{The Map}

Travel with us through the world of central Texas barbecue to meet pit masters from famous barbecue or sausage meccas like Lockhart, Taylor, and Elgin. Come back to familiar haunts as well as to places you have never heard of but will soon be eager to try—back road finds, hidden urban gems, and community gatherings.

Go behind the scenes as we visit feedlots, ultra-modern sausage factories, and sustainable forests growing hardwoods for barbecue pits. Listen with us as diverse Texans share their stories and secrets of lives in barbecue, a republic of barbecue.

We’re here on the Southern Foodways Alliance website because of our partnership with SFA. On the following pages you can explore oral histories, learn about the book we’ve written, and get to know the team behind the project.

Think of us a welcoming outpost on the barbecue trail. A place you can linger as you get to know our part of Texas with us.

What does barbecue tell us about who we are--as Texans, as Americans,
as men and women, and, in the words of May Archie, a barbecuer
from Huntsville, Texas, "white, black, blue, and green"?