BBQ Ritual Los Angeles for Box 1824

OBSERVATIONS OF BBQ RITUAL AND CULTURE IN LOS ANGELES A VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Los Angeles Overview: If there is a general, overarching observation to be made, it would be that there is virtually not a BBQ culture here in Los Angeles. That is, aside from say, Korean BBQ, which most people involved in BBQ would not consider to be "real" BBQ. Barbecue exists in pockets, in the same way that LA's multiple cultures exist in pockets and don't really overlap much. One more-or-less drives through them. For example, a backyard BBQ was extremely difficult to find even calling on all the people I know, and advertising on social media. Once found, it was nothing like I had envisioned. Even a good friend of mine, who is from a part of the country where BBQ is somewhat sacrosanct and a long-time resident here, had many dismal stories to tell as far as going to "barbecue's" in LA. Her sentiments echoed the backyard BBQ I observed and discuss.

Having said that, eating– and this includes BBQ especially–reflects a lifestyle choice, and the idea of lifestyle is at the forefront in Los Angeles.

The most obvious and repeated phrases and words that consumers want to know are that of “natural,” “sustainable,” “locally grown,” or some Traditionally raised, natural and free range are key selling points. variant of this sentiment.

Retailers say that people want to buy products that reflect these values and they proudly announce it in their marketing. Restauranteurs and gourmet retailers are extremely popular here and both express a desire to “educate” and “teach” people about their product. This idea of locally grown and sustainable and natural is considered “traditional,” and by default, “traditional” is better, i.e., healthier. These values are repeatedly expressed and are what are trendy in the Los Angeles BBQ scene. Even at the backyard barbecue I attended, the meat the host 1

OBSERVATIONS OF BBQ RITUAL AND CULTURE IN LOS ANGELES A VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY

cooked was from Whole Foods, which is a retailer here considered to be all those buzz words rolled into one grocery store. (However, he did cook boneless meat, which every professional BBQ chef/owner said is the worst possible thing one can do; a real flavor killer.)

The retailers have recognized that people want to take an active role in the protection of their environment, and the most immediate way is through their food, specifically, meats. There is a feeling of empowerment by this lifestyle choice. Purchasing meats which are sustainably raised, no antibiotics, free range, etc., as well as almost anything reflecting the idea of Backyard BBQ in Los Angeles is actually indoors, with no gathering traditional falls inline with around the outdoor grill. these values. As mentioned above, there is an idea that “traditionally” things were done better, i.e., healthier, and people are willing to pay for this.

A Brief History BBQ in LA draws from all over to create a hodgepodge of cooking styles. The one and only original claim on BBQ in Los Angeles, and in California specifically, comes in the form of a cut of meat, the Tri-Tip steak, which is extremely popular here, and almost nonexistent outside of California.

Popular lore assumes this comes from the Santa Maria Cowboys of the mid-1850’s.

This is not true. They cooked a Top Block steak. The Tri-Tip was, created, or discovered, by The Tri-Tip steak in Lindy & Grundy’s a butcher in the late 1950’s.

(One can read about this history here, and here.) The important point is, some more mainstream restaurants and popular food trucks (very popular in LA!) include the Tri-Tip 2

OBSERVATIONS OF BBQ RITUAL AND CULTURE IN LOS ANGELES A VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY

on their menu even though they are modeling their product after a more southern Texas-style barbecue. Note: the very traditional restaurants, like Phillips and Woody’s, which are considered “real” BBQ (and “the best”) do not include this at all. However, they are mostly in areas where “White” people rarely, or don’t go at all, and are in no way catering to their customers in any fancy way. They are proud to be traditional and even their menu remains unchanged for nearly 40 years.

Pockets and Popularity BBQ restaurants seem to be clustered, or clumped in areas. For example if one looks up “BBQ Los Angeles” on Google maps, one gets strong concentrations in Korea-town, which has an inordinate amount of Korean Barbecue restaurants. Similarly, there are other concentrated areas, such as those which reside in the popular, but touristic Farmer’s Market. (Please see Map 1.)

Map 1

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A Google Maps search for “Texas Barbeque Los Angeles” shows a reduced number of hits and is distributed noticeably differently. It is somewhat evenly spread out through the metropolitan area, a restaurant here and a restaurant there. Noticeable, are the small amount of Texas style BBQ restaurants, and the locations are centered in areas with heavy Latino, Black, and White communities. (See Map 2) Also noticeable are the lack of any Carolina’s style Barbecue.

