Old Fashioned Texas "Hot Link" "Recipe"

The mantra of "I'll try anything once" isn't enough for me. You lot never know if the beginning endeavor was the worst that the world tin can offering, then I'll attempt anything twice just to make sure. When I left for East Texas I was looking forward to ribs at Stanley'due south in Tyler, seeing Caddo Lake and trying Eastward Texas Hot Links (ETL'southward). These ultra regional links tin can exist establish at a few joints in Dallas, but for the most function yous need to exist in the Piney Woods to really get your fill. The Lockhart of hot links is Pittsburg, Texas where Pittsburg make hot links accept been made for over a century. John Morthland provides a good history of the identify in his 1997 commodity on ETL'south, but I'll suffice to say that the place is an institution that has got to have a solid following to stay open this long. His clarification is also spot on. "They're pale, stubby grease bombs about the size of a thumb."

Before a visit to the Mecca, we had a few other stops to make. As we were leaving Stanley'south in Tyler, possessor Nick Pencis asked if nosotros'd heard of Rhea's in Tyler.

They make their own recipe hot links, and in the East Texas tradition they are baked rather than smoked. These all beef links are stuffed into natural pork casings. The grease oozed out onto a styrofoam plate when I cut into them. I shook a big pool of the traditional hot sauce garnish onto the plate. Even a leisurely dip into the sauce didn't cover the stiff taste of basis offal. At just a couple bucks for iv links (the minimum gild), you can't expect the finest cuts of beefiness, and you won't get them.

The casings aren't taut nor are they crisped. The texture is more gelatinous and the extremely fatty filling easily falls out of the casing. If you only have water to drinkable you can't hope to rinse the film that forms in the oral fissure. The thick fat from the links coats the tongue, gums and teeth. Information technology's the gift that keeps on giving.

Up the road in tiny Gilmer sits the gently aged building that houses Doc'south Hot Links. After the city hall, this is the oldest building in town. The interior has only a large U-shaped bar clad in formica surrounded by long wooden benches. A simple menu hangs on the side of a potable libation that lists the cost of links all the fashion up to twelve dozen ($77.95).

Photo by Nicholas McWhirter

I had quickly learned that a heaping helping of hot sauce was needed to mask the strong gaminess and livery flavors. I've heard all the legends almost barbecue sauce being used to comprehend up the taste of poor quality meats in the early function of last century, but this is not legend. For my taste, the sauce is the only thing that makes these links palatable. Saltines afterwards each bite are just some other way to encompass the flavor.

At this point I was disappointed in myself that I couldn't detect a way to appreciate this flake of Texas tradition. I'd tried two versions and neither were very pleasing. Mayhap a trip Pittsburg would make me meet the calorie-free.

Instead of seeing the light, all I could run across was dog shit. This is non only an effort at an easy joke. Look at the photo beneath and tell me you run into something more appetizing than steaming feces.

Even subsequently a hefty dose of hot sauce and a saltine attorney, I couldn't get more than a couple of these down. There were whole families in the dining room with a dozen links each on their plates which barely lasted five minutes, but I just wasn't getting it. I guess it'due south something you have to grow up eating to appreciate. I similar fat and can appreciate some odd bits, only these links were on some other level. It was also surprising how similar all of the versions I tried tasted. The masochist in me would endeavour some other version of these a couple of days later at a joint that smoked them instead of baking them, only the smoke was barely perceptible when competing with the pungency of the ETL.

I gave it all I could and tried three places in East Texas all making their own links. I went in with an open mind, but I left knowing I never needed to eat these links again. I know I'll catch hell from some East Texas diehards, but there are just too many other peachy sausages around this state to become back for more ETL's.

- BBQ Snob

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