Posts filed under ‘Santa Maria Style BBQ’
The Classic Cuts of Santa Maria Barbecue
While tri-tip has become synonymous with Santa Maria Style Barbecue in recent decades, it’s not the only cut available to those who want to enjoy or prepare an authentic Santa Maria BBQ meal.
Indeed, some visitors actually complain when they learn that a local restaurant doesn’t offer tri-tip, saying that it’s not true Santa Maria Barbecue—all the while looking at a menu featuring top block sirloin or prime rib, the two founding cuts of this regional culinary tradition.
Yes, it’s true. Prime rib roast was prevalent in the early days of Santa Maria Style Barbecue, and top block sirloin is another enduring cut from the past. Then, in the 1950s, a Santa Maria butcher popularized the tri-tip cut. Soon, tri-tip was lifted from carnivorous obscurity and became an integral part of the authentic Santa Maria Style Barbecue experience.
But as wonderful as tri-tip is, don’t forget that there’s more than one cut when it comes to savoring Santa Maria BBQ!
National Love for Local Tradition
Once upon a time, Santa Maria Style Barbecue was a truly local secret, but as with all good things, the word has begun to spread far and wide. Indeed, we earlier looked at a tri-tip specialist in New York City, and more recently featured a Santa Maria BBQ restaurant in the California desert.
Now, across the wires comes additional word of Santa Maria Style Barbecue popping up in formerly unlikely places. First up, we have the Mavericks Oak Pit Grill in Golden, Colorado. According to a recent report, the restaurant invites patrons “to experience a new style of BBQ: Santa Maria features all-natural top sirloin grilled over oak wood (not what commonly comes to mind with barbecue).”
(A new style of BBQ? New for Colorado, perhaps. But we must remind everyone that our local barbecue tradition is rooted in the 19th century!)
The report continues, “Letting the meat speak for itself is what Santa Maria-style is all about. Not covering over the skill of the pitmaster with a zingy sauce is a bold move, but it shows the confidence and skill with which Maverick’s grills all its meats.”
Well said!
Santa Maria Style Barbecue is also getting a foothold in the Windy City at Lillie’s Q restaurant. There, Chef Charlie McKenna “serves a hodgepodge of influences that favors variety over one local style. Coleslaw-topped pulled pork sandwiches are distinctly Carolinian; smoked tri-tip is native to Santa Maria, California…”
In other words, the secret of Santa Maria BBQ is increasingly out. At the end of the day, there’s nothing like enjoying it right here in the Santa Maria Valley, prepared by the local masters with truly local ingredients. But it can’t hurt to have folks’ appetites for Santa Maria BBQ being whetted elsewhere as well.
On that note, we give a tip of the pitmaster’s hat to our Santa Maria BBQ ambassador’s across the nation!
The Evolution of Santa Maria BBQ
While Santa Maria Style Barbecue is firmly rooted in specific traditions, methods and ingredients, it has also slowly evolved over time to achieve what we now recognize as the “style” of Santa Maria.
For example, tri-tip beef and Santa Maria-style grills with adjustable screens are now considered staples of authentic Santa Maria Style Barbecue in the Santa Maria Valley. But in the earliest days of Santa Maria Barbecue, other cuts of beef were strung on wooden poles and cooked over earthen pits filled with hot red oak coals.
In his book Santa Maria Style Barbecue, local barbecue historian R.H. Tesene writes, “The Santa Maria Barbecue grew out of this tradition and achieved its ‘style’ when local residents began to string cuts of beef on skewers or rods and cook the meat over the hot coals of a red oak fire.”
As the popularity of this style grew, above-ground grills were naturally embraced as a more practical way to cook the meat. And while stringing the meat on steel rods remained popular for large community barbecues, adjustable screens became increasingly common for smaller preparations. Today, small backyard Santa Maria-style grills are common across the valley and beyond.
The choice of meat has also evolved. Prime rib and top block sirloin were long the favored cuts, but beginning in the 1950s, tri-tip emerged as another signature cut of Santa Maria Style Barbecue. Today, tri-tip has become synonymous with Santa Maria Style Barbecue, and you will also see top sirloin and prime rib offered by local barbecue restaurants.
Santa Maria-style seasoning, locally grown pinquito beans, grilled buttered French bread, fresh salsa, tossed green salad and strawberry dessert also remain essential components of the traditional Santa Maria BBQ dining experience. And with the emergence of the Santa Maria Valley wine country, you could also say that the “official” menu is evolving to include a glass of local wine!
Santa Maria BBQ Sizzles on TastingTable.com
Santa Maria Barbecue’s red-hot summer continues as leading food and wine web site TastingTable.com turns the spotlight this week on California’s native barbecue style: “Patriotic displays of meat grilling and beer drinking will take place across the nation next Monday. But in our state, it’s only right to represent the Stars and Stripes and the Bear Flag by opting for a Santa Maria-style cookout.”
Hear, hear!
TastingTable.com adds, “The distinctively shaped grills you’ll find dotting the streets throughout Santa Barbara County on weekends are as integral to this regional grilling style as the red-oak fires that fuel them.”
The site also recommends Santa Barbara County Syrah as a perfect wine match for Santa Maria Style Barbecue. We might also suggest a Cabernet Sauvignon from the Santa Ynez Valley or even a fuller-bodied, spicier Pinot Noir from the Santa Maria Valley.
On that note, we are wishing you all a festive 4th of July filled with friends, festivity and, of course, Santa Maria BBQ!
American Cowboy Salutes “The Best Ranch BBQ”
On the heels of high-profile coverage in FoxNews.com and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Santa Maria Style Barbecue is once again in the sizzling spotlight as the latest issue of American Cowboy magazine declares it “The Best Ranch BBQ.”
