Santa Maria Style Barbecue is a regional culinary tradition rooted in the Santa Maria Valley in Santa Barbara County on the Central Coast of California. This method of barbecuing dates back to the mid-19th century and is today regarded as a “mainstay of California’s culinary heritage.” [1] The traditional Santa Maria Style Barbecue menu was copyrighted by the Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce in 1978.[2]
Santa Maria Style Barbecue centers areound a beef tri-tip, seasoned with black pepper, salt, and garlic salt before grilling over coals of native red oak wood. The traditional accompaniments are pinquito beans, fresh salsa, tossed green salad, and grilled French bread dipped in sweet melted butter.[3]
Other items popular in Santa Maria cuisine are chicken, other steaks, and ribs. Western-style baby back Pork ribs are favored over the spare ribs preferred in the Southern United States. When used, barbecue sauce is tomato-based, as with other western states.
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Santa Maria Style Barbecue originated in the mid-19th century when local ranchers would host Spanish-style feasts each spring for their vaqueroes. They barbecued meat over earthen pits filled with hot coals of local red oak. The meal would be served with pinquitos, small pink beans that are considered indigenous to the Santa Maria Valley. [3]
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.” [4]
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. [2] By the late 1950s, three local restaurants—The Far Western Tavern, Hitching Post and Jocko’s—were on their way to becoming landmarks of Santa Maria Style Barbecue.[5] The original cut was top-block sirloin. 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, a local butcher named Bob Schutz perfected the tri-tip, a triangular bottom sirloin cut that quickly joined top-block sirloin as a staple of Santa Maria Style Barbecue. [4]
President Ronald Reagan 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. [4]
Pinquito beans are an essential component of the traditional Santa Maria Style Barbecue menu. Pinquito beans are a cross between a pink bean and a small white bean. How they came to be grown in the Santa Maria Valley remains a mystery. Some say the beans were given as a gift by a Mexican vaquero to one of the early Swiss-Italian settlers. Others contend that a lady brought several plants with her when she migrated to the area from Europe.
Pinquito beans grow well in the fertile soil and mild climate of the Santa Maria Valley, which is the only place where pinquito beans are grown commercially.[6]
A leading specialty purveyor of pinquito beans and other Santa Maria Style Barbecue foods is Susie Q’s Brand. [1]