Black's, Kreutz or Smitty's in Lockhart. Salt Lick in Austin, for the family and tourist trade. Cooper's in Llano, long an oasis for traditionalists.

As previously noted, sweetenings in BBQ sauce ranks close to the Albigensian Heresy as anathema. Additionally, barbecue is at its best served on butcher paper, un-sauced, minimal accompaniments except for bread ("store bought", what my Granny called "light Bread"), pickles and onions and a thin "dipping sauce" on the side.

Sausage can be a world of its own, with some of the small packing house brands being superlative. Towns like Elgin, Snook, West Station and Brenham can be visited for no other reason than to buy sausage. Then there are "Hot Links", the poor man's meat treat, "ring bologna" beatified, an East Texas standard.

Cabrito and Lamb require both a gentle heat and a very careful pit man. Then there are the appetizer courses, not barbecue, but "smoked", mullet, wild goose and some wild ducks, gems of the home smoker's art. Can you still find smoked mullet in the "Fish Camps' which once could be found on the "Redneck Riviera" from Pensacola to Apalachicola?

Long ago, 5 decades or so, the ribs at Lou Bono's in JAX were hard to match, but occasional repeat visits reveal a sad descent toward mediocrity (at best).

Pork can be good, but much of the finely chopped "Pulled Pork" served in the Carolinas, etc., reminds me of the contents of some canned military rations of my youth. Just give me a large section of the pig, and I'm happier. Pulled Pork falls into same same category as "Barbacoa" (the best made from the head), convenient, but not barbecue, and usually not up to snuff.

As for "Santa Maria", there's nothing wrong with grilling, except calling it BBQ.

God created brisket to supply the carnal appetites, sophisticated palates and refined tastes of Jews and Texans, two cultures under-appreciated for their substantial contributions to mankind.