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Speaker 1: I'm Daniel Vaughn, Barbecue editor at Texas Monthly, and this

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is Fire and Smoke, the Texas Monthly Barbecue podcast, brought

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to you by YETI. Well, it's that time of year again.

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A Texas Monthly Barbecue Festival is coming up this weekend.

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We've got events on Saturday. Both of those are sold

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out at the Q Course at styles Switch and Franklin

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and Friends Dinner at the Franklin Barbecue. We wanted to

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have a little conversation with one of the pitmasters who's

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going to be part of the festival, Miguel Vidal of

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Valentina's text mex Barbecue. He's going to be out there

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with twenty nine of the best barbecue pit masters the

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state has to offer, serving their best dishes to anybody

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who wants to walk by a table and grab a dish.

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Here's Miguel Vidall, Hello, how's it going?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, how are you?

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Speaker 3: I'm doing well.

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Speaker 1: How are you dealing with this whole boiling water thing?

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And got a problem here in Austin.

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Speaker 3: Well, I was just telling some of my guys earlier today.

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We were kind of talking about this issue. It hasn't

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really affected us too much because as you guys know

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we or if you don't know, we operate out of

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a series of food trucks creating a compound down in

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South Austin, and so having minimal water and working with

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you know, three compartment sinks and and maybe some sort

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of water issues once in a while, is no, nothing

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new to us.

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Speaker 1: So well, and I guess you're cooking barbecue all the

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time and in the smokers, you don't need any water

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to operate those.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, non non necessarily need any water. And you know

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we boiling water to make our pental beans or to

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get the water hot for our massa for the tortillas

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is not really a big deal.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so masa for your tortillas. So you must be

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making your own down there.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, we make our own, so we have to, you know,

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get that water nice and hot and mix it all in.

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We make our flour right now. We do make corn

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from time to time, but not always in this mostly

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just a spacing issue at the moment. Once we finally

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get this restaurant up and running.

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Speaker 1: One day, the restaurant up and running, well, let's before

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we get to the restaurant, let's go back to where

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you started and when you.

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Speaker 3: Started we started back in twenty thirteen. We opened up

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behind the Star Bar on West sixth Street in February,

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and that was pretty daunting because it was about it

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was the weekend of Valentine's Day. It was Valentine's weekend,

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and it was two weeks before south By Southwest, and

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I opened up, you know, just like guns blazing. I

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was all on fire, like we're gonna go tear this up.

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I'm gonna show people what text next barbeque is. We

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got our butts kicked and hand it to us that

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week and I was running out checking fires with the

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two little baby pits we had at the time and

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cutting and slicing mean and rolling tortillas by hand, and

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I had to call for reinforcements. So I reached back

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and my mom she came up and help us.

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Speaker 2: Rose, your mom helps you. Oh yeah, you had to call.

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Speaker 3: We got the familia involved, you know. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Well you told me at one point that you make

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great tortillas, but your tortillas aren't never going to be

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as good as what your mom made.

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Speaker 3: It doesn'll never be as good as my mom's. Uh,

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you know, they come pretty close, but there's just something

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about my mom can have like a three or four

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day tortillas sitting on the counter. I could go eat

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it and it tastes fresh. No, I don't know what

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it is. It must be the oils in the hands

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or something.

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Speaker 2: Well.

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Speaker 1: And so you you made me weren't so successful that

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first week or whatever, but you certainly turned Valentinas into

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something quite successful on Sixth Street.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean I had actually run a restaurant down

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there for quite some time. It was called ran Sticks

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one six. So I thought that my you know, my

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experience and the opportunities that were presented to me at

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rand Chicks one six helped out significantly. I had been

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in that neighborhood for many years, and I think that

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when we opened up Valentina's there was kind of like

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that anticipation to see if I was gonna come through

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with what I had been talking about, and that was

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really There was a lot of support from the local

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businesses around, from the bars around us, and people that

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would frequent the area. And I think the biggest key

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to the success was us knowing that, you know, I

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had a really great team as far as my brother

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was around, and my wife is a really big part

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of our business, and my family would help out. But

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the dedication that we put in from the very beginning,

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and us going and knowing that it was going to

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be eighteen twenty one hour days and people seeing us

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around the clock smoking barbecue in the middle of downtown

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in the alley between the Rato N and Star War,

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I think that that had a big part of our

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success or white people would flock to us to try

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our food, and you know, not just the small little,

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you know, reputation I had in the neighborhood from running

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ran Hicks one six, But I think the combination of

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things kind of helped helped out well.

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Speaker 1: And the fact too that you had this the sign

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on the side of the trailer that was text Mes Barbecue,

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which back in twenty thirteen that didn't mean a whole

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lot to anybody. Nobody knew quite what that what that

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term meant, or what that meant for the sort of

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barbecue you were going to be putting out. What does

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it mean to you when you open it up and

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you use that name.

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Speaker 3: Well, that was kind of a when I was working

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at rand Hicks one six. Throughout the many years, I

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was always you know, working closely with my cousin who

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was a chef and helping create dishes or having ideas

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for it. But I was always going back home and

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doing my own thing, and I would go back to

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my parents' house and the same thing my dad was.

