Barbecue is a meal, or gathering at which meat, fish, or other food is cooked out of doors on a rack over an open fire or on a grill. The words originated in the mid 17th century : from Spanish ” barbacoa “. The original sense of the word, meant some sort of wooden framework for sleeping on, or for storing meat, or fish to be dried.

Well my Dad did not have one of those fancy propane fired portable grills one see in the stores today, nor did he have one of these La-De-Da Built-In Grill which normally comes with a La-De-Da Patio, and a La-De-Da Swimming Pool, not there is anything wrong with those things. But after seeing my dad in action around his Silver painted, 55 Gallon Barrel/Drum which had been converted into a Barbecue Grill, none of those others even come close to being as good. It was cool barbecue pit, Dad had even welded a little chimney on top of one end, and what I always thought was neat was this little door at the bottom side, opposite side from the chimney, with one of those slot latch like handle. When I think about it it really wasn’t much to look at, but it was the pure utility of it, that made it just right in my book.

Any how, Dad and Mom would plan these get togethers for Family Members, like Uncle H.O. and Aunt Mary, Grandpa and Grandma Ragland, and my Brother’s Ralph and Ken and their crews (wives and kids), and Sisters Barbara and Silvia, and each of their crews ( that Husbands and Kids), and occasionally people Mom and Dad knew or worked with would also come by to join the crowd.

Heck I remember one year around Christmas Time, and I believe, it was the last times we all were together with all our Kids at the same time. It was around 1976, in Sinton, Texas. At that time, Mom and Dad lived, at 520 West Borden Street, just off Texas Highway 181, just a block from its intersection with Texas Highway 77, and across from the H.E.B. It was GREAT, and even though it was around Christmas, Texas Weather came through as usual, with a beautiful Sunny Day, with temperatures in the 70s.

Now my Dad was an early riser, he would get up before the chickens, way before the break of dawn. He would and did so probably all his life. Come the day of the barbecue, he would start the mesquite wood burning in the belly of Ol’ Silver 55 Gallon Drum, real early, so it would make some mighty hot coals for cooking. By the time I got up, and got the young ones stuffed full of breakfast, Mom would have already placed the short ribs in a pan, seemed like a third of the way full with Dad’s Special Barbecue Sauce. Later there would be Sausage Links, Chicken, and a few Baby-Back Ribs for the grill. Every now and again, a steak would sneak in to join the rest on the grill, but not to often, as I remember. By the time these last items placed on the grill most everyone who were coming had arrived.

Everyone would bring something. There was always plenty to eat. There was at least Two Potato Salads; a Big Pot of Pinto Beans cooked with a block of Ham thrown in along with a buch of other spices only Mom knew about; fresh from the garden salad ( or the local H.E.B. Grocery store, Produce section) full of lettuce, tomato, and sometimes onions; there were at least three loaves of Mrs. Bairds, sliced thick white bread, and a few bags Frito Corn Chips and Lays Potato Chips, and of course always the refreshing Texas Ice Tea, which seemed to run from the water tap in the kitchen as the pitcher almost never seemed empty. Desert usually was homemade Apple Pie with Blue Bell Vanilla Ice Cream, and if Mom had time there would be a Lemon and Chocolate Meringue pies, and in later years a Banana Cake (Brother Ralph’s Favorite). Sometimes, someone would bring an Aunt Phyliss Chocolate Cake, or Mom’s Monkey Bread Cake or Funnel Cakes, etc. There were always lots of deserts.

Before any thing would go on the grill it had to be cleaned. Now the grill set on to iron rails which had been welded to the inside of the Drum from one end to the other, setting parallel to one another, just below the edge of the bottom two thirds of the Drum. The grill was nothing more than a piece of interlaced flat, heavy mesh metal about a quarter inch thick ot my recollection. After the wood was burning real hot, Dad would take a Steel Brush and brush the heck out of it, almost until it shinned. I have done this a time or two for him, and it is hot, hot, hot work to get it clean and ready.

Dad would continue to tend to the mesquite wood as it was needed, opening the little door or closing it, and the top to get just he right amount smoke flavor into the meats. Then opening the top to the grill back up, and back to the turning and sopping of those pieces of meat. He never used a brush that I recall, he always had this white cheese cloth, I believe, but maybe it was just one of Moms white dish towels. Anyway he would take this cloth and he would dab it into a bowl of his Barbecue sause, and then dabbed and patted the sauce from the cloth onto the meat. The Link Sausage, we called them Summer Sausages, why I do not know. These were one of my favorites, and they did not need sauce, but they had to be watched closely, and turned as needed so they would not burn.

Dad knew just when it was the right time, to turn all the meats, and which ones to dab with the sauce, and how much they needed dabbing, and finally the right time to take them off the grill.

In my book, Dad is the all time Master Barbecuer, and he certainly was master of that Silver, welded 55 Gallon Drum Barbecue setup. Those were good times and good days to remember.

What makes this the One of My Dad’s Great Barbecues ?

All of my Dad’s barbecues were great, but this was one was really special, it was the last time that I remember all of us, his Children and Grandchildren, being together at the same time, as a Family.

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© Texas Tortilla Factory 2006 – Mike Vauthier