In the accompanying piece, food and travel writer Laurel Miller elaborates on the origins of Santa Maria BBQ as a celebratory meal prepared at local ranchos in the mid 1800s, with native ingredients and methods becoming what is today known as Santa Maria Style Barbecue. She writes, “California’s mild climate favored outdoor cooking, and barbecues were the way to celebrate special occasions, uniting family, friends, neighbors and workers.”
The piece includes a recipe for preparing Santa Maria Style Barbecue, and it features a classic photo of Billy Ruiz of Cowboy Catering slicing into a perfectly seasoned cut with trailing wisps of steam.
Thanks to American Cowboy and Laurel Miller for spreading the flavorful good news about Santa Maria Style Barbecue.
Fox News Spotlights Santa Maria BBQ
The barbecue season is heating up, and so is recognition for Santa Maria Style Barbecue.
Two weeks ago, we saw a big spread on Santa Maria BBQ in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Next, our local barbecue style was featured in an official itinerary published by the California Travel and Tourism Commission.
And now FoxNews.com has published a magnificent feature story on the origins and ingredients of Santa Maria Style Barbecue.
In the story, writer Elena Ferretti observes, “California and its agricultural bounty has spawned an entire cuisine. California Cuisine emphasizes local ingredients harvested at their peak, prepared simply, without heavy sauces. Of course, as goes its cuisine, so goes its ‘cue, known by the locals as Santa Maria Barbecue. In it, Tri-tip beef replaces traditional fatty, tough cuts, and indigenous Santa Maria Valley red oak stands-in for hickory, mesquite or post oak.”
She adds, “Given its historical roots and native ingredients, the fact that it’s hard to find only adds to the irony.”
But, of course, this blog exists to help you find it. For starters, you can visit one of our local barbecue restaurants, or you can cook it yourself by ordering tri-tip, seasoning, red oak and more from local purveyors.
Thanks to Elena Ferretti and FoxNews.com for spreading the sizzling good news about Santa Maria Style Barbecue!
Golden State Shines on Santa Maria BBQ
The flavorful bounty of California’s Central Coast is the subject of a new recommended itinerary produced by the California Travel and Tourism Commission (CTTC), and Santa Maria Style Barbecue is, naturally, featured as an essential part of the journey.
In its itinerary titled Savor The Flavors of The Central Coast, CTTC recommends: “Taste your way down the Santa Maria Wine Trail and sample the valley’s celebrated Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. Then pair local varietals with Santa Maria Barbecue (the Central Coast’s tradition of cooking over red-oak log fires) at Guadalupe’s Far Western Tavern.”
The itinerary spans the fresh garlic of Gilroy to the north, all the way down to the wineries of Oxnard to the south, with stops in Paso Robles, Pismo Beach and Santa Barbara along the way.
The bottom line is that no visit to the Central Coast is complete without a taste of Santa Maria BBQ!
Santa Maria BBQ Sizzles in Arkansas Spotlight
Our thanks go out to Food Editor Kelly Brant of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette for her fine feature this week on Santa Maria Style Barbecue.
In her story titled “Cowboy Cuisine: Santa Maria-style barbecue at home on the range,” Brant writes, “When it comes to barbecue, most of us are familiar with the big boys: Memphis, Texas, Kansas City, the Carolinas. Some of us even know Korean.”
“But there’s another barbecue out there, worthy of recognition. It’s Santa Maria.”
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves!
Brant continues, “The style, which dates back to the mid-1800s, evolved from local ranchers’ and cowboys’ Spanish-influenced barbecuing techniques…Beef is the traditional meat. And there’s no sauce to overwhelm or mask the flavor.”
The story also kindly mentions this blog, as well as local barbecue experiences such as the Hitching Post and Susie Q’s Brand.
We suspect that the aromas of red oak and sizzling tri-tip may rise from more than a few back yards in Little Rock this summer! And as always, we extend our invitation to everyone to visit the Santa Maria Valley and experience our local flavors to their fullest.
A Desert Outpost for Santa Maria BBQ
The Desert Sun reports that a new outpost for Santa Maria Style Barbecue has opened in Old Town Indio, which is located east of Palm Desert in Southern California.
The Warehouse BBQ was established by Ian Lasley and his brother-in-law, Orlando Cepeda. Santa Maria tri-tip is their specialty. Photos of various Santa Maria landmarks, such as the Santa Maria Inn, line the walls of the restaurant.
According to the article, “The Cepedas are natives to the Santa Maria area. Orlando Cepeda learned to cook the special barbecue from his father and uncle, who made it a family tradition for more than 30 years.”
It adds, “The partners make frequent trips to Santa Maria for the oak and pinquito beans.”
It sure sounds like these guys have some serious Santa Maria BBQ street cred. We’ve heard of other out-of-area restaurants specializing in Santa Maria BBQ, but few that pay such localized tribute to the Santa Maria Valley.
We wish them the best in their exciting new endeavor and thank them for spreading the sizzling good news about Santa Maria Style Barbecue!
Today Show Meets Tri-Tip
Chef Guy Fieri once again brought his fiery brand of culinary chops to the Today Show the other day, and this time he packed a tasty little treat: tri-tip. Click here to view the video.
While Fieri didn’t prepare Santa Maria Style Barbecue, it was still a nifty spotlight for the Santa Maria Valley’s signature cut. Click here to learn more about how tri-tip gained its initial fame right here on California’s Central Coast.
Perhaps the best part of the video is when Matt Lauer asks, “What is tri-tip, exactly?” He’s far from alone, as even many butchers outside of California remain unfamiliar with tri-tip.
For a long time, tri-tip was our little secret in the Santa Maria Valley, but now the secret is increasingly out, as evidenced by this latest piece of publicity.