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My dad has barbecued or grew my whole life. I've

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always been around it, and so I have my uncles

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and my grandfather's and whatnot. But the initial idea for

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Valentino's was to have a smaller restaurant that was full

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service with servers and whatnot, and using the elements of

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smoke and fire in my childhood of barbecue, and mostly

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trying to elevate San Antonio style or I guess a

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text Mex style of cooking. I guess an example of

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that would be having feedale, which is a dish I

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grew up on eating, which is I used to say

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vermicelling noodles for the longest time, and I was corrected,

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like about five years ago. Its vermicelli. I guess that's

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what happens to grow up on the south side of

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San Antonio. But so this dish classically at home is

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you know, either chattle beans or rewrite beans with with

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the brown Vermonicillian noodles brown the with butter, and then

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we create a broth that has this Spanish rice or

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Mexican rice type flavor, and the noodles are dropped in

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the broth and it's served sometimes a little soupy, sometimes

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it's a little thicker. It's depending on the preference of

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whoever's cooking it, but always with like a gutta nipeak,

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other a beef piccadillo and beans and side of tortillas.

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So the idea initially Valentinos was stemmed around dishes like that,

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and I wanted to elevate those and do like tricolored

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roasted potatoes with the video and have smoked tenor loins

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sliced off on top with fannoln avocado and some pickled

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veggies or onions or something to go along with it.

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Maybe taking the idea of having a sixteen hour brisket

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that was sliced up on top of enchiladas.

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Speaker 1: So taking all these comfort foods from your childhood, from

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your home in San Antonio and adding a layer of

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smoke to.

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Speaker 3: It, in the layer of smoke and fire and really

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kind of you know, infusing those together and elevating the

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Mexican food that I grew up eating.

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Speaker 1: So it wasn't about sort of starting with starting with

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barbecue like smoke brisket or ribs, and trying to figure

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out how to provide a textmex flavor to it. No,

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you were starting with the text mech side of what

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you grew up with and adding the barbecue and.

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Speaker 3: Adding to it and adding the barbecue because barbecue is

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something that's always been around. But I wanted to really

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emphasize the Mexican dishes I guess that we were doing.

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But I had gotten carried away a little bit, like

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how's that like the dishes were ever getting too complex?

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You know what I mean? I was like, I was

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kind of you know, I had just like put everything

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together and it was it was going to be too much.

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And I remember that there's a distinct moment in time

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that is very clear memory of how Valentine has became

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what it is today. I have a notebook cook all

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these different recipes and dishes using you know, having different

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like fish entrees and whatnot, and using lamb and goat

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and all these things. But I remember going home and

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I had gone home for the weekend visit my parents,

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and my mom had made rice, beans, some tortillas. She

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made some fresh salcea. And you know, my mom never

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made what you would think of typical guacamolli, right with

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basically onions, tomato, cilantro and torontos mixed in with the avocado.

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It was always just some avocado taken out, smashed up

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with the fork, a little bit of salt. So that's

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what my mom had on the table. And my dad

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had made. I remember he'd loved doing half chickens on

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the grill. He would grow him. He'd likes some hot

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he likes the skin to get a little crispy. Always

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used the mesquite wood to fire it up. So he

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had some like quarter chicken is what it was, maybe

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some country style pork ribs. And he had smoked a brisket.

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So I remember going home to this meal which had like,

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you know, the true essence of Texas barbecue with the brisket,

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and my mom's home cooking and her rice and beans

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are to die for, and of course the tortillas. And

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we sit down to have dinner, and I just take

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a couple of slices off my dad's brisket, put in

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a tortilla, get the avocado, my mom made in the salsa,

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you know. And as I'm eating a bite of the

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country style pork, grab some rice, I eat the taco

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and I just look over with my dad and I

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was like, this is what it needs to be. He's like,

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what are you talking about. I was like, text, mex barbecue, man,

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this is what it is. Like, Oh, this is what

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you've done for a long time. This is what we've

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done for a long time. And other families in Texas,

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whether they're from Laredo, l Passeo del Rio, Dallas, Houston, Austin,

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I think that the Mexican American culture or the Hano culture,

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this is what is naturally being done in the household,

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and it's not showcased in restaurants. It's not being presented

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this way.

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Speaker 1: And it's not about trying to take these ingredients and

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turn it into a fancy dish or a complicated dish, right,

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It's about taking the most simple versions, the most simple

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ingredients that go into these things and just putting them

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together in a way that to me seems natural. It's

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kind of crazy that what you're doing in twenty what

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you were doing in twenty thirteen seem different when it's like, well,

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of course these things go together, you know, and not

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just taking a slice of brisket and put it in

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a taco, but or put it in a good tortilla.

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But it's like, these flavors of a salsa to me

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go together better with brisket than barbecue sauce.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean in my opinion though too. I mean

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I like a little bit more of the freshness that's

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coming with it than rather in a citrus rather than

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the vinegar, you know, I like those complimenting the meat

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and smoke better. But yeah, it was it was more

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stemming from wanting to represent something that I felt would

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connect with people across the board, no matter what walk

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of life you came from, because when you eat something

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that's home cooked and you can present it into a

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restaurant setting or a food establishment and you can recreate

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those feelings and have that nostalgia, That's what it was about,

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because I remember going home and eating and it was

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just so comforting to me, and it was very simple,

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and my dad was just trying to create the best

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brisket he could, while my mom knew she was awesome

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at making these tortillas and freez but it wasn't about

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her showing off or anything either. It was just her

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creating great food for her family, my dad trying to

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create something good for all of us to enjoy and

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eat well.

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Speaker 1: And that's one of the things that first struck me

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about going to eat at Valentinas was that the brisket

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that I was eating, the ribs, all the barbecue I

241
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was eating, was all good enough to stand on its own.

