– April Fools Day was on Tuesday, and there were some tricks played in the barbecue world. The Sidedish blog announced a new BBQ Explosion flavor of Orbit gum based on Pecan Lodge’s barbecue. Delaney Barbecue in Brooklyn said they were changing their name to TofuTown. And Southern Soul BBQ in Georgia said they were switching their all-wood operation to gas cookers.

– Another April Fools favorite was from the Paris Review that ran this fictitious interview with author Cormac McCarthy:
“We stand and watch the conflagration of charcoal. The flame maze, the char, the sauce and slaw. In the glowing embers of the mesquite, the old dead wood, you see the incipient sting of godlessness.” 

– Whole Hog!

 

– Texas Monthly went to New York, and we brought some Texas pitmasters. 

– New York magazine compares the Republican slamming of Obamacare to a vegan reviewing a barbecue restaurant. 

– Coco Chanel and Elizabeth Arden on what not to wear to a Texas barbecue, circa 1957. 

– Brits who were out to discover America took some South Koreans to eat Texas BBQ:

 

– The Houston BBQ Festival is this Sunday. Meet the pitmasters here. 

– Texas Smoke, by chefs Bryan Caswell and Ronnie Killen, is a new Texas barbecue stand inside the Astros stadium. 

– Houston’s Gatlin’s BBQ is profiled on the local news. 

– A look at Killen’s BBQ and Pizzitola’s in Houston:

 

– Plans in the U.S. for country-of-origin labeling for meat will move forward after a judge upholds the rule in federal court. 

– A barbecue joint opened in Tel-Aviv, Israel called Pundak De-Luxe. The owner called it a “Brooklyn-style barbecue joint.” So that’s a thing? 

– South Carolina has an official barbecue trail. 

– Thrillist provides their list of the best barbecue in Atlanta. 

– Are vegetarians healthier than omnivores? This study says not so much. 

– I think umbratarians might be the healthiest:

 

– The Houston Chronicle provides this look into the budding genre of Texas style BBQ in the UK.

– More on the UK’s Red’s True BBQ. “We’re one of the only authentic low and slow American BBQ’s in the country.”

– There is an Irish BBQ Association, but the crazier part is that it’s been around since 2002.

– Dry-aged beef ribs in San Antonio:

 

– If you want a job at Franklin Barbecue in Austin, now is your chance.

– A look inside the space in Austin that will house Cooper’s BBQ.

– There are some very vague barbecue rumors in the Lakewood area of Dallas.

– The construction at Pecan Lodge is coming along in Deep Ellum.

– BBQ jokes:

 

– For $20 you can get all-you-can-eat pork ribs at Texas Land & Cattle on Mondays.

– The new season of BBQ Pitmasters is coming Saturday, April 12th. They have a new judge and a contestant from Fort Worth.

– BBQ Pitmasters judge Myron Mixon now has a line of pellet grill/smokers called the Pitmaster Q3.

– Aaron Franklin visits with the BBQ Central Show (check the 15:00 mark):

 

– Get smoked brisket at your Passover seder catered by The Slow Bone.

– Eddie Deen looks to open Hickory Roots BBQ in Terrell in a couple weeks.

– There’s a cured meat party coming to Austin this weekend.

– Small town BBQ scouting at its best: