With all due respect to Memphis and Kansas City, Californians know the nation’s best barbecue may be in their own backyard. I’ve spent enough time in the Central Coast to know that no occasion is too small for Santa Maria-style barbecue. Fundraisers, Quinceañeras, and Saturdays are all reasons to fire up the 50-gallon oil drum grill and slow cook enough beef for the whole town. For my Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24 event this month, I attended to a local fundraiser for spare ribs cooked on a giant grill, then at night, made my own tri-tip feast.
So what exactly is Santa Maria-style barbecue? Well, legend has it that California’s barbecue culture dates back to the early 19th century, when vaqueros ended hard days of cattle branding with feasts of fresh steer, bread, and beans. And they were economical too, these cowboys. When they couldn’t bear to toss the triangular ends of their sirloins,
they made the tri-tip a regional Cal-Mex speciality.
These days, on any weekend, parks and parking lots from Santa Maria up north to Salinas are filled with heavenly, protein-enriched smoke. These grills are at least at least 4 feet long, with wheel cranks to lower and raise the giant meat loads. A grill’s size is measured by the number of sirloin steaks you can fit on each. There are “40′s”, “80′s”, even “100′s”. Traditionally the de facto fuel was California red oak, but now most other woods can be used. Sirloin steaks and tri-tips are the most popular cuts to toss on the grill, but you can also cook ribs and whole chicken this way.
As someone who had spent the past two years in China, I really missed meat that wasn’t pre-cut into little cubes.
We started the day at a fundraiser for the Greenfield Fire Station, about half an hour south of Salinas and 10 minutes from where I was staying in King City. The local firemen were already busy cooking a massive number of spare ribs the signature crank grills. They had sold 350 meals in the first hour alone. Pepe, a retired firefighter, had been grilling at this event for the past 14 years. He and the other firemen carefully seared each side of the ribs until ready, then speared them over to the cutting table. And what was in this bucket of marinade that made the ribs smell so good? Butter, beer, and a mixture of secret spices were the only answers I could wrestle from them.
The firemen added some barbecue sauce to our ribs. But traditionally the only sauce you’ll get is salsa verde and pinquito beans. Instead of grits and collard greens, in CA you get fresh garlic bread and salad with Newman’s Own salad dressing. But the asceticism has a purpose: you need few distractions to enjoy the most luscious beef this side of the Rockies.
The firemen also had an adorable mini crank grill, perfect for the backyard, camping, and toddler BBQ lessons.
Later, back at the figurative ranch, we continued the all-day meat fest on the backyard grill. I pulled out the huge tri-tip purchased from a local Mexican butcher that had been marinating in a mixture of oil, salt, pepper, and minced garlic. You can also do a dry rub with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, but the marinade seems to allow the garlic flavor to better seep into the meat.
I recently discovered that California buys 80% of the nation’s tri-tip, with another 15% going to other Western states. (Bobby Flay, as New York’s tri-tip evangelist, apparently buys the rest.) This bottom piece of the sirloin is the perfect cut to grill at home; its size cuts the cooking time down to half an hour. You’ll want your butcher to leave a little fat on the meat to add moisture during cooking. I first seared the outside over the flame, then cooked it over low heat until it was medium-well. (See recipe below.)
Even the guests who normally prefer their beef bloody and moo-ing agreed the tri-tips met their standards for tenderness.
For the sides, as per tradition, I slathered butter and garlic over “French bread”, which in California is about three times fatter and fufflier than a normal baguette. Pinquito beans, the variety that may only be grown south in Santa Maria, are hard to find, so I substituted with the slightly larger pinto beans. A little garlic, bacon, tomato paste, mustard, sugar, and chili powder give these beans a tangy, sweet, and smoky dimension.
Salsa verde and grilled corn rounded out the meal. And no beer for this barbecue crowd. Here, even the burliest ranchers end up sipping the local Central Coast wines with their barbecue.
I guess if the rest of the country never discovers tri-tip, Californians will just have more for themselves.
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Santa Maria-Style Tri-Tips
Serves 4
1 beef tri-tip roast (about 2 lbs)
2 tabelspoons olive oil
4 to 5 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper
Trim excess fat from the roast, but leave a little fat on one side so the meat stays moist and tender during grilling. Rub the tri-tip all over with oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. Marinate in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours (30 minutes at a bare minimum), or overnight for more flavor.
Sear meat over flames for 2 to 3 minutes on each side to get a nice, dark crust and seal in juices. Cook for another 20 to 30 minutes over low heat to the desired degree of doneness. (Check with a meat thermometer. Roasts go from rare to well-done very quickly, within 10 minutes.)
