The classic cut is beef brisket and the premium portion is the wide, meaty first cut.
The first cut, or flat portion of the brisket, is available oven-ready at supermarkets all over the country.
Treats from the smoker include beef ribs ($16), burnt ends (cubed bits of brisket, $6 for an appetizer portion), pulled pork and brisket sandwiches, a wrap that combines pulled pork, dirty rice and cheese, and a club sandwich of ham, brisket, pulled pork and bacon ($7 for most sandwiches).
It's been an increasingly difficult endeavor, with slaughterhouses driving up their prices for brisket and navel, an extra fatty portion of the belly crucial for making unctuous pastrami.
The offerings here reflect an East Texas-style of barbecue with big portions of meaty ribs and brisket accompanied by traditional Southern sides of collard greens and potato salad.
Generous portions of beef ribs ($12.50), brisket ($12.50), chicken ($9.50 for a half chicken) and turkey wings ($8.50) are marinated and smoked for hours over a hickory, apple and cherry wood fire, then spiced with a dry rub and finished on the grill.
The order filled an entire notebook page and included more than 50 portions of rendang daging, Indonesian-style brisket.
The choices are: excellent herbed chicken soup with a fluffy matzo ball seasoned with fenugreek ($16), banana leaf fish patties ($28), beet salad ($16), chicken tikka ($24, top left) and brisket spiced with ginger and chilies ($34), all in portions to serve two.
The menu consists of pulled pork or pulled chicken sandwiches, $5.95; chopped or sliced beef brisket sandwiches, $6.50; pork ribs and chili, price depending on portion size; and sides (baked beans, cole slaw, potato salad, corn bread).
Especially fine value (in a place where everything is modestly priced to start with) was Sally's pig out at dinner, a huge portion of pulled pork and tender, sliced beef brisket, with pepperjack cheese grit and Memphis rice and beans.