Map 2

TRENDING Butchers Lindy & Grundy’s, a gourmet butcher shop, best represents a trendsetting model (at the butcher level) in the consumption of meat. Started by a couple of former vegetarians, Lindy & Grundy’s (nicknames of the owners, Erika Nakamura, “Grundy,” and Amelia Posada, “Lindy”) L&G is all about a lifestyle choice and caters to a clientele which is slowly gaining in numbers. Many of the clients are themselves former vegetarians or current vegetarians, yet who are purchasing for members of their household who are not. Purchasing from a retailer which reflects their values, as a vegetarian, makes purchasing meat for others okay. Erika and Amelia chose vegetarianism as a protest against “the system.” As they said, “the system” (meaning the system of mass meat production in America) is not sustainable, creates undue stress and harm “Farmers we Love” ad, L&G to the animals, is bad for you and the environment, and simply doesn’t taste good.They feature “Ranchers We Love”on their website for beef, 4

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pork, lamb and poultry. These farmers are local (within a 150 +/- mile radius of LA), their meat pastured (animal eats grass in a pasture) and organic.

This is clearly a trend in the LA area.

As one butcher, at Marconda’s in the famous Los Angeles Farmers Market told me, “They used to be concerned about fat. Now, they don’t care about that, instead they care about something that is invisible to them: the way the animal is raised and treated. They care about a ‘natural’ product.” Marconda’s, as well as other butcher shops are capitalizing on this market, and charging a premium for it. Like the pastoral image of cows in a beautiful setting, Marconda’s uses a video monitor showing the natural habitat of the meat they sell, which comes from Niman Ranch. Ten feet away is a sign wrapped around a pole again enforcing the fact that their meat is “protecting our environment.” The choice of words relates back to the consumer actively pursuing their lifestyle choices of sustainable, green, renewable, natural, healthy, etc., and purchasing products accordingly.

Advertisements (this page) at Marconda’s

In the case of L&G’s, nothing goes to waste and they promote the use of the “whole animal.” In the words of Erika: “We want to create a culture of eating the whole animal.” And, they do. They utilize each and every part, using excess skin and residual fat as additives to things like ground meats as a flavor enhancer. Also, they rent out a “La Cajachina” which is a whole animal roaster. (As of the time of our meeting, it was rented out.) This again harkens back to a more traditional time, when people did roast whole animals in a pit. (This is actually done on a limited basis in LA, though it’s much more specific to certain cultural practices, specifically the Filipinos.

However, one BBQ owner, Daniel Fisher of the popular Baby Blues BBQ showed me where he is installing a whole pig roaster.)

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Matching lifestyle choices and educating people on options, so that eating, specifically meat, is not only a dietary choice but also a lifestyle choice seems to be a way to capitalize on people’s desire for choice, and for some power as to what they put into their bodies. This reflects other aspects of a consumer’s life and empowers them to not buy into a “system’” with which many disagree with.

Grilling and Barbecuing are completely interchangeable terms and are used freely to refer to the same thing: cooking meat on a grill. Overall, I’d say that the palette in Los Angeles is somewhat unsophisticated.

What’s most important, based on visuals and interviews, seems to be buying and eating a product which reflects a lifestyle. Exotic meats are sold only by gourmet butchers, such as Lindy & Grundy’s, and for the most part are a non-popular item.

Display at retail butcher shops Velvet steak. An exotic cut at L&G makes the butchers themselves highly visible to the public as they cut and prepare the cuts of meat. I remember as a child, the butcher was out-of-site, back behind the cooler containing the cuts of meats.

Meats on display are arranged and made to look as pristine and “clean” (my word) as the photos of livestock in a pristine environment.

Restaurants I have to re-emphasize that there does not seem to be a traditions-based BBQ culture in LA. This was confirmed with several interviews at some notable restaurants.

However, there does seem to be a demographic for Barbecue, and an attempt by some to “educate” people on real BBQ in Los Angeles. Please note, that this “education” is similar to that of the gourmet butcher shops, such as Lindy & Grundy’s, where they are slowly building a business Highly visible butchers at Lindy & Grundy’s by, as they see it, “educating people.”

At the Swinging Door Texas BBQ, owned by Roger Daneshi, an Iranian immigrant, demographics and education are brought to the fore. He told me his clientele are “the Mexicans, Whites and Blacks.” The Mexicans,” he tells me, “primarily like pork,” It’s his most popular seller. While he is pursuing a Texas style BBQ (beef brisket and beef ribs are preferred), he sells more pork with his Texas-style approach. I asked him about the 6

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Iranian community, which has a very large and long-standing presence in Los Angeles.

