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State ofthe PlateComfort Food’s Contemporary ComebackEssay byRobb WalshTexas comfort foods come in an amazing array of flavors.They also trigger a wide range of emotions. From the first biteof mom’s banana pudding with Nilla wafers at the family reunionto the welcome-home twang of cheese enchiladas in chili gravyafter a trip out of state, Texas comfort food speaks to your soul.Thanksgiving is not Thanksgiving withoutyour particular comfort-food favorites. We mightagree about some of them, like the church lady’shomemade tamales. And we get into familyfeuds over others, like saltines spread with parisa(Texan steak tartare) and those green beans withthe cream of mushroom soup and canned onions.To each his own, as the saying goes.And of course, there are those who dismiss theentire category of comfort food as unworthy of allthe attention it gets. Some chefs in cutting-edgerestaurants mockingly refer to such standardsas cheese grits and mashed potatoes with gravyas “glorified baby food.” But other eateries, likeFrank’s Americana Revival in Houston, havemade comfort-food classics like chicken pot pieand chicken-fried steak the stars of the menu—only they are serving them with crunchy justpicked green beans, heirloom tomato salads, andhand-cut French fries.ph o t o :Blue Bonnet Cafe, Marble Falls by Brandon JakobeitSince I moved to Galveston last spring, seafood has surged to the top of my comfort-food hitparade. Fried shrimp, or fish simply cooked onthe grill or under the broiler, brings back memories of beach vacations and summer—it’s oftenthe sauce that makes the fish dish exciting. I stilldon’t have the secret recipe for that incredible tartar sauce at King’s Inn on Baffin Bay, but I keepgetting closer. (For tartar sauce ideas, see texashighways.com/recipes-sides-sauces for the firsttwo recipes in my cookbook Texas Eats.) I also likechef Bryan Caswell’s Sriracha remoulade on crabcakes at Reef restaurant in Houston, and I lovehis idea of adding lime pickle to the Asiago breadcrumbs on baked oysters—an exciting new spinon classic Oysters Rockefeller.The popularity of the Americana music movement has encouraged the rise of an Americanafood movement, too. Just as bands like AlabamaShakes and the Carolina Chocolate Drops areNov e m b e r 2015 texashighways.com39
creating a modern version of rhythm-and-blues andcountry music, young chefs in new Texas restaurantsare updating heritage food classics and turning theminto exciting contemporary dishes. The Taleggio andaged cheddar mac and cheese at Hillside Farmacy inAustin, the coffee-cured barbecued brisket with roastedpeppers at Smoke in Dallas, and the chicken wings withanchovies and wildflower honey at Pax Americana inHouston are all excellent examples.As Texas becomes ever more multicultural, we aremaking room on our Thanksgiving tables (and our BlackFriday leftover spreads) for newly familiar items thatare becoming a part of our comfort food repertoire. Don’tbe surprised if you find turkey mole, Vietnamese turkeypho, or Anglo-Indian turkey curry on the menu this year.(Cranberry sauce is a great stand-in for chutney.)In truth, comfort food has never been more popularin Texas, and Texas comfort foods have never beenmore widely admired in the rest of the country. SeveralTex-Mex restaurants opened in New York this year,and Hill Country Chicken, a restaurant for those whocrave Texas yardbird in the Big Apple, has expandedto two locations.Austin pitmaster Aaron Franklin’s version of Texasbarbecue is now being imitated on both coasts. WhenFranklin won the James Beard Award for Best Chef:Southwest last spring, it was the first time a barbecuepitman had ever received such acclaim. The Beardaward is usually reserved for chefs in the very topechelon of fine dining restaurants, so the choice of AaronFranklin by the Beard awards committee signaled anew respect for Texas barbecue as a culinary art form.Franklin’s is one of a new breed of “stand in line”joints that are raising the bar on barbecue in urban areasaround the state. They are smoking a higher grade ofbrisket and seasoning the well-trimmed fat cap to createa spicy black bark that makes each bite crunchy. Thelong lines may be annoying, but they assure that everyslice of brisket is fresh off the smoker. Killen’s Barbecuein Pearland, CorkScrew BBQ, which just moved to a newlocation in Old Town Spring, and Pecan Lodge in Dallas’Deep Ellum neighborhood are a few worth trying (ifyou have the time to wait in line for your comfort food).Texas’ addictive breakfast tacos are also in the national spotlight. The Tex-Mex breakfast combo of fluffyflour tortillas, scrambled eggs, refried beans, bacon, andfiery salsa is spreading across the country, thanks inlarge part to the enthusiasm of breakfast-taco fans whoattend the annual South by Southwest festival in Austinevery spring.Chili con carne, that Texas comfort food of the cowboyera, has lately been making a comeback across the country—it never