242
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It was all fantastic barbecue on its own, when so

243
00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:04,039
often taco barbecue tacos that I'd had in the past

244
00:13:04,519 --> 00:13:06,759
were it was a way to cover up at barbecue.

245
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You know, you put enough stuff on it and it

246
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doesn't really matter how good the brisket was in the

247
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first place.

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Speaker 3: That's almost how I felt about when I moved to

249
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Austin in nineteen ninety nine. I kind of felt that

250
00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:23,440
way about the taco scene here. You know, I felt

251
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that people were creating tacos that had so much substance

252
00:13:27,919 --> 00:13:30,519
on them that you weren't really getting the true essence

253
00:13:30,559 --> 00:13:33,799
of like the meat or what was supposed to be

254
00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:36,360
the show stopper inside, right if you got to add

255
00:13:36,399 --> 00:13:39,759
ks on top of it and adding this stuff on

256
00:13:39,799 --> 00:13:42,559
it to like make it better or for your preference,

257
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but I think that each individual ingredient needs to be

258
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able to stand on its own. And when I had

259
00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:51,039
told my dad, like, yeah, text makes barbecue, this is

260
00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:54,000
what Valentina's needs to be, this is what I want

261
00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:57,600
to represent, I decided to strip everything down and think

262
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about barbecue on his own and think about the style

263
00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:03,799
of Mexican food. I grew up eating San Antonio, which

264
00:14:03,799 --> 00:14:06,279
is different from Austin, and it's really similar more I

265
00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:09,639
think to like Laredo del Rio, Apasso type stuff. But

266
00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:12,600
I needed to think about them separately, because the barbecue

267
00:14:12,639 --> 00:14:15,080
did need to stand up, to my opinion, the best

268
00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:20,440
that was around, and the flower tortillas, rice beans and

269
00:14:20,559 --> 00:14:22,639
any of them, you know, the Mexican side of it

270
00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:25,720
didn't necessarily have to meet up stand up to anybody

271
00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:29,320
or anyone in particular, except for what my grandmother and

272
00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:30,679
my mom and my aunts were making.

273
00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:33,240
Speaker 2: Well that's that's a hard act to follow, that rightway.

274
00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:34,879
Speaker 3: Because if anyone want to grows up that way and

275
00:14:34,919 --> 00:14:37,480
they know what Ablita's making, like you have to, like,

276
00:14:37,559 --> 00:14:39,039
you know, really appreciate it.

277
00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:40,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I saw.

278
00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:43,960
Speaker 1: I was down in Mexico City over the last weekend

279
00:14:44,639 --> 00:14:46,679
and I was looking at a at a menu and

280
00:14:46,679 --> 00:14:48,440
somebody was asking me what I wanted, and I was like,

281
00:14:48,879 --> 00:14:50,200
da walita, Like.

282
00:14:50,399 --> 00:14:51,120
Speaker 2: That's what I want.

283
00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:53,159
Speaker 3: Whatever that is, Like, I don't even know what it is,

284
00:14:53,519 --> 00:14:54,120
but that's why.

285
00:14:54,039 --> 00:14:56,000
Speaker 1: If you're putting that on the description of the dish,

286
00:14:56,559 --> 00:14:59,000
that's what I want to try. Well, so you're from

287
00:14:59,039 --> 00:15:01,759
San Antonio. You started this place in downtown Austin, but

288
00:15:01,799 --> 00:15:04,679
you've you've steadily been been drug closer and closer to

289
00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:05,600
San Antonio.

290
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Speaker 3: Yeah, I know, I was thinking about going back home.

291
00:15:08,159 --> 00:15:10,279
I think maybe San Antonio might be ready for a

292
00:15:10,759 --> 00:15:16,519
higher price tackles. No, so what is there still?

293
00:15:16,559 --> 00:15:19,799
Speaker 1: Like the is the prevailing idea that taco should be cheap?

294
00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:22,840
Speaker 3: Well, it's kind of like I was just hanging out

295
00:15:22,879 --> 00:15:25,279
with some of the guys that are some of the

296
00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:27,919
best at the in the business at Whole Halt Cooking,

297
00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:31,200
you know, I was with Sam Jones and and Michael

298
00:15:31,279 --> 00:15:36,440
and stuff, and uh, the idea of creating a dish

299
00:15:38,159 --> 00:15:41,159
because it's for the people or it's kind of like this,

300
00:15:42,679 --> 00:15:48,240
you know, kind of blue collar type cuisine and then

301
00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:52,080
charging a lot for it. That's some people kind of like,

302
00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:54,720
what are you doing, you know, And they talked about

303
00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:58,279
that with their with their whole hogs where they charged

304
00:15:58,279 --> 00:16:01,679
six dollars and seventy and sense for a whohawk sandwich

305
00:16:01,679 --> 00:16:02,279
with coast law.

306
00:16:02,759 --> 00:16:04,720
Speaker 2: And people still think it's too expensive.

307
00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:06,720
Speaker 3: And anything it's too expensive, they want it for three

308
00:16:06,919 --> 00:16:10,559
fifty nine or whatever. So the idea of like a tackle.

