Santa Maria–style Barbecue
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Santa Maria–style barbecueSanta Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce owns the copyright of this term.
/ref> is a regional culinary tradition rooted in the Santa Maria Valley in
Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara County, officially the County of Santa Barbara (), is a county located in Southern California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa M ...
on the Central Coast of
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. This method of barbecuing dates back to the mid-19th century and is today regarded as a "mainstay of California's culinary heritage". The original Santa Maria-style barbecue consisted of large chunks of top sirloin seasoned with garlic, salt and pepper, then slow-cooked over red oak coals. When tri-tip was introduced in the 1950s, it became the meat of choice. It centers on beef
tri-tip The tri-tip is a triangular cut of beef from the bottom sirloin subprimal cut, consisting of the tensor fasciae latae muscle. Untrimmed, the tri-tip weighs around 5 pounds. In the US, the tri-tip is taken from NAMP cut 185C. Etymology Th ...
, seasoned with black pepper, salt, and garlic before grilling slowly over coals of native
coast live oak ''Quercus agrifolia'', the California live oak, or coast live oak, is an evergreen live oak native to the California Floristic Province. Live oaks are so-called because they keep living leaves on the tree all year, adding young leaves and sheddi ...
, often referred to as "red oak" wood. The grill is made of iron and usually has a hand crank to adjust the height of the grill over the coals. The traditional accompaniments are ''pinquito'' beans, fresh
salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (food), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: Arts and ent ...
, tossed green salad, and grilled
French bread This is a list of notable French breads, consisting of breads that originated in France. * Baguette – a long, thin type of bread of French origin. The "baguette de tradition française" is made from wheat flour, water, yeast, and common s ...
dipped in sweet melted butter. Many locals and well-known establishments also include Portuguese
linguiça ''Linguiça'' () is a Portuguese sausage made from pork and seasoned with onion, garlic, paprika and other spices. It can be used fresh in cooked preparations or undergo a curing and preservation process through smoking. Uses in Portuguese cu ...
, a kind of spicy sausage, in the lineup of traditional Santa Maria-style barbecue meats.Santa Maria Valley Chamber
/ref> Some regional variations within the Central Coast include sausage (such as
linguiça ''Linguiça'' () is a Portuguese sausage made from pork and seasoned with onion, garlic, paprika and other spices. It can be used fresh in cooked preparations or undergo a curing and preservation process through smoking. Uses in Portuguese cu ...
or
chorizo ''Chorizo'' ( , ; ; see #Names, below) is a type of pork sausage originating from the Iberian Peninsula. It is made in many national and regional varieties in several countries on different continents. Some of these varieties are quite differe ...
) or
venison Venison refers primarily to the meat of deer (or antelope in South Africa). Venison can be used to refer to any part of the animal, so long as it is edible, including the internal organs. Venison, much like beef or pork, is categorized into spe ...
, grilled alongside the tri-tip or in the beans, and fresh
strawberries The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit is appreciated f ...
.


History

Santa Maria–style barbecue originated in the mid-19th century when local
Californio Californios (singular Californio) are Californians of Spaniards, Spanish descent, especially those descended from settlers of the 17th through 19th centuries before California was annexed by the United States. California's Spanish language in C ...
ranchers hosted Spanish-style feasts each spring for their ''
vaqueros The ''vaquero'' (; , ) is a horse-mounted livestock herder of a tradition that has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula and extensively developed in what what is today Mexico (then New Spain) and Spanish Florida from a method brought to the Americ ...
''. They barbecued meat over earthen pits filled with hot coals of local
coast live oak ''Quercus agrifolia'', the California live oak, or coast live oak, is an evergreen live oak native to the California Floristic Province. Live oaks are so-called because they keep living leaves on the tree all year, adding young leaves and sheddi ...
. The meal was served with ''pinquitos'', small pink beans that are considered indigenous to the Santa Maria Valley. According to local barbecue historian R. H. Tesene, "The Santa Maria Barbecue grew out of this tradition and achieved its 'style' when local residents began to string cuts of beef on skewers or rods and cook the meat over the hot coals of a red oak fire." In 1931, the Santa Maria Club started a "Stag Barbecue", which was held on the second Wednesday of every month, with up to 700 patrons attending each event.California Farm Bureau
By the late 1950s, four local restaurants—The Far Western Tavern, The Valley Steakhouse, Hitching Post, and Jocko's—were on their way to becoming landmarks of this style of barbecue.Santa Maria Valley: A Brief History of Santa Maria Style Barbecue
/ref> The original cut was
top sirloin Top sirloin is a cut of beef from the primal loin or subprimal sirloin. Top sirloin steaks differ from sirloin steaks in that the bone and the tenderloin and bottom round muscles have been removed; the remaining major muscles are the gluteus ...
. Then, as today, the meat was rolled in a mixture of salt, pepper, and garlic salt before being barbecued over the red oak coals, which contribute a smoky, hearty flavor. In the 1950s, local butcher Bob Schutz (Santa Maria Market) perfected the tri-tip, a triangular
bottom sirloin The bottom sirloin steak is a steak cut from the back of the animal below top sirloin and above the flank. This cut can also be referred to as sirloin butt and thick flank. The meat is further cut into three different portions called ball tip, tr ...
cut that quickly joined top sirloin as a staple of Santa Maria–style barbecue. President
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
was an avid fan of Santa Maria–style barbecue. Local barbecue chef Bob Herdman and his Los Compadres Barbecue Crew staged several barbecues for President Reagan, including five feasts on the South Lawn of the White House.


Beans

''Pinquito'' beans are an essential component of the traditional Santa Maria–style barbecue menu. They are a cross between a pink bean and a small white bean, and grow well in the fertile soil and mild climate of the Santa Maria Valley. Betteravia Farms began growing pinquito beans commercially in 1972. Another specialty purveyor of pinquito beans and other Santa Maria–style barbecue foods is Susie Q's Brand.


See also

*
Barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (often shortened to BBQ worldwide; barbie or barby in Australia and New Zealand) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that employ live fire and smoke to coo ...
*
Cuisine of California The cuisine of California reflects the diverse culture of California and is influenced largely by European American, Hispanic American ( Mexican, Latin American, Spanish), East Asian and Oceanian influences (Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Filip ...
*
Santa Maria, California Santa Maria (Spanish language, Spanish for "Mary, mother of Jesus, St. Mary") is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, it is approximately northwest o ...


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Maria Style Bbq Barbecue in the United States Mexican-American cuisine Californian cuisine Cuisine of the Southwestern United States