went out of style at my house. But accordingto people who keep track of these things, “chili” has beenamong the top recipe requests on internet search enginesfor the past few years.My new tome, The Chili Cookbook, which came outlast month, offers a whole lot of variations on chili including New Mexican green chileand red chile stews, Cincinnati chiliwith spaghetti, and modern versionswith and without frijoles. I was astonished to discover while researchingthe book that there is a connectionbetween Texas cowboy chili andHungarian goulash. So I have latelyadded goulash to my family’s list offavorite comfort foods. (My kids callit chili and noodles.)Just in time for the holidays, I'malso celebrating the return of one ofmy all-time-favorite comfort foods,now that Blue Bell Homemade Vanillaonce again graces the bottom shelf ofmy freezer. Homemade pie just doesn’ttaste the same without it. Koffee Kup Family Restaurant, Hico38texashighways.com augus t 2015READERS’ CHOICEComfortcomes in manyflavorsAsking readers for their favorite comfort foodsseems a lot like asking someone to name a favorite grandchild—the answers frequently come in a flood of options, asthey have since we put out the call early this year. It’s nearlyimpossible to name one place for a great piece of pie whenyou love several, right? In your travels across the bountifulculinary map that is the great state of Texas, you’ve madeprofound dining discoveries while also falling in love, againand again, with tried-and-true edible legends. When weasked you to tell us about your favorite barbecue, burgers,chicken-fried steak, kolaches, fish, mac and cheese, pie, andTex-Mex, thousands of you rose to the occasion. You took toFacebook and our website to share your comfort food passions, and you even sent us several hundred votes in themail. Here, we share your delicious results.T e x t b y J u n e Na y l orA co-founder of Foodways Texas(www.foodwaystexas.com), James BeardAward-winning writer and culinaryhistorian Robb Walsh co-owns El RealTex-Mex restaurant in Houston.ph o t o :Michael AmadorNov e m b e r 2015 texashighways.com41
Barbecue1FBlack’s Barbecueew topics in the Texas foodworld get people more excitedthan barbecue. First andforemost, it has to be trueTexas-style ’cue and not anyof that nonsense from beyond the Lone StarState lines. Smoked low and slow in a pit overa wood fire (whether that’s hickory, mesquite,pecan, or oak is fodder for another wholeround of lively dialogue), Texas barbecueis a breed of cuisine unto itself. Its historyand various styles trace to German settlersin Central Texas, ranchers and vaquerosin South Texas, and to African-Americanpitmasters in East Texas. Flavoring the layersof discussion are the meats available, frombeef brisket and ribs to jalapeño sausage, hotlinks, and pork ribs, shoulder, and chops.Although readers cast votes for a number ofbarbecue spots in such places as San Angelo,Pampa, Big Spring, Emory, Huntsville, Tyler,Rockport, Dallas, and Fort Worth, the topfour barbecue places beloved by TH readerssit solidly in Central Texas. The fifth is adark horse from Northeast Texas.42texashighways.com Nov e m b e r 2015ph o t o :Will van OverbeekLockhartOpen since 1932, this smokehouseclaims to be the state’s oldest barbecue jointowned by the same family. The pit usedtoday was built in 1949 by Edgar Black Jr.and can hold 500 pounds of meat at once.If you’re a stickler for tradition, you’ll eatyour ’cue from sheets of butcher paper,rather than a plate. Smoked over post-oakwood, meats at Black’s include sliced andchopped brisket, pork spare ribs and babyback ribs, turkey breast, chicken, porkchopszz, and meaty beef ribs that weighroughly a pound each. What makes it thebest? Facebook poster Chris Rogers says,“While they give a nod to those who thinkthey need to ruin good Texas barbecuewith sauce, [Black’s] awesome meats aremelt-in-your-mouth tender, juicy, anddelicious just as they come off the fire!No additions needed, ’cept maybe someonions.” www.blacksbbq.com.More onlineFrom Ellinger to Galveston, and San Leon toLake Whitney, check out TH readers’ favorite stopsfor kolaches, mac and cheese, and fish and shrimponline at www.texashighways/comfort.ph o t o : Eric W. PohlNov e m b e r 2015 texashighways.com43