Remove tri-tip from heat and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Slice into thin slices and serve with salsa or barbecue sauce.
California-Style Pinquito Beans
Serves 4
1 pound pinquito beans (or substitute pinto beans)
4 strips bacon, diced
2 to 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup tomato puree
1/2 tablespoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon ground chili powder (add more for smokier beans)
Salt to taste
Pick through beans to remove any debris. Soak in a pot of water overnight. (If you’re pressed for time, use this quick-soak method.) Drain beans, cover with 3 inches of fresh water, and bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer beans for 30 to 40 minutes.
In a medium-sized pan, sauté bacon until lightly browned. Add garlic and sauté another 2 minutes. Add tomato puree, mustard, sugar, and chili powder. Simmer for 30 minutes to let flavors soak in. Salt to taste.
First off, congratulations on being chosen for a 24, 24, 24 event!
Secondly, ARRRGH!
You’re killing me with those shots of perfectly grilled tri tip roast. It was my favorite roast to eat when we were back in San Jose. I cooked it on my Weber Smokey Mountain cooker over mesquite coals with red oak for flavoring. So good. So good. Especially with a red wine from Paso Robles or SLO.
There’s no way we could find a tri-tip here in Kuching. I doubt even KL-ites know of it. Steak is so poorly done here. *sigh*
Anyway, come check out our “24″ post where we went behind the scenes to look at how a Sarawakian layer cake is made.
Oh my god the meat looks AMAZING! I love barbecue cooked over wood. Thanks for the post!
Nice! I had this type of barbecue once near Paso Robles. It was so good…
As always your pics make me drool! Who can resist that beef?
Bacon and garlic with beans…yum. :)
Congratulations to you, fellow 24! This is a fascinating story…and oh my gosh, can you please let me know next you are making this so I can join you??
I’ve never heard of a tri-tip before. Those meat photos look JUICY! I love a good barbeque; the Americans definitely trump the British at it.
Barbecue and wine? Seems like a strange pairing, but I’m not from CA.
that is just how we like our meat cooked!!what a fantastic foodbuzz 24!!! congratulations!
I live on the central coast and so this meal is mother’s milk to me. You can roast a mighty fine tri-tip in the oven, too. And, S&W now features pinquitos in cans!
I’m transplanted to the Seattle area and have given up on a top sirloin steak ~ here you get it cut up into pieces that I don’t recognize.
We used to have The Santa Maria people come to the park in Camarillo just below the Conejo Grade to cook for our ACSC company picnics. *sniff* The scent was to die for. Rumor had it that the “Santa Maria people” wouldn’t go any further south than “The Grade.”
Your post has certainly brought back some very fond memories for me. If any of these terms I’ve used above don’t make sense to your readers, that’s just too bad.
P.S. Now that you’ve given away our little secret about tri-tip roasts, drop the subject and maybe we’ll keep the roasts on the West Coast. All is a joke ~ lol … maybe.
Belinda – As long as you’re somewhere between San Maria and Salinas on 101, it’s not hard to find. ;)
Lizzie – Thanks! I guess that’s part of the reason we get a ton of tourism from Britain.
Noah – Oh, you must try it. Esp since there’s no (or less) barbecue sauce to overwhelm the wine.
bonnie – Good to know! I’ll have to look for those canned pinquitos.
Nate – Yes! Grilled tri-tip with Paso Robles wine is classic. Your post was great, btw!
CarolQ – Ha ha. I think this will still stay a "secret" for a while, despite my (and Bobbly Flay’s) efforts.
I like grilled beef, but it would cost a bomb in Malaysia unless we use the local cows which have a very distinctive texture and taste. Local cows are best for curries and ‘rendangs’.
You have forgotten to drop the other secret of the less-than-ubiquitous Santa Maria Style Seasoning (found on http://www.susieqbrand.com/). I believe it was developed specifically for tri-tip, but has now become somewhat of a staple amongst Central Coast residents. Being transplated from SLO to Philly, I require shipments of SM Style Seasoning and San Luis Sourdough an a semi-regular basis. Some things just aren’t the same no matter how hard you look…
I want to cry! I have been eating veggies for three days now because I want to be a vegan but I don’t think this I am going to push through after seeing this all! I badly miss barbecues!
Mouthwatering! But I’m not sure if I’m drooling over the tri-tip or the ‘local Mexican butcher that had been marinating in a mixture of oil, salt, pepper, and minced garlic.’