309
00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:13,679
In the beginning, my dad looked at me like I

310
00:16:13,759 --> 00:16:16,159
was crazy too, Like you're going to charge five dollars

311
00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:18,919
for a brisket tackle. I was like, who's going to

312
00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:22,399
want to pay for that? I mean, you know. But

313
00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:24,960
the idea of like being able to sell it in Austin,

314
00:16:25,039 --> 00:16:28,279
I think where people want. They want to see the

315
00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:30,159
hard work. They want to see and know where you're

316
00:16:30,159 --> 00:16:32,360
getting your meat from. They want to know that everything's

317
00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:35,320
being handcrafted, handmade or made.

318
00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:37,159
Speaker 2: Fresh, and all that stuff costs money.

319
00:16:37,159 --> 00:16:39,759
Speaker 3: And all that stuff costs money. And in the beginning

320
00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:42,480
some people did kind of be like, that's pretty expensive

321
00:16:42,519 --> 00:16:44,639
for a tackle. But I've always been on the side

322
00:16:44,679 --> 00:16:46,720
where I'm not in it for the money. I'm in

323
00:16:46,759 --> 00:16:48,279
it for the love of the food and wanting to

324
00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:52,360
share what I can do, and so I'm going to

325
00:16:52,519 --> 00:16:54,879
charge what I need to make money and put back

326
00:16:54,879 --> 00:16:57,919
into the business so we can be sustainable. Right, But

327
00:16:57,919 --> 00:17:00,320
at the same time, I'm not going to like caamp

328
00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:03,200
on meat and give you an ounce of meat and

329
00:17:03,240 --> 00:17:05,640
some MENI tortilla like, we're gonna make it worth a while.

330
00:17:05,759 --> 00:17:08,039
So we were, you know, putting close to quarter about

331
00:17:08,039 --> 00:17:09,519
a quarter pounds of meat in the tacos.

332
00:17:09,599 --> 00:17:11,759
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's like, don't tell me how much of Valentino's

333
00:17:11,799 --> 00:17:13,599
taco was worth until you eat it.

334
00:17:13,839 --> 00:17:16,680
Speaker 3: Right, And it's like I was, we were training some new

335
00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:20,079
people earlier this morning, and I was telling into It's like,

336
00:17:20,119 --> 00:17:22,000
you know, there's anywhere from twenty four up to thirty

337
00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:26,319
six hours of like preparation before that taco is served.

338
00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:31,200
You know, we get the meat in, we trim the meat,

339
00:17:31,839 --> 00:17:34,400
we let it. We we trim a whole day before

340
00:17:34,559 --> 00:17:36,920
we're seasoning it. In the morning, it's going on the pits.

341
00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:39,720
It's going for about fourteen to sixteen hours. Then it's

342
00:17:39,759 --> 00:17:42,960
resting for another about six hours or so, and then

343
00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:45,759
we slice the brisket and then there's another We start

344
00:17:45,839 --> 00:17:49,039
making the dough for the tortillas like at midnight, and

345
00:17:49,119 --> 00:17:51,079
it rests. We start rolling them out at three in

346
00:17:51,119 --> 00:17:52,440
the morning because.

347
00:17:52,319 --> 00:17:54,759
Speaker 1: Those tortillas can't just be ready for lunch because you're

348
00:17:54,759 --> 00:17:56,880
serving breakfast right then lunch and dinner.

349
00:17:57,039 --> 00:17:59,240
Speaker 3: Right we serve three times a day. We try and

350
00:18:00,079 --> 00:18:03,200
you know, I'm comfortable with running out of like some

351
00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:06,720
staple items, but we are cooking around the clock to

352
00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:09,359
ensure that we can serve three times a day. Because

353
00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:13,079
I come from a restaurant background, not barbecue, I guess,

354
00:18:13,119 --> 00:18:16,640
you know, as far as restaurant experience goes, and I

355
00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:19,680
want to operate like a restaurant, not like a barbecue joint.

356
00:18:20,359 --> 00:18:23,240
Speaker 2: Well, to do that, you need a building right where.

357
00:18:23,079 --> 00:18:25,759
Speaker 3: We're working on it. But we've created this awesome hybrid

358
00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:28,759
right now. So what did you just call it? Your

359
00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:30,880
our compound, your compound.

360
00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:34,079
Speaker 1: Yeah, so you got the covered dining area and a

361
00:18:34,079 --> 00:18:37,119
couple of trailers. Yeah, but you've got this building that

362
00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:37,880
they all surround.

363
00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:42,160
Speaker 3: So the building has been quite undertaking. You know. I've

364
00:18:42,279 --> 00:18:45,519
helped and assisted and kind of been like a project

365
00:18:45,519 --> 00:18:49,319
manager or whatever with another restaurant, like seeing some renovations

366
00:18:49,319 --> 00:18:52,200
and stuff go through, but I've never taken this on

367
00:18:52,559 --> 00:18:58,079
completely on my own. When we moved to South Austin

368
00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:04,519
the area, Travis County when we moved to the Minchaka location,

369
00:19:05,599 --> 00:19:09,519
and briefly after moving there, it had gotten annexed by

370
00:19:09,599 --> 00:19:13,680
City of Austin, so that had, you know, post some

371
00:19:13,759 --> 00:19:17,160
problems for us to where we had to go through

372
00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:21,759
the whole zoning process all over again. There was no zoning,

373
00:19:22,119 --> 00:19:24,480
and that took about nine months or so.

374
00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:26,880
Speaker 2: Nine months of you just sitting there looking at the building,

375
00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:27,519
just waiting.

