March 01, 2004

By: Martin Collins
Website: http://www.1st-in-steaks.com

Santa Maria Valley, the barbeque capital of the world

Visiting the Santa Maria Valley is a feast for the senses with its lush rolling hills and fragrant fields of strawberries. But cruise down Broadway on any given weekend, and it’s the mouth-watering smell of barbecue that will greet you. In fact, Santa Maria is known nation-wide as the "Barbecue Capital of the World."

Santa Maria Style Barbecue is truly the authentic taste experience of Santa Maria. This sumptuous feast of barbecued sirloin, salsa, pinquito beans, toasted French bread, and green salad has been called by Sunset Magazine, the "best barbecue in the world." It is the featured cuisine at all festive occasions, both public and private, and so thoroughly ingrained in local culture that it truly has become a way of life.

Santa Maria Style Barbecue has its roots in the mid-19th Century, when huge ranches dotted the hillsides of the Central Coast. Ranchers who needed to feed large crowds of famished ranch hands, friends, and family, would cook their meat in pits dug from the earth, over hot coals of oak wood.

Over sixty years ago, the technique of barbecuing "Santa Maria Style" developed, as locals began stringing cuts of meat onto flat steel rods. The meat, either top block sirloin or the triangular-shaped bottom sirloin known as "tri tip," is rolled in a mixture of salt, pepper and garlic salt just prior to cooking. It is then barbecued over red oak coals, giving the meat a hearty, smoky flavor.

The traditional menu features, of course, the barbecued sirloin, trimmed, sliced, and laid out in metal pans so that the diner may select the desired doneness. The only condiment for this tender and flavorful meat is a fresh salsa. With it is served grilled French bread dipped in sweet melted butter, perfect for soaking up every last bit of the flavorful meat juices.

Also served on the side is a tossed green salad, and slow-cooked pinquito beans, a small pink bean that is grown exclusively in the Santa Maria Valley. For the most authentic Santa Maria barbecue experience, select a robust Santa Maria wine to accompany your meal. This hearty feast is finished with coffee and a simple dessert.

Once a well-kept local secret, word of Santa Maria Style Barbecue has spread around the world, enticing travelers to come by the thousands, seeking a taste of this local specialty. And it’s not difficult to find. On a typical Saturday, you will see clouds of fragrant smoke billowing through the air, leading you to numerous barbecues throughout the city.

They range from outdoor feasts along Broadway put on by schools and local charities, to restaurants offering a more formal dining experience, to backyard cookouts where families enjoy their own recipes that have been passed down through the generations. It’s no wonder Santa Maria is called the "Barbecue Capital of the World."

Also see: recipe sirloin steak

Author Notes:

Martin Collins contributes and publishes news editorial to http://www.1st-in-steaks.com.  Great tips on buying top quality meats, steaks and seafood from the finest ranchers and butchers.