Do you have many Iranian clients? No, was his answer. “They are ignorant and cheap,” he said. “They like their kabobs, and that’s it.” He spoke about educating people, like the Iranians, and softened his attitude towards them by saying, “they are coming around. It takes educating them.”

Outdoor smoker, out back at the Swinging Door Texas BBQ. Meats are smoking from early morning.

His education starts at the counter in the form of a manifesto he has written. (Quoted in it’s entirety, and attached as a .jpg. I will paraphrase here.) First he defines the origin of BBQ, which he claims no one can rightly claim. His main point is to discern between “grilling” and “smoking.” Giving credit to both, the manifesto seeks to separate the two, which as stated elsewhere in this report, Los Angelinos use the two terms interchangeably without any distinction between the two. The rest of the manifesto is a lesson on the virtues of smoking as BBQ. On the flip side he announces his proud membership of the “slow food movement.” I found no evidence of an official slow food movement, and conclude this is a loose term which is sort of in-line with the the popular terms such as “natural.”

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Noticeable about the Swinging Door is the smoker out back. One can smell it for blocks.

It’s a heavy cast-iron tube with legs and a fire, burning Oak wood from early in the morning until late at night. This item is a source of great pride and certainly the source of his income and status as a legitimate smoker barbecuer.

Any “legitimate” BBQ establishment will have a smoker, I’m told. And, though they all accomplish the same end – slow cooking meats with smoke – they all seem to be different and, in most cases, Turning meats in the smoker at the Swinging Door Texas BBQ homemade.

At Pecos Bill’s, the smoker is homemade by the founder who started it in 1946. One purchases an “Okie” sandwich, which has a unique flavor. It was described to me as a saucy meat, more gravy-like in color and texture (brownish) than Texas BBQ, which is more red. One might think that something starting here in 1946 would possibly take off and become somewhat traditional, but this style seems to be limited to this location and this location The homemade smoker at Pecos Bill’s with buns resting on top. only. Reviews on popular social sites, such as Yelp vary from 1-star (greatly dislike) to 5-stars (couldn’t be better), reinforcing the nontraditional nature of BBQ in the Los Angeles area.

Baby Blues BBQ in West Hollywood on Santa Monica Blvd is an exception to the homemade smoker rule. Here, owner Danny Fischer is doing things traditionally yet has an industrialized smoker. Baby Blues BBQ is a large eat-in restaurant and has been designed to create the “backyard bbq” feel inside the restaurant. Here, he says, is the

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“real deal.” His smoker attests to that. He tells me it’s hard in LA to get pits, though he is actually getting a whole-pig roaster put in.

Everything is made from scratch including the sides.

The collared greens and BBQ sauce recipe’s are 80years-old and come from his and his business partner’s families. Their biggest sellers are the pulled pork, mac & cheese and ribs with St. Louis style or Memphis style Casual viewable-to-the-public grill gives Baby Blues a more sauces. Like others in LA he “homey” feel. describes his establishment as “hybrid” barbecue. Again, the Tri-Tip is popular and is an example of hybridization, whereby he gives it a dry rub and smokes it as opposed to the traditional way of cooking Tri-tip on a grill. Danny tells me that the future of BBQ in LA is actually going towards traditional.

I’ll talk about some traditions in the next section, but for now allow me to talk about some very traditional BBQ restaurants; ones who started BBQ in LA and who have, for the most part, remained unchanged for nearly 40 years. The two restaurants are Woody’s and Phillips.

They are owned by the The smoker at Woody’s same family, last name Phillips, and some years ago split for reasons unknown–it’s part of LA BBQ lore. Woody’s daughter, Tracey, did not want to elaborate on the split. Rumor has it, it was simple differences in opinion, yet each restaurant is run by some branch of the Phillips’s cousins. Tracey, who runs Woody’s says all the sauces, menu, sides, everything is the same between the restaurants despite the names. I didn’t find this entirely correct, as Phillips had some more menu items, desserts and different sodas. The sauce and the beans didn’t taste

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exactly the same. However, these are old-school traditional establishments.

Tracey said that at Woody’s nothing has changed since they opened their doors 38 years ago. Everything, she stresses, the menu, the recipe, etc. is the same. Even the fact that they still use, and have only used, Wonder Bread. Both restaurants are only in the Black, southcentral area of LA. There are four of each. Tracey’s great Tracey at the stove with pots of collared greens and barbecue grandfather was a slave in sauce at Woody’s.

