hey what's going on everybody for first
we feast I'm Sean Evans coming at you
from Fletcher's barbecue and beautiful
gowanus brooklyn where I'm joined by
Barbara Dunkleman and Bernie burns
Barbara and Bernie are two of the
visionaries behind the wildly popular
YouTube channel roosterteeth for a week
over week you can catch fresh episodes
of red vs. blue always open and so much
more
Barbara and Bernie you guys just got off
the plane from roosterteeth HQ in Austin
Texas fertile hunting ground for some of
the best barbecue in the United States
we're here to see if New York's
burgeoning barbecue Renaissance can
match up to the old guard and Bernie I
want to start with you because I've seen
your barbecue vlogs it's like this
perfect combination it smells so good in
here when I say New York barbecue what
are the things bouncing around in your
brain right now
well barbecue is one of those things
it's almost like a religion it's if you
go to different parts of the world that
means different things but for in Texas
barbecue means beef it means you know
beef brisket beef ribs I'm coming in I
got to admit as a skeptic I really am
right I can't imagine it'll hold up but
we'll see we'll see we'll see in Barbara
you're from Canada originally can you
talk to me about your introduction to
Texas barbecue what's it like the
culture there as a Canadian experiencing
barbecue in Texas was like meeting God
for the first time really yeah it was a
very strange feeling but they do it
right they know what they're doing but
the dish to me always comes down to
brisket that's always the standard like
if I go to a new pizza place I have to
try just a cheese slice to see I got
that right for me its brisket well you
know we love a good segue at first we
feast so thank you very much Bernie
we're gonna have some brisket here in
just a second but first an awkward throw
to the kitchen to figure out what the
hell we're eating for lunch
my name is Matt Fisher I'm the executive
chef and pitmaster at Fletcher from
barbecue in Brooklyn New York at
Fletcher's we cook what we call Brooklyn
barbecue which is a combination of the
techniques and traditions that you find
in America's historic barbecue cultures
amped up through the International
cuisine of New York City a little more
smoke a little more spice a little more
collision of flavors my love of barbecue
started when I was about five years old
and as I got older and learn more about
cooking I really began to appreciate the
time and the craft and the culture
behind all of barbecue and through years
and years of trial and error started
creating a style that we call in New
York style of barbecue when you have
people come in from North Carolina
Memphis Texas wherever and they go man
that's good barbecue it doesn't matter I
don't say that's good Texas barbecue
they say that's good barbecue that
that's everything so here we are with
Fletcher's brisket which as Bernie
mentioned it's the cornerstone of great
Texas barbecue chef Matt calls this a
blend between Texas and Kansas City
styles it's smoked over red oak and
sugar maple for about 18 hours and the
rub includes international flavors like
Chipotle ancho chiles and Indian spices
like
oh that's good smoky so smoky it's
definitely a very unique smokiness that
you wouldn't find in Austin there's
always a choice when you're eating
brisket you know to get either a moist
cut or get a leaner cut and I always
have trouble balancing then this is
great because it feels like it's right
in between that got a nice layer of fat
on it and the rubs like right there
please is there a part of you that
thinks we're over complicating things
over here in New York but with brisket
if you add a little bit it adds a lot
right because in traditionally the
brisket that we have in Texas its
brisket and then just rub with salt and
pepper and that's it that smokers that's
it there are places in Texas where they
will not give you sauce and if you ask
for it they ask you to leave they
consider to be insulting its brisket a
thing in Canada it is but it's actually
technically smoked meat as well so we
have a one my favorite places in the
world is actually Schwartz's which is in
Montreal and they do smoking sandwiches
there but it's definitely not what you
would think brisket is like here it's
completely different you can't have a
barbecue video with some people from
Austin without mentioning franklin's
which is iconic one of the great
barbecue spots in the country people
line up four to four
sometimes six hours for a meal so on
this brisket how long would you wait in
line
I don't normally wait in any line like
I've never waited in the six-hour
Franken line there are actually people
who make a living waiting in that line
for other people and say you paid to do
that but this is great I would this
would be a definitely place I would line
up on the block for and that's a good
thing for me because I don't get lines
that long usually saying a lot for
Bernie Barbara
yeah I'm not typically someone to wait
in line I have very little patience but
I would wait a good three hours whoa
yeah I think so all right so now we have
beef ribs look at this bark right here
so my guess is there's gonna be a lot to
pick up here oh man this is an
incredible amount of flavor and the
moistness is crazy it's so soft so the
secret here is that you have a barbecue
sauce mustard blanket and then it all
gets brought together with the dry rub
which
keeps all that moisture in and that's
why you just have this succulent
fall-off-the-bone melts in your mouth
meat effect on the beef ribs - good like
I feel like this I should just I'm done
after this it's dedicated to just
bringing out the best flavor in the meat
itself it's just just this approach to
making it how moist is you can tell that
everyone is on board with that - because
nobody has reached for the barbecue
sauce everyone is just eating it as it
was served did not even realize yeah
without any sauce how does it compare to
some of the best beef ribs that you've
had in Texas I've forgotten about all
beef ribs in Texas good idea I have my
favorite beef rib in Texas is from style
switch in Austin and this to me so far
of the two dishes we've had feels the
most like home most like Texas barbecue
and they nailed it
like this beef rib is incredible
absolutely incredible so we've had beef
rib we've had brisket those are staples
and Texas barbecue but here we're going
a little bit off the beaten path a char
shu pork the chart shows a Chinese
inspired pork shoulder that is cut into
steaks marinated in ginger and soy then
smoked for six hours this dish it's all
about the sauce fermented bean paste
rice wine ginger soy Szechuan peppercorn
sugar five spice closest thing I've had
to this would be like a pork loin or you
know a pork chop that's all the places
that specialize in that oh yeah I love
ginger and that sauce has a really
awesome yeah ginger flavor to it yeah
all about this awesome oh my gosh here's
the elephant in the room where I think
that it would be New York calling people
from Austin Texas barbecue snobs right
well I think if this was on the menu of
the Texas barbecue place I think that
you would literally hear someone in line
say that word they go Wow fancy that I
know that would be the one comment you
know and people would definitely be
skeptical you'd get a lot of naysayers
saying you can't have this kind of a
dish in a traditional Texas barbecue
place but somebody will try it and love
it and then they'll go back to that
place they'll be known for it awesome no
they have a lot of very eclectic food
and a lot of different
like a very different the rest of Texas
like if anywhere it would work it'd be
Austin so when you guys have had this
dish I wonder which side of the coin are
you on is this the new wave or is it
sacrilege should barbecue cross
pollinate or should it stay in its lane
I think ever since becoming a
full-fledged Texan that I've become a
bit of a barbecue snob honestly like you
mentioned before where I like it the way
it is
barbecues love religion like pizza you
know you can do lots of cool things with
pizza but you're always gonna go back to
the classic style I think so it's always
great to have the new things and to be
able try different stuff but yeah I
think I would always gravitate back
towards the traditional style well if
you heard it from people who got off the
plane from Austin you know it's gospel
when it comes to barbecue
Barbara Bernie thank you so much check
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Sean Evans you already know otherwise
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best Tuesday of all time