376
00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:30,480
Speaker 3: Yeah, so that took roughly nine months. It's been a

377
00:19:30,559 --> 00:19:33,960
year and a half since we've been down there. I

378
00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:36,319
think right now we are in a good spot. There

379
00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:38,559
is some light at the end of the tunnel, and

380
00:19:39,119 --> 00:19:42,079
we actually probably have I think have a meeting on

381
00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:44,920
Monday to see exactly where we're at.

382
00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:48,000
Speaker 1: Okay, So any idea where we when we might expect

383
00:19:48,039 --> 00:19:50,240
to see I got a grand.

384
00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:52,599
Speaker 3: Opening date chosen yet, no grand opening day, but I

385
00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:56,519
hopefully anticipate like breaking ground on building in the next

386
00:19:56,599 --> 00:19:57,680
like three months.

387
00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:00,720
Speaker 2: Okay, Well, I'm sure your employees got to be looking

388
00:20:00,759 --> 00:20:01,079
forward to.

389
00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:04,519
Speaker 3: These guys are tough, man, I can't I you know,

390
00:20:04,799 --> 00:20:06,880
we have a good core group of people. We have

391
00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:10,400
about thirty employees right now, I'd say seventy five percent.

392
00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:11,319
Speaker 2: That is quite a compound.

393
00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:14,440
Speaker 3: That is quite a compound. It's about seventy five percent

394
00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:17,519
of those employees have stuck around for a year plus.

395
00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:20,599
We do have a rotation of some people that come

396
00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:22,480
in and out, but that's the nature of the business,

397
00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:25,119
and I think it's a little extra hard working at

398
00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:28,720
Valentino's when summer hits and getting used to that heat.

399
00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:30,880
We try and do everything we can to make our

400
00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:35,640
guys comfortable. You know, we have deliveries of bottled waters

401
00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:39,000
coming in for the gator rades, and you know, we

402
00:20:39,079 --> 00:20:40,920
try and take care of our guys much as we can.

403
00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:45,400
But the crew down there is, uh, there's some hard

404
00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:47,599
workers and there's a lot of young kids that are

405
00:20:47,599 --> 00:20:50,279
working for us now and they do a really great job.

406
00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:53,400
Speaker 1: Now, you you do the text mix barbecue, But the

407
00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:56,640
last time I was in, I had this sandwich called

408
00:20:57,319 --> 00:20:58,480
Lorena the Queen.

409
00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:01,880
Speaker 3: The Queen, and that's because beef is king in Texas.

410
00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:05,079
Speaker 1: Beef is king, so the pork is queen. Well, so

411
00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:07,160
where did the inspiration for that dish come from?

412
00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:09,079
Speaker 2: Because it wasn't San Antonio, right.

413
00:21:09,279 --> 00:21:12,359
Speaker 3: No, it wasn't san Antonio. So my son plays with

414
00:21:14,319 --> 00:21:17,559
the Barcelona Academy team here, and this past summer he

415
00:21:17,599 --> 00:21:21,400
had the opportunity to go to Barcelona and train for

416
00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:26,200
about two and a half to three weeks or so,

417
00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:29,240
so we decided to make a family trip out of it.

418
00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:33,440
You know, my son and I left first, so I

419
00:21:33,559 --> 00:21:35,599
was in Spain by myself for about three or four

420
00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:37,880
days before my wife and daughter joined us.

421
00:21:38,359 --> 00:21:39,799
Speaker 2: But he was on the soccer field.

422
00:21:39,799 --> 00:21:41,720
Speaker 3: He was on a soccer field, so I was able

423
00:21:41,759 --> 00:21:44,119
to see him, you know, I watched I was able

424
00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:47,359
to watch him practice and maybe have a quick like

425
00:21:47,599 --> 00:21:49,599
evening dinner with him for about forty five minutes or

426
00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:51,599
so during some of the weeks, but for the most

427
00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:53,559
time he was with the soccer team, so I was

428
00:21:53,599 --> 00:21:56,680
able to really just get out and walk around and

429
00:21:56,839 --> 00:22:01,359
enjoy the city and just take everything in. I knew

430
00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:04,119
right away though, once I landed the first thing I

431
00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:07,799
was gonna get with some harmony medical and that was

432
00:22:07,839 --> 00:22:09,759
a fact, Like that was That's exactly what I was

433
00:22:09,799 --> 00:22:11,119
shooting for, you know, because.

434
00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:12,400
Speaker 2: That stuff is so expensive here.

435
00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:14,839
Speaker 3: It's so expensive. I mean, I feel I think it

436
00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:18,160
was like one hundred and thirty bucks a pound or something.

437
00:22:18,279 --> 00:22:20,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, probably, so it's about two hundred dollars a pound

438
00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:22,079
at a store that I go to in Dallas.

439
00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:23,799
Speaker 3: Yeah, so maybe maybe it was a little bit more.

440
00:22:23,839 --> 00:22:25,960
But the Central Market used to carry it, but I

441
00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:27,279
don't know if they always do.

442
00:22:27,759 --> 00:22:29,559
Speaker 1: But yeah, if you're if you're in Spain, I mean

443
00:22:29,559 --> 00:22:32,319
it's like, I mean, it's like as common as uh

444
00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:34,680
as as honey here.

445
00:22:36,319 --> 00:22:37,240
Speaker 2: I mean, it's everywhere.