Louisiana and the BBQ they serve comes from him and his father. They smoked their meat on chicken wire in pits they dug in the ground.

While Baby Blues BBQ go out of their way to create an experience, both Woody’s and Phillips simply rely on their authenticity. There is counter (window) ordering only and everything comes in a paper sack. Some restaurants, like Swinging Door, Rays and Baby Blues all have TV’s on and other comforts of home.

Woody’s and Phillips has nothing like this. These restaurant’s demographics and Counter service only at Phillips BBQ in south central LA. locations are different–with the latter two completely catering only to the Black community, which could be an explanation for these, and other, differences. Only Pecos Bill’s, which is in a primarily White area, is walk-up only.

Korean BBQ and some other cultural meat cooking are briefly discussed at the end.

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Traditions: The Mexicans (Latinos)* Very popular among Latinos is Carne Asada, which literally means grilled meat (beef), commonly served with tortillas (corn), grilled cebollas (Onions) and a spicy salsa.

I had the fortune of finding some people who were also grilling cactus.

One man was doing the grilling, with an occasional other grown man hovering around the grill and a preteen boy helping by filling a cooler with the cooked items and bringing to the picnic table to be consumed. I asked about the role of men and women in grilling, and he said, “Women can cook this too!”

Notable, he is using a mesquite chip for heat, instead of charcoal. “If you use mesquite, everyone will like it– all Mexican people will like it,” he said. He did discern between this source of heat and charcoal when cooking pork ribs. For him, pork ribs call for charcoal instead of mesquite.

Traditional BBQ restaurants, like the Swinging Door Texas BBQ and Pecos Bills do not serve Carne Asada, or any other Mexican (or Latin American) dish. The only other options I found were a vegetarian option of tofu at Smokin’ Willie’s and the Swinging Door.

Top to Bottom: Fresh cactus for grilling; Carne Asada and onions on the grill; Men grilling

If there is any tradition in the Latin American Community, it is their love of grilled meats as cooked in their home countries.** Considering the interchangeable reference words of 11

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grilling and barbecuing, I visited a Mexican restaurant called El Jalapeño Tacos at which they grill (or barbecue as the case may be) chicken. Here they cook chicken in the same manner as the Mexican family in the park: with mesquite chips. The chicken is seasoned with Mexican spices. The meats are served on open faced corn tortillas with garnish of lime, picode-gallo (salsa) and radishes, which is all very traditional Mexican or Latino.

(I discussed the traditions of Woody’s and Phillip’s, and the various attempts at “traditional” of hybrid-type restaurants like Baby Blues and Swinging Door above.)

Barbecuing chicken, Latino style at El Jalapeño Tacos.

Food Trucks* I found BBQ tradition on a truck, and the food truck itself is becoming a tradition in LA. The food truck craze is even now being exported and becoming very popular in New York City. (I know because I live there.) Smokin’ Willie’s BBQ is a food truck and is introducing traditional BBQ to Los Angelino’s on four wheels. “We’re teaching Southern Californian’s the old-school methods,” says the owner. Willie’s (for short) does things the ‘traditional’ way.

Immediately he distinguished between smoking, grilling, and barbecuing; pointing out the traditional from the non. He explained the use of wood chips with gas grills, and ‘chunks’ with charcoal. He gives me the following information (see table below): Smokin’ Willie’s BBQ food truck serves a blend of traditional and fusion and appeals to LA’s love of “natural” and convenience.

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Cooking Style

Heating style, or Flame

Smoking

Indirect heat

Grilling

Direct heat

Barbecuing

Indirect/Direct

Willie’s classic sauce is traditional and is his Mom’s recipe, from 1969. Owner Bill Kelly is a fourth generation Californian from Pasadena and can talk at length about BBQ, cooking and meats. He’s clearly passionate about it, has won many awards, and serves a product which I considered to be quite good.

Inside Smokin’ Willie’s food truck (top and bottom). Bill’s brother helps him out in the “kitchen.”

He makes his own sauces, which include the Classic, Fiesta (w/ Chipotle) and Shanghai Asian.

His rubs include an all-purpose and a New Mexico Rub. (I was particularly partial to this rub as I am originally from New Mexico.)

Primary, and repeated again and again during our interview, is the fact that his sauces and everything he does is “natural.”

Products contain no high-fructose corn syrup or artificial flavors.

