A big part of the recent Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (besides the record-breaking concert from George Strait, the King) was all about food.
And it’s kinda interesting that an event that celebrates all things cowboy had food offerings that would have left 19th century Texas cowpokes scratching their heads.
Not that I’m an expert on cowboy cuisine, but from watching old reruns of Rawhide (my, Clint Eastwood looks like he’s 12 years old!) I’m pretty sure I never saw Wishbone dishing up fried Oreos, bacon cotton candy, pizza on a stick or funnel cakes to the wranglers from his chuck wagon.
"If a cow gave birth while on the trail it wouldn’t survive the drive so they butchered it right away and made S.O.B stew that night.”
Of course, working cowboys at ranches had access to food we would recognize today as decent fare, particularly if they ate at the boarding house in town or had a good cook at the ranch who could whip up some chili, mashed potatoes, the occasional steak and a little apple pie.
But out on those legendary cattle drives, some lasting as long as five or six months, the pickins' — and eatin’ — were pretty slim.
According to the Texas State Historical Association’s Texas Almanac, it was rancher and trail boss Charles Goodnight who invented the chuck wagon in 1866. It is described as being “sometimes drawn by oxen, but usually by mules, carried not only food, utensils and a water barrel, but also tools and the crew's bed rolls. A foldout counter, supported by one or two hinged legs, was used for food preparation. The wagon contained several drawers and shelves, with a boot or storage compartment underneath, all covered by a canvas top.”
History Reborn
Other sources put the date of the chuck wagon earlier, but by any standard it was a source of sustenance for the hardworking wranglers on the trail.
And what did Cookie whip up, if not fried Oreos?
For that I went to Emmett & Shine Chuckwagon Cuisine in Spring.
Emmett Harold Williams and Mike Shine are two good ol’ Texas boys. They started cooking together some 20 years back at their local church. Then people began asking them to cater events, which they started doing even though both men had their own day jobs. Williams owns a pest control company in Spring and today Shine owns Frank’s Americana Revival restaurant. About a decade ago they were at the historic Gage Hotel in Marathon, Texas.
It took two years, but the duo finally found a Weber Wagon from the mid 1800s and started their side business.
“And they were serving up food outside from a real chuck wagon,” recalls Williams. “I said, ‘We’ve got to get one of those.’ ”
It took two years, but the duo finally found a Weber Wagon from the mid 1800s and started their side business.
“We say no more than we say yes,” Shine says of requests for the wagon. “We maybe do eight to 10 events a year, it’s really an all-day affair to set up the wagon, dig a pit, bake the sourdough bread and all.”
The wagon is fitted out with antique Dutch ovens, tin coffee pots (to be hung over a fire) and cast iron skillets for beans and eggs. A sample dinner menu includes fire grilled flank steak and chicken fajitas, cowboy beans, guacamole and cinnamon sugar sopapillas.
Not exactly what the cowboys ate.
“When people are paying for a special event, they want quality food,” Shine says. “We try to adhere to some authenticity, our chicken-fried steak has red-eye gravy since they wouldn’t have had dairy for cream gravy back then.”
So what kinds of food were prepared on the Weber Wagon back when it was new?
“Mostly beans and hardtack,” Williams says. “There are journals and diaries from those cattle drives so we have a pretty good idea of what they ate.”
“They had dried fruit,” Shine adds. “The only time they had fresh fruit and vegetables was when they where passing by a cowboy’s hometown and his Mama brought some out to the trail drive.”
“And what little meat they ate came from hunting,” Williams says. “They couldn’t lose money by eating the cattle, but if a cow gave birth while on the trail it wouldn’t survive the drive so they butchered it right away and made S.O.B stew that night.”
Yeah, S.O.B. stands for what you think it does.
According to America Eats! a fascinating compilation of WPA notes from food writers in the 1930s, the origin of the name has been lost over time and is often cleaned up as son-of-a-gun stew for polite company.
Basically it was a freshly killed calf, almost all of it including the liver, heart, sweetbreads, marrow gut, tongue, brains, tenderloin and flank steak slowly simmered for hours with water, salt, pepper and onions — if they had any.
Historical reports say it was delicious. I don’t know. It’s not on any restaurant menus I’ve ever seen and my kitchen won’t hold a whole, freshly butchered calf. But if you’re game, there are plenty of recipes out there like this one from Food.com.
But for now, I’ll just have a big ol’ grilled steak and be thankful I live in this century.
Rancher and trail boss Charles Goodnight is credited for inventing the chuck wagon in 1866, as out on those legendary cattle drives, some lasting as long as five or six months, the pickin’s — and eatin’ — were pretty slim.
