted.
Much of my research is through interviews with the children and grandchildren of longforgotten restaurateurs and pitmasters. Preparing for, traveling to and conducting the interview will often take a full day. It often takes multiple interviews to gain enough trust for the family to hand over old documents and photographs that help tell their story.
So to critics who claim that writers are ignoring barbecue’s diverse roots, I suggest you dig a little deeper and be a little more patient. There are many stories already out there, and more are coming.
I’d also encourage you to set your sights on Houston. The “Creole” diversity of our city, especially in our food and barbecue, is flourishing.
Don’t take my word for it — come and taste it for yourselves. Check out the traditionally African-American, East Texasstyle fare at Southern Q or Triple J’s. Central Texas-style barbecue is well-represented, too, at Killen’s and Roegel’s. Looking for Asian influences? Blood Bros. BBQ pop-ups are the place to be. In need of halal Texas barbecue? You’ll find it at Chopped N Smoked in Sugar Land — and nowhere else.
To those just jumping on the barbecue bandwagon, such diversity may seem bewildering, and writing about it knowledgeably may seem intimidating.
What can I say? It’s hard work, but somebody’s got to do it.
“National press is infatuated with white, male hipster BBQ.”
Robb Walsh, Houston food writer