(High-fructose corn syrup is becoming largely disliked in the public culinary consciousness of America right now, as more and more companies adopt and opt for other sweeteners.) In fact, for his meat he has been using Halal and Kosher meats because of their salt content. With rubs, which need to “marinate” for 20-24 hours, salt first pulls moisture out of the meat. With halal, or kosher meat, the salt pulled out combines with the spices in the rub, and then after about 8 hours the meat begins to reabsorb the moisture, which is now a flavored moisture, he explains.

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Popular sellers are the pulled pork and the Tri-Tip. Southern Californian’s love Tri-Tip. “In Texas, they don’t even know what Tri-Tip is,” said Bill. He informed me that Tri-Tip comes from the Santa Maria area of California, about 3 hours up the coast. The cowboys from generations back have cooked Tri-Tip. (I’ve already pointed out that this narrative of the origin of the Tri-Tip is not entirely correct.) This cut of meat is the beef loin bottom sirloin.

It has great marbling and cooks very well on a grill.

And, grilling is the primary way meats are cooked here as opposed to smoking, regardless if they are called It’s a family affair at Smokin’ Willie’s. Bill Kelley with his son, Nick. barbecue.

What’s interesting is how cooking methods combined with the cut of meat develops as a product of the environment. The cowboys of the central coast region of California cooked over open flames (direct heat) because it was necessary. They developed and adapted ways to prepare and cut their meat to best suit what they had to work with. The Tri-Tip, when cut with the A meal to go from Smokin’ Willie’s. Baked beans, cole slaw, pulled grain is mealy and hard to pork and BBQ meatball are all family recipe’s. chew. When cut properly– against the grain–both before and after grilling, it makes an excellent tender cut of beef. Inspection of this theory is not the scope of this paper, so I cannot adequately comment and compare to the origins of the smoking tradition as found in Texas. However, I assume it has to do with a permanence and type of place to cook relative to the working cowboys environments.

Following the theme of cooking for the environment, the BBQ of a food truck is slightly different from that in a “brick and mortar” (restaurant) establishment. We have a saying here in America, which says, “necessity is the Mother of invention,” and that adage 14

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seems to be true in this case. Willie’s boils it’s pork and shreds it, seasons it with spice and/or sauce, then heats it back up making each sandwich to order. This increases speed, which people expect at food trucks, and gives the pork a natural slow-cooked smokey flavor. Bill picked this technique up from his wife, who is Hispanic and cooks meat for tamales (spiced pork, cooked and rolled in a “maza” of corn meal and a corn husk, then steamed) like this. It makes perfect sense and works well. Because of the nature of cooking ribs, he cannot cook them on his truck. (CA law mandates that any food served from the truck either be cooked on-board the truck or come from a USDA approved cooking facility, which is where he has his pork boiled.) Ribs would suffer in the heat and transportation and not be practical. Instead he has come up with things such as BBQ meatballs (which are pretty close to divine), his pork method and a vegetarian option of tofu in his own shanghai asian sauce.

It’s important to note here the Asian influence. As noted, Willie’s has developed a shanghai asian BBQ sauce and it is a very good seller. Also, Marconda’s the meat market in The Farmer’s Market, has many soybased BBQ sauces, one of which–the Asian Chicken Skewer–is the poultry section’s best seller. I discuss Korean BBQ further in this paper. My observation is that there is crossover, but on wildly different levels. For example the Koreans have adopted the term “BBQ” and that seems to be the only borrowed American example of barbecue. On the other hand, the Americans have catered to the Asian marked by adopting asian soy-based marinades and raw meat offerings, incorporating them into their menus.

However, the very

Smokin’ Willie’s Menu.

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traditional restaurants, such as Woody’s, Phillips, Pecos Bill’s and even The Swinging Door have maintained a segregation, not including an Asian-inspired variant.

The Backyard BBQ I am including the backyard BBQ under traditions because it’s such an enigma here in Los Angeles. What presumably should be a tradition is mostly a bungled mess. (My opinion). I do presume that this is not entirely true across the board, especially with

Backyard BBQ with foods from Whole Foods grocery.

A propane grill, turned on and tucked away in a corner at a backyard BBQ, represents the overall lack of importance at this barbecue.

different cultures or groups who have their own cooking/eating traditions. For example, the Mexican family in Griffith Park. However, the fact that it was extremely difficult to simply find one to go to is telling in itself. Out of my 37 personal Facebook friends in Los Angeles, and the exponential numbers of each of their local friends, this is shocking. Over and over I heard from friends who grew up in Missouri, Texas and other places–where “come over and have a BBQ” really has meaning–that there is no BBQ in LA. I also heard them say that they’ve always been Backyard BBQ, Los Angeles. The host, a male, grilled the meat. in shock when going to what However, it was all for convenience and speed with ready-to-grill people call a BBQ. They find it gourmet meats.