446
00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:41,680
Speaker 3: It's everywhere, and even like the fast food versions of it,

447
00:22:41,759 --> 00:22:43,759
Like there's companies that kind of put it in a

448
00:22:43,799 --> 00:22:45,519
cone you can just pick it up and walk away,

449
00:22:46,039 --> 00:22:48,519
and that even that's really good. But I had tried

450
00:22:48,599 --> 00:22:51,519
Harmony Medical almost every place I went to, because there's

451
00:22:51,559 --> 00:22:55,799
these little sandwich shops serving you know, the bocadios, the

452
00:22:55,839 --> 00:23:00,079
Spanish sandwiches and whatnot, like on every corner, and you

453
00:23:00,079 --> 00:23:02,920
can get coffee and get some pastries and get the sandwich.

454
00:23:03,559 --> 00:23:06,440
And it was, you know, the most common one or

455
00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:08,160
the easiest one to grab. The one that I was

456
00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:11,319
eating quite a bit had a fresh tomato paste that

457
00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:13,079
was made of was like olive oil and just like

458
00:23:13,119 --> 00:23:15,920
some fresh tomatoes, and that was spread onto like a

459
00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:20,119
baguette and the hormone was shaved off onto it. So

460
00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:23,880
you would just grab that sandwich and I keep on

461
00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:27,839
walking the snack on that and uh, the whole time there,

462
00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:31,880
I'm just like thinking trying different foods all the top

463
00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:35,039
of us, the gambas and whatnot, and you know, I

464
00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:38,880
just I love that hormon and uh, I wanted to

465
00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:43,279
recreate that dish, but give it a Texas spin. You know,

466
00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:46,599
of course everything is bigger in Texas, so I wasn't

467
00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:49,640
gonna have the little bag yet with some little shade pieces.

468
00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:51,200
Speaker 2: No thin down.

469
00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:58,079
Speaker 3: So before we had traveled to Spain, I had gotten

470
00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:01,599
one of my childhood friends I grew up with on

471
00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:03,400
the south side of San Antonio since like the age

472
00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:09,880
of like five. He's a broker for a particular food business,

473
00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:16,000
and he had brought these pork colors in and I

474
00:24:16,079 --> 00:24:18,960
love them because they're like, you know, four by four

475
00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:22,839
inches or whatever. They're pretty, they're fairly small, and I

476
00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:26,960
think you can get like the fattiness almost of almost

477
00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:31,799
like a pork belly type deal in them, but there's

478
00:24:31,839 --> 00:24:35,640
also some the leanness of like a pork loin, and

479
00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:38,319
it comes out tasting like this really awesome ham when

480
00:24:38,319 --> 00:24:43,319
it's cooked properly. And I had got those in before

481
00:24:43,359 --> 00:24:44,799
I left, and I had cooked them up a little

482
00:24:44,799 --> 00:24:47,240
bit and just eating them on their own. And so

483
00:24:47,319 --> 00:24:51,039
when I got to Spain and was eating the Harmony

484
00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:55,519
vehicle there, I kind of almost instantly knew what I

485
00:24:55,559 --> 00:24:59,160
wanted to do with the pork collars. And growing up

486
00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:02,480
in San Antonio, you know, my grandmother always had Boleo bread,

487
00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:05,799
or if you guys don't know, bolio bread. It's almost

488
00:25:05,799 --> 00:25:07,839
like a Mexican kind of French bread, is a little

489
00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:11,160
bit shorter. You use it for tortas and whatnot. But

490
00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:14,319
my grandmother always made boleo bread and with her manudal,

491
00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:17,240
you know, or would make like breakfast sandwiches on it.

492
00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:23,240
I wanted to put that pork collar on Boleo bread,

493
00:25:23,279 --> 00:25:25,960
and I wanted to make like this Texas grand version

494
00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:29,519
of the bolok ideas I was experiencing in Spain. So

495
00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:34,839
when we got home, there wasn't really any overthinking about anything.

496
00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:38,279
I knew that I wanted to use tomatoes, but I

497
00:25:38,279 --> 00:25:41,559
didn't want to keep them raw and fresh. I wanted

498
00:25:41,599 --> 00:25:43,880
to add smoke to them. And we use a little

499
00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:46,240
bit of our dry up as the seasoning and olive oil.

500
00:25:47,759 --> 00:25:50,079
Speaker 1: And so you're like slicing those tomatoes and smoking them

501
00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:51,200
bright in the smoker.

502
00:25:51,279 --> 00:25:53,160
Speaker 3: Yeah, we're slicing bread on the smoker and they go

503
00:25:53,279 --> 00:25:58,640
for about twenty minutes. The pork collars are going for

504
00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:01,519
anywhere from about four to six hours. It kind of

505
00:26:01,559 --> 00:26:04,000
depends on which section of the pit they're cooking on.

506
00:26:04,599 --> 00:26:08,319
But we start glazing them with a We just take

507
00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:11,160
our homemade barbecue sae our house barbecue sauce, and we

508
00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:12,440
ad a little bit of honey to it to give

509
00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:15,200
a little sweetness, and we start glazing the pork colors

510
00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:17,720
about hour to hour and a half into the cook

511
00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:22,440
and we pull those off roughly about four and a

512
00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:28,440
half five hours, and they rest for about, you know,

513
00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:30,920
twenty minutes or so, and we start to slice them

514
00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:33,240
up and we get them ready for service. And this

515
00:26:33,279 --> 00:26:36,079
is only done on Saturday and Sundays, but pork colors

516
00:26:36,079 --> 00:26:38,000
come off sliced up, and what we'll do is we'll

517
00:26:38,039 --> 00:26:40,799
hit them on that flat top for each sandwich and

518
00:26:40,839 --> 00:26:43,759
we'll put very healthy portions of the of the pork

519
00:26:43,759 --> 00:26:47,599
collar about three or four lice fat slices. But before

520
00:26:47,640 --> 00:26:49,960
we do that, we toast off the bilio bread with

521
00:26:50,319 --> 00:26:54,079
butter and we make like this kind of very kind

522
00:26:54,119 --> 00:26:57,640
of a chunky onion paste with white onions that we

523
00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:00,720
cook down for about three and a half hours and

524
00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:01,839
we just take.

