“Grand Barbecue!” read the headline announcing a large gathering for Senator Sam Houston in the Texas Banner. This was back in 1847, so it’s apparent that Texans have been eating and enjoying barbecue for a long time. And as this is the time of year when we celebrate Texas Independence, I can’t think of a finer way to honor our brave forefathers than by eating barbecue.
This year marks the 175th anniversary of Texas’ fight for freedom from Mexico. Now, if you can recall back 25 years to the 150th anniversary, we all learned a new word—sesquicentennial. Well, apparently there’s also a word for 175th—terquasquicentennial—which is quite a mouthful. As it took me almost a year to figure out how to say sesquicentennial when I was young, I reckon I’ll figure out how to pronounce terquasquicentennial in time for the bicentennial in 2036.
But enough about words, let’s get back to that barbecue. Sam Houston State University has a recipe on its web site for Sam Houston’s favorite barbecue sauce. When I first saw it, I scoffed and figured it was a fake document trying to capitalize on this Texan hero's good name. But the thought of this barbecue sauce from the 1800s intrigued me, so I did some research.
First, I was curious if people ate barbecue sauce back in the 1800s; I learned that sauces were indeed used to baste the meat as it cooked over the fire. Then I wondered if all the ingredients listed in the recipe were around during Sam Houston’s lifetime. Save for chili powder, which wasn’t sold until the 1890s, the other ingredients—such as Worcestershire sauce, pepper sauce and ketchup—were available while Houston was alive.
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