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laughable. I found this to be entirely true. I was invited to a BBQ and it was not anything I would have expected. The host sat down and said, "Well, I guess it is a BBQ, so I might as well start the grill." Then he turned to me and said, "I've had BBQ's and never even started the grill at all." Then, he prepared simple store-bought chicken sprinkled with various herbs and spices–not rubbed; not soaked; not prepared in a manner for “real” barbecuing–and served it with more store-bought asian noodles. As far as true BBQ is concerned this is not. However, it is true of Los Angeles lore that a backyard BBQ is a laughable subject to those who take barbecuing Non-traditional, gourmet flavored meats from Whole seriously, or come from a tradition of Foods. it. So typical LA! However, what’s important to take away from this is that barbecuing in LA, regardless if it is a legitimate BBQ or not, is a casual, social scene.

It’s not primarily about the food, but it is about where that food comes from.

In trendy LA, if it comes from a special place (Lindy & Grundy’s, Whole Foods, the Farmers Market, etc.) then it’s deemed good enough.

It’s good! The restaurant Baby Blues BBQ has capitalized on this by making the experience more like the fantasy of one’s own back porch, or backyard, i.e., like BBQ’s should look; the way they look in pictures. With the grill out front and highly visible and tables and chairs from secondhand stores and plates all different, usually with sports teams on them, Baby Blues is trying to do just this.

And it seems to be working. TV’s are usually on in the BBQ sit-down restaurants to make it further feel like home. (Americans love their TV!) Like a backyard BBQ, shorts and t-shirts are perfectly acceptable attire. The

Marconda’s gourmet butcher. Farmer’s Market, LA.

In many Los Angeles homes, where it’s from can be as important as what car you drive, above. Ready-to-serve Asian noodles.

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established traditional BBQ restaurants, like Woody’s and like Phillips simply serves you food to go over a counter, so there is never a need for any special attire.

Korean BBQ Korean BBQ can be considered a “tradition” in it’s own sense of the word. However, it’s mostly limited geographically (see the section Pockets and Popularity), and is generally not considered real BBQ. It’s considered as something of it’s own accord.

The term “BBQ” is English and doesn’t exist in Korean. In Korea, as well as here in LA when written in Korean, there is no such thing as “BBQ.” In Korean it is a “meat hut,” or “meat place.” There is absolutely no overlap whatsoever with American BBQ except for the fact that they use meat from cows and pigs. Meat is mostly a delicacy in Korean culture because of the expense, and a “meat hut” or restaurant caters to usually larger crowds of business colleagues. Americans, specifically Los Angelino’s would never say, “let’s get BBQ,” and then go to a Korean restaurant.

They are totally separate and as pointed out earlier, the overlaps are minor adaptations here or there, more-so Americans adopting some soy-based marinades. A notable difference is the cooking time of the meat.

Sung Jae, of ChungDam Dorean B.B.Q. told me rapid cooking is favored, and the stoves are tailored gas stoves meant for this.

The ubiquitous TV on in the dining room is typical in restaurants which are trying to create an authentic experience. Top: Swinging Door Texas BBQ; Middle: Ribs USA; Bottom: Baby Blues BBQ. 18

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Retail outlets Barbeques Galore Barbeques Galore is the largest retailer in the Los Angeles area. They sell everything from grills to smokers to the high-end infrared cookers, ranging in price from the low $200’s to $10,000. What they sell is trendy and again, like the gourmet butchers, they

Window displays as seen from the street at Barbeque’s Galore in Studio City, sell a lifestyle.

are selling a lifestyle. For example they sell a grill (not a smoker) which heats with Infrared. It’s very high-tech and expensive, and appeals to those who, first, can afford it and who want to be “environmentally friendly” as it puts off less carcinogens. To it’s benefit, it cooks at a hotter temperature faster and so getting a good “sear” on the meat is possibly better.

More and more people, according to the salesman, stay home both because of the bad economy and because they can control what they eat. The fear being: one never knows what they do to your food in a restaurant. Also, they stay home because of the rise in popularity of cooking shows on TV. Shows such as those on the Food Network have spawned a new group of people who take up cooking as a serious hobby. “I can do

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that!” is the mentality the salesman described.

