Top Chef Texas premieres tomorrow on Bravo (I know it’s already in the can) and I look forward to it.
My dear husband grew up on a dairy farm, now a cattle ranch in TX and graduated A&M. Physics. Not what you thought, right? I lived there with him for six years, so far, and it is my adopted state.
I grew up in a dairy, grape and apple town in upstate NY but we led very different lives. I respect Texas and its people and hope Top Chef and its contestants will do so as well.
Louis Mueller’s in Taylor TX, The Salt Lick in Driftwood south of Austin, I’ve had their BBQ fedexed to me in NY for a family picnic. Brisket, ribs and sausages were incredible. Jim’s Uncle Bobby built himself a towable BBQ rig and babysits those briskets for 13 hours!
Baptism by fire, my soon-to-be husband brought me there to meet his folks to get their OK before we married and stuck me at a family Thanksgiving with over 50 of his relatives for 12 hours. He stopped by and said hello perhaps twice, and for the next couple of days his mama told me how difficult he was to live with. All this in a dry county. If there’s any time I could’ve used a glass of wine to calm my nerves, it was then.
It all worked out and it was nice being able to drive to see family in 4-5 hours. Now we’re 1,600 miles away and that means a plane.
To Top Chef-testants, even though you already know the winner, respect Texas. Don’t try to look like a Texan if you’re not. An homage to Texas, perhaps a belt, not boots or a hat yet, is OK. NEVER insult anyone’s mama or grandmama.
Always accept a glass of iced tea and don’t spit it out if they didn’t tell you in advance it was sweet tea. Learn how to make sweet tea. Know that there’s sugar in everything and that Ambrosia is served alongside turkey.
Know that Germans settled in Austin and New Braunfels and brought sausage-making along with great BBQ brisket.
NO COW-TIPPING! And wave back to anyone who drives by on a farm-to-market or County road. Feel free to laugh at the road signs that say “Drive Friendly.” I still do after many years.
Texas thinks it’s an independent state, once a nation. But it is one of the most paternalistic states I’ve ever lived in. Then again, now I’m in Utah…. Watch Top Chef! Dee
Cooking with Dee 