If you understand anything about college football rivalries, you’ll understand why the photo above is so unusual. It’s not just because I actually published a photo of myself in a hairnet, but rather as a huge University of Texas Longhorns fan, wearing anything A&M related is blasphemy.
Any inner conflict was quickly taken care of after Professor Jeff Savell invited me to sit in on his ANSC 117 Texas Barbecue class at the Rosenthal Meat Science & Technology Centre at College Station. Can you just take a moment to let that sink in? Yes, Prof. Savell actually teaches a university course on Texas Barbecue, covering everything from classic seasonings and flavors to whole hog cooking.
The Centre has it’s own multi-species harvesting facility (abattoir/slaughterhouse), and runs a variety of courses including meat judging, butchery and even meat marketing and grading. On top of all of this, the Centre supplies a small meat outlet shop on campus where students and non-Aggies alike can purchase incredibly competitively priced meat treats, including their famous award winning jerky. They even produce a limited edition seasonal summer sausage in the shape of a football. I shall refrain from making any negative statements about A&M football here (but it’s taking all my power not to!).
Not quite ready to enrol just yet? Don’t fret, in conjunction with Foodways Texas, they offer Barbecue and Brisket Camps – intensive, multi-day courses covering everything you possibly wanted to know about the science behind barbecuing. The only small problem, the classes sell out nearly immediately a year in advance. Still, never hurts to get prepared for next year.