Like other things segregated and concentrated into groups in Los Angeles, sales of this or that type of grill or smoker are also segregated. Propane sells to people from Studio City; natural gas sells best in Tarzana; Smokers sell in Simi Valley (a 50/50 split on the charcoal v wood chips), with the African American’s liking smoking and the

Infrared Grill gives high heat for searing and reduced carcinogens.

Grills for the backyard kitchen and displays at Barbeques Galore.

Mexicans (or Latinos) prefer charcoal and wood charcoals. Why Tarzana the natural gas, I ask him? Lots of Jewish and Middle Easterners there, he says. “Styles sell in different regions here in LA,” he notes, “and people don’t mix them.”

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Past, Present and Future of BBQ in California Los Angeles seems to be a hodgepodge of traditions and combinations, yet a place with no overall tradition of it’s own other than that of combining those cultural things that make it here to the West coast. For example Smokin’ Willie’s sauce comes from the parents and grandparents of the chef and owner, who originally came to Pasadena from West Texas bringing their recipe’s with them. And, Pecos Bill’s method and sauce comes directly from his Father who came to the Los Angeles area in 1946 from Oklahoma. Roger, the Iranian owner of Swinging Door Texas BBQ went to Texas to learn his trade and brought it back here to Los Angeles. The Asians bring their soy-based marinades with them.

Remembering that what is now California belonged to Mexico until 1848–Mexico ceded it’s northern territories to the United States with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo upon loosing the Mexican-American War. Also with California being the end-of-the-road in western migration, and the first stop in panPacific migration, it makes sense that traditions which culturally migrate here, shift and become something else entirely with barbecuing being one of them.

Bill Kelly of Smokin Willie’s sees the grilling past in Southern California as hot dogs and hamburgers with Dad doing the grilling and Mom doing the shopping.

The biggest growth he sees now–he being an author of a best selling cookbook and host of numerous cooking courses–is more and more women taking cooking

The walkup window at Pecos Bill’s has been the same since 1946.

Gourmet is the word, not “traditional” at Smokin’ Willie’s BBQ truck.

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OBSERVATIONS OF BBQ RITUAL AND CULTURE IN LOS ANGELES A VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY

demos. He tells me that the demonstrations he regularly gives in Whole Foods consists of mainly women. And, cooking in general, is becoming more and more gourmet with it’s constant infusion of multi-cultural influences and people taking it up as a serious hobby. “The multi-cultural influence here in southern California is huge,” Bill emphasizes. His meaning is that to survive and deliver a product which appeals to a broad section of Los Angelino’s, one has to embrace the influences of many cultures. Keep in mind, his race is White, and his clients are mostly Whites, Latinos and Asians. On the other hand, the owners of Phillips and also of Woody’s, of South-Central LA–the Black communities–are of no mind to appeal to a broader section of Los Angeles, nor to change in any way. They have their Recent advertisement in the Food Network magazine shows base, are proud of their traditional roles flipped, with the woman cooking. product, and to be sure are emulated to some degree by all the other restaurants who call themselves true BBQ in the area.

As to the future, Bill also sees more on a grill than meat. Fruits and vegetables being the biggest. He gives demos on cooking everything from portobello mushrooms to pineapples. “Fruits and vegetables are the future,” he said. “Expanding the palette with cultural influences are where grilling/barbecuing in Southern California are going,” he repeated. Everything here is imported, he says, and it’s going to continue this way. As far as I noticed, he’s correct on that one. As far as grilling other things besides a piece of meat, I noticed only the Mexican family grilling onions and cactus. Experimentation

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OBSERVATIONS OF BBQ RITUAL AND CULTURE IN LOS ANGELES A VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY

along with tradition seem to make up the broader face of BBQ in LA. Danny Fischer of Baby Blues sees a future of appealing to the fantasy of the backyard, or home BBQ experience. So, along with food, he’s creating and selling an experience.

Grilled Peaches. Other things besides meats are the future, says Bill Kelley of Smokin’ Willie’s.

Asian chicken skewers. A best-seller at Marconda’s in the Farmer’s Market.

Spellings: Spellings in LA Briefly, I’d like to point out the various spellings of BBQ I came across. For myself, doing Google searches I got more hits with simple “bbq” or “barbecue” in my search field. Like other’s in Los Angeles, I too look for convenience and quickness and if I were not doing research, I’d not type in more than “…bbq Los Angeles” if I were looking for a place to

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OBSERVATIONS OF BBQ RITUAL AND CULTURE IN LOS ANGELES A VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY

go eat. The examples I saw on signs were as follows: Bar-b-que; B-B-Q; BBQ; Bar-beque; Barbecue; Barbeque; B.B.Q. *Street Vendors I saved this for a footnote as many of these vendors are manning either illegal booths, and/or are illegal themselves and though they make up the landscape of Los Angeles grilling and barbecuing, they are inconsistent in their places.

