I had the pleasure of attending a rare Tootsie Tomantez speaking event in Austin last week. She has lived a pretty interesting life, which can be read with a simple google search.
Very sweet, humble woman, just like you would picture a country grandmother. She reminds me of my grandmother. She didn't make the final cut for the James Beard award, but was in top 10.
Some interesting takeaways from the Q&A.
-In the early years of Snow's, someone asked her how she got such a good smoke ring on her brisket it, she said she just cooks it like she always cooks it, then afterwards, asked one of the hands "What's a smoke ring?". Point being, she does everything by touch and feel, she doesn't get caught up in all the new techniques and technology, she just handles and cooks meat like she has since the 1960s.
-83 year old grandmother, works for the local school system during the week.
-Arrives at 2 a.m. Saturday mornings to take over from the hand who preps the fires and puts the meat on.
-All meat is local. Sausage made from Hildebrand meat market on the other side of town..
​​​​​​​-All sides are homemade (of course). Free pinto beans.
-Salt and pepper only on briskets.
-They use a smaller, leaner brisket than most, average 7-10lbs. No use of thermometers, all by feel.
-Everything smoked with live oak.
-They still have the original brick pits, which they use now for higher temp meats like chicken, but when they were voted one of the best in Texas about ten years ago, they went through some growing pains finding new pits. Many of the pits they tried cooked differently, so all the pitts were inconsistent from each other. Eventually they were able to get a big pit made for them, solved all the issues.
-She washes every single dish, she knows how she likes her dishes washed and doesn't want anyone else to do it.
-She was asked what BBQ was like in Texas in the 1950s vs today. She said while at City Meat Market, they never really sold brisket to the masses until the mid 1990s. Everything was carcass beef, not box beef.
-Their operation is an open book, if you want to go back and see the pits, see the meat etc, they will be happy to accommodate.
-I asked her what other BBQ joints she likes, she didn't name one, but went into a 5 minute talk about how the BBQ in Texas, especially central Texas, is very close knit. Mentioned her and Aaron Franklin are good friends and how if it wasn't for the BBQ family, her family and her church family, she wouldn't know how to get past the loss of her husband and son,
both passing within years of each other not too long ago.
-You can order ahead of time for pickup, but if you do, you have to eat across the street at the park. Tables at the joint are reserved for line waters only. You can order online to ship to you.
Can't believe I haven't been out there yet. Will try to make it there this year.
Very sweet, humble woman, just like you would picture a country grandmother. She reminds me of my grandmother. She didn't make the final cut for the James Beard award, but was in top 10.
Some interesting takeaways from the Q&A.
-In the early years of Snow's, someone asked her how she got such a good smoke ring on her brisket it, she said she just cooks it like she always cooks it, then afterwards, asked one of the hands "What's a smoke ring?". Point being, she does everything by touch and feel, she doesn't get caught up in all the new techniques and technology, she just handles and cooks meat like she has since the 1960s.
-83 year old grandmother, works for the local school system during the week.
-Arrives at 2 a.m. Saturday mornings to take over from the hand who preps the fires and puts the meat on.
-All meat is local. Sausage made from Hildebrand meat market on the other side of town..
​​​​​​​-All sides are homemade (of course). Free pinto beans.
-Salt and pepper only on briskets.
-They use a smaller, leaner brisket than most, average 7-10lbs. No use of thermometers, all by feel.
-Everything smoked with live oak.
-They still have the original brick pits, which they use now for higher temp meats like chicken, but when they were voted one of the best in Texas about ten years ago, they went through some growing pains finding new pits. Many of the pits they tried cooked differently, so all the pitts were inconsistent from each other. Eventually they were able to get a big pit made for them, solved all the issues.
-She washes every single dish, she knows how she likes her dishes washed and doesn't want anyone else to do it.
-She was asked what BBQ was like in Texas in the 1950s vs today. She said while at City Meat Market, they never really sold brisket to the masses until the mid 1990s. Everything was carcass beef, not box beef.
-Their operation is an open book, if you want to go back and see the pits, see the meat etc, they will be happy to accommodate.
-I asked her what other BBQ joints she likes, she didn't name one, but went into a 5 minute talk about how the BBQ in Texas, especially central Texas, is very close knit. Mentioned her and Aaron Franklin are good friends and how if it wasn't for the BBQ family, her family and her church family, she wouldn't know how to get past the loss of her husband and son,
both passing within years of each other not too long ago.
-You can order ahead of time for pickup, but if you do, you have to eat across the street at the park. Tables at the joint are reserved for line waters only. You can order online to ship to you.
Can't believe I haven't been out there yet. Will try to make it there this year.
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