It’s been a terribly long time since I’ve posted, most of which I’ll blame on an extended sojourn to Texas. (The other part I’ll blame on laziness.)

While in the Lone Star State, I sampled a tremendous range of culinary options…including the “Texas triathlon” (pork rib, beef brisket and sausage) at Smitty’s BBQ in Lockhart. The photo above captures it all. How often do you walk into a place where the smell of smoke and meat almost overwhelms, where the walls are black from soot, and the heat of the fire nearly hits you in the face? Not very often. I highly recommend if you find yourself in South Texas.

After nearly two weeks of journeying in Texas, I made it to Houston and finally sampled my first Texas curry. I don’t want to give too much away, but let’s just say crawfish was involved. A proper post on said curry is to follow in due course.

For the record, a number of folks say City Market in Luling, Texas, has BBQ that rivals Smitty’s. Perhaps on a future visit I’ll find out. Smitty’s was hard to top…even if our clothes did smell like smoke for days afterward!