Man slicing barbecue at the Gonzales County Fair

"Today, it's trendy to describe making barbecue as a "craft," and most of the celebrated barbecue craftspeople, particularly in Texas, are white. Man slicing barbecue thankfully challenges that narrative. Gonzales is located in central Texas, in the heart of cattle country. Under contemporary notions of what true barbecue is, one would expect the unnamed subject to be slicing beef brisket. Yet, Man slicing barbecue unapologetically portrays a black barbecue aesthetic. The unnamed subject is an African American man who is focused on breaking down an expertly smoked whole hog into manageable portions, most visibly the spareribs. It's only a matter of time before the subject bathes the barbecue with some sacred concoction contained in one of those pots. Yes, believe it or not, there is more than one way to make Texas barbecue, and as Lee's 1939 photograph shows, sauced, pork barbecue is "old school," even in the Lone Star State." — Adrian Miller, The Soul Food Scholar

Read Miller's full essay over on the blog!