Vendor at Alvarado and the 101 near downtown. He serves chicken only cooked in the same manner as that found at El Jalapeño Tacos with mesquite chunks. He has worked like this for 6 years, it’s his only job and he is illegal. (He refused to give his name.) He bought and uses what he knows from Mexico and says this fare is typical of Cuba, Mexico and most of Latin America. On his grill he was grilling onions and corn tortillas exactly like the Mexican’s from Oaxaca I shot in Griffith Park.

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OBSERVATIONS OF BBQ RITUAL AND CULTURE IN LOS ANGELES A VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Your Personal Chef B.B.Q. is manned and owned by Charles from Louisiana. I found Charles on Crenshaw Blvd. in south central LA. A true entrepreneur, Charles is a school chef nine months out of the year at the University of Southern California. The rest of the time he uses his cooking materials and sets up shop on a street corner and grills rib tips. “Rib tips are the best for people,” he says. “People are eating in their cars and don’t want to get messy.”

Charles combined his knowledge of Louisiana barbecue with a Texas style and added his own twists to his rub and sauce. (Nobody would share any secrets throughout this study.) He also makes his own potato salad and cole slaw and serves his meal with some cheap white bread.

“Nothing is written down,” says Charles. It’s all what he knows and comes up with on the spot.

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OBSERVATIONS OF BBQ RITUAL AND CULTURE IN LOS ANGELES A VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Signage/Storefronts

Pecos Bill’s Oklahoma-style BBQ

Monsieur Marcel Gourmet Market in the Farmer’s Market

Swinging Door Texas B-B-Q

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OBSERVATIONS OF BBQ RITUAL AND CULTURE IN LOS ANGELES A VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Signage/Storefronts

“Grass Fed” “Free Range”

“Natural Beef”

El Jalapeño Tacos

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OBSERVATIONS OF BBQ RITUAL AND CULTURE IN LOS ANGELES A VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Signage/Storefronts

L-R: Baby Blues BBQ; Pit City Pits barrel bbq sales; Phillips Bar-B-Que

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OBSERVATIONS OF BBQ RITUAL AND CULTURE IN LOS ANGELES A VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Popular cultural referential materials

He Made. She Made. A spread from a current cooking magazine indicating the shift from only men cooking.

Grilled vegetables and sophisticated outdoor grills indicate a taste for gourmet.

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OBSERVATIONS OF BBQ RITUAL AND CULTURE IN LOS ANGELES A VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Popular cultural referential materials

How to’s are one of the reasons home grills are selling more, such as those from Barbeques Galore. Use of wood chunks over charcoal indicate a sophistication in the palate.

Websites http://qn4ubbqhouse.com/index.php/welcome/173-the-history-of-tri-tip.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-tip http://www.evaslechon.com/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=43&Itemid=30 http://www.southernbbqtrail.com/films.shtml http://www.bbqfilm.com/ http://theurbandaily.com/1381555/barbecue-and-black-movies-for-4th-of-july-photos/ http://www.chiff.com/a/wine-zinfandel.htm http://cuveecorner.blogspot.com/2010/07/summer-breezes-california-zinfandel-and.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisine_of_California

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**Niche “BBQ”

I didn’t look closely into Hawaiian BBQ, Brazilian BBQ nor Filipino-style cooking, called Lechon, for a number of reasons. Filipino-style is not considered BBQ–it’s never in the name–and is not on any radar outside of the Filipino community.

Hawaiian and Brazilian are considered exotic and unique in Los Angeles. Like Korean, they don’t come up as an option at the end of, “Let’s go get BBQ.” Hawaiian, like the one pictured, was only at an outdoor farmer’s market in and amongst some apartment buildings. (Not to be confused with the famous and touristic Farmer’s Market, which housed Marcondi’s and houses the above pictured Pampas Grill Brazilian BBQ).

Brazilian BBQ is either something different, unique and special, whether it’s in the touristic Farmer’s Market, or the national chain Fogo de Chão.

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OBSERVATIONS OF BBQ RITUAL AND CULTURE IN LOS ANGELES A VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Author: Eric O’Connell, MA Visual Anthropology Phone: 917-478-8853 Email: eric@ericoconnell.com, or eoc1@me.com

Yours Truly working even on his lunch break.

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