BurgersIf you’re a recent arrival in Texas, youmay not have heard that our state gavebirth to the hamburger, but now youknow: Allegedly created in the late1880s at an East Texas café owned bya man named Fletcher Davis, the hamburgerwas introduced to a larger audience at the1904 St. Louis World’s Fair—and the rest,as they say, is history. Need proof? It’s rightthere on a historical marker on a buildingon the north side of the Henderson CountyCourthouse square in Athens. Certainly,the burger has evolved in marvelous wayssince then, now enjoying toppings thatrange from Stilton cheese to pineapple slices,Hatch green chiles, and avocados. East Texascontinues to make a strong showing amongyour five favorite burger joints in the state,while San Antonio and Hill Country townsdo themselves proud, too.1JucysHamburgersL o n g v i e w , M a r s h a lland Tyler44texashighways.com Nov e m b e r 2015ph o t o :Kevin StillmanOriginating in Longview in 1980, Jucys outpacesits competition with a devoted population of followers.Now with five stores, Jucys is a power to be reckoned with.At each location, beef is ground daily for the hamburgerpatties and French fries are cut every morning from russetpotatoes. When you bite into a burger hot off the griddle,the taste and texture attest to handcrafting that you don’tfind in a uniform patty from a box. You’ll need two handsto eat this bad boy, and a generous appetite to match.Among topping temptations, the bacon and blue cheesecombination is hard to resist, but you can’t go wrong withthe burger laden with grilled onions and melted cheddarcheese. Oh, and the buns are always toasty-warm from thegrill, too. Loyal fan Amanda Hayes McCary writes, “Jucys’are by far the best in Texas. You’d be hard-pressed to find abetter burger.” www.jucyshamburgers.com.Nov e m b e r 2015 texashighways.com45
Chicken -FriedSteak1The most popular dish amongcowboys driving cattle to market,the chicken-fried steak began asa simple pounded steak—usuallya cheap cut that the chuck-wagoncook tenderized with a good walloping—thatwas cloaked in flour, salt, and pepper, andthen fried in a skillet. If milk were available,the steak would be dipped in the liquid beforebattering and frying. Today’s version hasn’tchanged too much in theory, though cookssometimes use heavy cream instead of milk,add paprika or other spices to the seasoningmix, or serve the steak with chili or a fried egginstead of cream gravy. Some fancy restaurantsmake this Texas standard with rib-eye oranother high-quality cut of beef. Readers nearlyunanimously picked a near-West Texas café asserving their favorite version, but restaurantsin San Antonio, Tomball, Irving, and SanAngelo also won votes.46texashighways.com Nov e m b e r 2015ph o t o :Brandon JakobeitMary's Cafes t r aw nThough Mary’s opened in 1986,this landmark in the hamlet about an hourwest of Fort Worth feels as though it wereplucked out of the 1950s. People travelingacross North and West Texas often plantheir trips to coincide with meals at Mary’s,and specifically to eat the renowned CFS.It’s not as pretty as some—it’s not encasedin a billowy, golden-fried jacket of crust—but it is breaded, pan-fried, and extremelytasty. The small portion can feed a smallfamily, the medium might suit a footballteam, and we cannot imagine who couldtackle the large order, which spills fromthe plate. (As Don Reeves of Bedford says,“Newcomers usually gasp at the first sightof it. Even regulars laugh at its monstrosity,even though they've seen it a thousandtimes.”) Ask for gravy on the side to swirleach bite in as you see fit, or for dunkingpieces of your grilled Texas toast. FrankWoodall of Pflugerville puts it best, “Thecrispiness of the crust, tenderness of themeat (cuts with a fork), with gravy and aside of French fries, just makes you feelgood inside.” Call 254/672-5741.ph o t o : Eric W. PohlNov e m b e r 2015 texashighways.com47
Tex-MexIt’s a Texan birthright to argue for afavorite Tex-Mex plate and place.What all Texans seem to agree on isthat Tex-Mex is simply the finest variation of Mexican food in existence.The folks west of here from New Mexico toCalifornia can have their versions—just giveus our cheese enchiladas, fajitas, puffy tacos,and chips and salsa, please. It’s certainlyworth noting that credit for inventing thecombination plate goes to El Fenix, a Dallaslandmark since 1918. Why we crave thisfood is simple, according to the late andmuch-missed Tex-Mex ambassador andrestaurateur Matt Martinez Jr. of Austin:It was Matt’s belief that the combination ofprotein, carbs, and fat just makes us feel sogood, we want to eat it everyday—and so wedo. The food his family made famous is inyour top five, of course.1Joe T. Garcia’sMexican Restaurantfort Worth48texashighways.com Nov e m b e r 2015ph o t o :Will van OverbeekNow 80 years strong, Joe T’s remainsa larger-than-life Texas legend. Grown from atiny dining room in the Garcia family home toa sprawling series of lively rooms and gardensthat can seat up to 1,000 at a time, this institution has customers lined up and down the blockseveral times a week, waiting for a table.Known primarily for combination dinnersof enchiladas, tacos, guacamole, and rice andbeans, as well as sizzling fajitas platters, Joe T’sis a favorite spot for sitting on the beautiful patioand sipping strong margaritas. Still run by thefounding family, the restaurant does a goodSunday brunch, too. www.joets.com.Nov e m b e r 2015 texashighways.com49
Just as bands like Alabama Shakes and the Carolina Chocolate Drops are State of the Plate Comfort Food’s Contemporary Comeback . creating a modern version of rhythm-and-blues and country music, young chefs in new Texas restaurants . Huntsville, Tyler, Rockport, Dallas, and Fort Worth, t
