e celebrates and explores the diverse traditions, joints and pitmasters that come together to create the Lone Star State's most famous foodway. Inside, legends like Tootsie Tomanetz, Mando Vera, and Robert Patillo share the persistence and passion needed to be a lifelong pitmaster, innovators like Mark Scott and Evan LeRoy talks about what it takes to serve top-notch barbecue today, and photographer Wyatt McScpadden discusses a career devoted to capturing barbecue's best. Topics covered include how to source the best post oak, the origin stories of institutions and upstarts, the magic of mesquite, real barbacoa, all things brisket, family histories, how geography informs smoking styles, and the nostalgic favorites that endure.