525
00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:03,640
Speaker 2: A slow cooking everything.

526
00:27:03,319 --> 00:27:05,440
Speaker 3: So cook it and take a little smasher and we

527
00:27:05,519 --> 00:27:08,720
just smash them up and we just kind of create

528
00:27:08,759 --> 00:27:11,160
this pace that goes onto uh this, and we spread

529
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:14,079
it onto the bilio bread. Then we place support collars

530
00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:16,039
on top after they come off off the flat top

531
00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:20,079
and we hit we top it off with the smoked

532
00:27:20,119 --> 00:27:23,160
tomatoes and a little bit more drizzle of the honey

533
00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:24,160
barbecue sauce.

534
00:27:24,119 --> 00:27:25,599
Speaker 2: And then served open face.

535
00:27:25,599 --> 00:27:26,880
Speaker 3: Served open faces.

536
00:27:27,039 --> 00:27:28,279
Speaker 2: I want another one right now.

537
00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:31,880
Speaker 3: Well, we'll be doing that the Texas Monthly Barbecue Fest.

538
00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:35,319
We'll be doing small bite sized versions of that sandwich.

539
00:27:35,319 --> 00:27:38,039
Speaker 1: Well that is good news, yeah for anybody who doesn't know.

540
00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:42,319
So Valentinos will be there along with twenty nine other

541
00:27:42,359 --> 00:27:45,960
pit masters at the Texas Monthly Barbecue Festival coming up

542
00:27:46,039 --> 00:27:50,480
November fourth. Tickets are still available. And you're you're not

543
00:27:50,519 --> 00:27:52,119
just cooking that though, right? I think you told me

544
00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:53,400
a rumor of maybe some barbico.

545
00:27:53,559 --> 00:27:55,680
Speaker 3: Yeah, we're gonna be doing barba CoA that day, So

546
00:27:55,799 --> 00:27:59,160
we'll be using all cheek meat in the very beginning

547
00:27:59,319 --> 00:28:03,759
of are of us serving the bottabaclea every Sunday. We

548
00:28:03,759 --> 00:28:08,559
were using whole heads and he took up a lot

549
00:28:08,599 --> 00:28:09,680
of room on my smoke.

550
00:28:09,799 --> 00:28:13,519
Speaker 2: That would be so cheek meat versus an entire cow skull.

551
00:28:13,319 --> 00:28:16,000
Speaker 3: And we couldn't produce like we were running out like

552
00:28:16,079 --> 00:28:19,200
in an hour, so we started we switched over to

553
00:28:20,119 --> 00:28:24,160
cheek meat and it usually lasts about three or four

554
00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:25,240
o'clock in the afternoon.

555
00:28:25,279 --> 00:28:28,200
Speaker 1: Now, well, that's something I'm seeing a lot more now.

556
00:28:28,319 --> 00:28:32,200
Like cheek meat was, cheek meat was always kind of

557
00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:35,240
just basically put off to the side just for just

558
00:28:35,279 --> 00:28:38,720
for barbaco. It usually steamed at a tac area. But

559
00:28:38,799 --> 00:28:41,839
more and more Texas barbecue joints are now putting that

560
00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:44,960
cheek meat into the smoker, uh and using that almost

561
00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:46,200
as a replacement for brisket.

562
00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:50,799
Speaker 3: Now, yeah, I mean there's uh, you know, Evan LeRoy's

563
00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:54,480
doing that quite a bit at his place. And there's

564
00:28:54,519 --> 00:28:57,319
different techniques that you can apply to that. And you know,

565
00:28:57,400 --> 00:28:59,440
the two most basic one would be to treat it

566
00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:02,799
almost like ah, like the like a fat cap of

567
00:29:02,839 --> 00:29:06,920
a brisket. And the other one would be to almost

568
00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:09,400
do like a smoke and braised technique at the same

569
00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:13,759
time in the pit, and I've triggered it like a

570
00:29:13,799 --> 00:29:17,000
brisket before and slice it up. But that's mainly just

571
00:29:17,039 --> 00:29:19,720
for personal type use and for my guys at the restaurant.

572
00:29:19,759 --> 00:29:23,400
I don't think I will serve it that way. I

573
00:29:23,519 --> 00:29:26,720
like serving our bottle Blea col the way I, you know,

574
00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:30,079
grew up eating it. At Valentine's. We try and utilize

575
00:29:30,079 --> 00:29:33,359
the pit to its full potential, and we will use

576
00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:35,960
certain parts of the pits for different things. And we

577
00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:38,440
cook the bottleba coil closer to the fire on the

578
00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:43,119
hotter side so it can once it develops the smoke,

579
00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:46,920
and once it gets the smoke in it, and we

580
00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:51,359
start to flip the cheek meats in this broth that

581
00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:54,640
we make so it's brazing at the same time, and

582
00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:57,039
then we cover it halfway through so it can basically

583
00:29:57,119 --> 00:30:00,440
finish off and steam while it's already been smoked, still

584
00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:01,240
getting a little fire.

