The Prophets of Smoked Meat

My friend, coworker and photographer Nicholas McWhirter and I have been working on a little project. We traveled over 10,000 miles across Texas and ate over 200 barbecue joints along the way. Then we put together a book about it called The Prophets of Smoked Meat, and Anthony Bourdain decided to put it into his new line of books. In fact it will be the first book released in that line. We're a bit excited. It's not out yet, and won't be until 05/14/13, but you can now pre-order a copy or fifty on Amazon. I had grand plans of releasing the cover art on this blog, but Eater beat me to it. Either way, I'm proud to say that Nicholas designed the cover that makes me hungry every time I see it.

Here’s the full description from our publisher Ecco:

Spare ribs. Smoked brisket. Fatback bacon. Pulled pork. Burnt ends. From the science of heat to the alchemy of rubs, from the hill country to the badlands, The Prophets of Smoked Meat takes readers on a pilgrimage to discover the heart and soul of Texas barbeque.

Join Daniel “BBQ Snob” Vaughn—host of the popular blog Full Custom Gospel BBQ and acknowledged barbeque expert—as he treks across over 10,000 miles to sample the wood-smoking traditions of the Lone Star state’s four distinct barbeque styles:

East Texas style, essentially the hickory-smoked, sauce-coated barbecue with which most Americans are familiar; Central Texas “meat market” style, in which spice-rubbed meat is cooked over indirect heat from pecan or oak wood, a method that originated in the butcher shops of German and Czech immigrants; West Texas “cowboy style,” which involves direct cooking over mesquite and uses goat and mutton as well as beef and pork; South Texas barbacoa, in which meat is smoked in an underground pit covered with maguey leaves.

Including recipes from longtime Pit-masters—many of whom reveal for the first time their secret family techniques—and new barbeque stars, The Prophets of Smoked Meat encompasses the entire panorama of Texas barbeque.

Illustrated throughout with lush, full-color photos of the food, the people, and the stunning landscapes of the Lone Star State, The Prophets of Smoked Meat is the new barbeque bible essential for neophytes and seasoned experts alike.

- BBQ Snob