585
00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:02,720
Speaker 2: Wow.

586
00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:06,480
Speaker 3: And that goes about twelve to thirteen hours on the pits.

587
00:30:07,079 --> 00:30:11,200
Speaker 1: Well, so you know it's those those cheeks are like

588
00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:14,960
Mani fatty briskets. Basically they've got so much gelatin on them.

589
00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:20,200
They're just so incredibly juicy and almost impossible to overcook,

590
00:30:21,559 --> 00:30:22,880
which is starting.

591
00:30:22,559 --> 00:30:23,440
Speaker 2: To make them more popular.

592
00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:26,359
Speaker 1: Have you seen the price increase for those as you're

593
00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:29,119
ordering them these days or is it pretty much holding steady.

594
00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:32,400
Speaker 3: Well, they've been holding steady for us. We have a

595
00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:36,519
pretty good little deal on them. But man, I've noticed

596
00:30:36,559 --> 00:30:38,839
it shoot out from when I was like I would

597
00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:40,799
I would mess with cheek meat when I was young too,

598
00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:43,640
just as far as cooking as like you know, eighteen

599
00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:47,400
nineteen year olds now. And I remember and even in

600
00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:53,000
twenty thirteen and fourteen going maybe just to a grocery

601
00:30:53,079 --> 00:30:57,000
store and picking out some cheek meat and it was

602
00:30:58,119 --> 00:31:02,400
probably around five dollars a pound then, and that that's

603
00:31:02,440 --> 00:31:06,119
pretty expensive to me, thinking like all those things have

604
00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:10,480
gone up in price, right, skirt steak, oxtails, oxtail skirt steak,

605
00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:13,279
like even even like lingua and stuff like that. All

606
00:31:13,319 --> 00:31:16,359
these things that people were deemed us like scraps and

607
00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:20,799
stuff before, are now you know, being used a lot

608
00:31:20,839 --> 00:31:24,839
more and utilized into barbecue or more cooking in general.

609
00:31:24,920 --> 00:31:27,000
Speaker 1: Well, once they taste these incredible versions of them at

610
00:31:27,079 --> 00:31:30,519
Valentinas and other barbecue joints, so I guess, well, hey,

611
00:31:30,559 --> 00:31:32,839
maybe I could throw it on my own smoker. Yeah,

612
00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:36,559
let's let's just hope for your sake the pork collars

613
00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:38,480
don't start shooting up in price as well.

614
00:31:38,519 --> 00:31:41,039
Speaker 3: Right, those are pretty good to us right now.

615
00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:44,279
Speaker 1: Yeah, that Lorana sandwich, you might have a you might

616
00:31:44,319 --> 00:31:47,599
have an excuse though, with a name like that, to charge.

617
00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:48,319
Speaker 2: A little premium for me.

618
00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:50,640
Speaker 3: Yeah. Well it is a pretty hefty sandwich. I think

619
00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:51,759
you shared it with three people.

620
00:31:52,119 --> 00:31:53,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, you're right.

621
00:31:53,039 --> 00:31:54,200
Speaker 1: I have to I have to come back and get

622
00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:56,400
one on my own, or I guess I can just

623
00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:59,359
go to the go to the Barbecue Festival and uh

624
00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:01,519
and get my own mini version there as well. And

625
00:32:02,599 --> 00:32:05,720
it's Sunday, so having some smoke barbeco is just appropriate.

626
00:32:05,839 --> 00:32:09,799
Speaker 3: Yeah, it'll be perfect. We'll be doing barbacoa mini versions

627
00:32:09,839 --> 00:32:12,079
of La Rena and there might be a surprise or

628
00:32:12,119 --> 00:32:14,799
two in there that won't last long, but we might

629
00:32:14,839 --> 00:32:17,400
bring a few. We always bring a little extra, something something.

630
00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:18,680
Speaker 2: All right, Well, I can't wait to see you there

631
00:32:18,720 --> 00:32:19,319
at the festival.

632
00:32:19,359 --> 00:32:21,279
Speaker 1: Thanks for thanks for coming in to talk with us,

633
00:32:21,279 --> 00:32:23,640
and look forward to coming back to Valentine as well

634
00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:26,240
and seeing the brick and mortar as it finally comes together.

635
00:32:26,319 --> 00:32:28,319
Speaker 3: Oh me too. I appreciate you having me. Thank you

636
00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:28,839
very much.

637
00:32:29,119 --> 00:32:29,480
Speaker 2: Thanks.

638
00:32:34,759 --> 00:32:37,480
Speaker 1: Texas barbecue is built from the ground up, from the

639
00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:39,680
wood to the smoke to the meat. You have to

640
00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:41,799
have the right tools to create a masterpiece on but

641
00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:42,720
your paper.

642
00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:44,440
Speaker 3: Yedti coolers have you covered?

643
00:32:44,799 --> 00:32:48,039
Speaker 2: Built to be indestructible, keep ice for days and keep the.

644
00:32:48,039 --> 00:32:54,200
Speaker 1: Brisket hot for hours. Yetti is built for Texas barbecue.

645
00:32:54,599 --> 00:32:57,640
You've been listening to Fire and Smoke Texas Monthly is

646
00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:01,000
Barbecue podcast. I'm Daniel Vaughn, and I'll see you out

647
00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:02,200
there on the barbecue trail.