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This is some awesome barbecued lamb. It's the result of a fairly complicated process--a hybrid of braising and smoking. But I figure this is the season for a challenging barbecue recipe, what with the Rodeo BBQ Championship coming up and all. I figure Houston barbecue enthusiasts are ready to show off their stuff. (I coulda been a contender!)

The smoky-flavored, falling-off-the-bone tender meat this recipe yields is even better than the stellar barbacoa de borrego at Gerardo's Drive-In Grocery. At Gerardo's, the kitchen crew steams the lamb in giant steel-jacketed gas-fired kettles over a chile broth in a process related to the stewed goat dish called birria.

The latest "news" on the smoldered Thelma's Bar-B-Que on 1020 Live Oak is... nothing all that new.

Alicia White, with the Houston Fire Department, told Hair Balls that since the cause of the fire is still under investigation, information beyond the basics isn't going to be released any time soon (the basics being that the call came in to the HFD around 2:05 a.m. on January 31). White said that records show that Thelma's suffered $10,000 in estimated damages.

Though "re-building" does not necessarily imply "re-opening," the restaurant's dead-end phone number leads to a voicemail which bids a farewell, for now:

"Thelma's Bar B Que, we're now closed due to the fire, and we're in the process of rebuilding. Thanks for your concern, thanks for your prayers. Keep in touch. Thank you."

-- Melanie Pang

Nationally famous Thelma's Bar B Que at 1020 Live Oak closed due to a fire. The front of the business appeared as ramshackle as always, but a sign on the door announced the bad news. The rear of the building where the barbecue pit used to be was badly damaged as was the kitchen area. The old-fashioned cinderblock barbecue pit used at Thelma's had a small metal door on the outside where the wood was loaded and a grate with a steel door inside the building where the meats were cooked. The fire appears to have originated in the fire box or chimney as that part of the building has been torn away. The fire reportedly happened last Friday.

Thelma's was first reviewed in the Houston Press in July of 2002 and thereafter achieved national noteriety when the restaurant's brisket sandwich was featured in a 2002 PBS documentary called Sandwiches You Will Like. Thelma's has been featured in the pages of Texas Monthly and in Steven Raichlen's book on regional American barbecue, BBQ USA. There has been no word yet on the extent of the damage or plans for rebuilding.

Robb Walsh

Where there's smoke, there's firemen barbecuing up a mess of briskets, sausage and chicken. The Houston Firefest event was this past Saturday, October 25. Thanks to a friend of mine, I got to go hang out the night before as the different crews fired up their smokers to prepare for the Saturday competitions.

I got to chow down with the Red Knights Team, who got second place in the brisket competition the next day. Lucky me. Here are some photos of the event.

Dodging Hurricane Ike last Friday, Juliet Stewart led her family and friends out to Giddings to stay on some land she owns there. Fourteen men, women and children from Missouri City, Sunnyside and the Southeast end of Houston camped out in two RVs, a tractor-trailer and a car. I ran into the caravan in the parking lot of the famous Southside Market on Highway 290 in Elgin. Juliet Stewart's brother, Pete Pryor, who was driving one of the RVs, said they were on their way back home now.

"You know, if you are coming from Giddings, you're heading in the wrong direction," I pointed out to Drexler Stewart, Juliet's son who was driving the tractor-trailer.

Clarence Pierson, whose outstanding smoked pork is featured in this week's Cafe review, pulls a brisket out of his bank safe-shaped pit.

Pierson & Company's smoker was built by one of Houston's most famous custom barbecue pit builders, BBQ Pits by Klose (2216 W. 34th Street, 800-487-7487).

These are the guys who built the world's largest barbecue smoker, the smoker that looks like a Continental jet, the smoker that looks like a beer bottle, and countless other outrageous rigs. There are photos of their pits on the company Web site, along with a nice collection of barbecue recipes and a place to order a free catalog.

The custom smokers go for tidy sums, but the simplest Klose smokers start at $69. -- Robb Walsh

This week's review of Pierson & Company put me in a BBQ state of mind.

It's my theory that the greatest barbecue in Texas is being served at some out-of-the-way barbecue joint that has yet to be discovered. Which is why I like to stop at barbecue trailers and those here-today, gone-tomorrow shade tree stands with hand-painted signs that pop up on summer weekends. That's also why I tend to fill up at gas stations that sell brisket sandwiches along with the unleaded.

I am always on the look-out for barbecue signs -- the weirder, the better. Here are some classics. -- Robb Walsh

Robb Walsh does a lot of driving around Texas. He also does a lot of eating. Photographing too. We thought, why not combine the three?

Fish Friday at a BBQ joint. -- Robb Walsh

When your barbecue breaks down, you need to know about the folks at D.W. Vasbinder’s (90A in Richmond, 281-342-0535). Not only do they repair barbecue rigs, they also take trade-ins and buy burned-out smokers for scrap.

The barbecue pits made here are way cheaper than better-known competitors like Pitts and Spitts. (Pitts and Spitts uses expensive stainless steel on the lids and charges $1,800 for a medium-sized unit.) You can get a nice size smoker at D.W. Vasbinder’s for $700, and a little one for $200. Or you can design your own and have them custom-make it. And we’re talking about the kind of heavy-gauge steel that will last for decades.

On Saturdays, Dewayne Pines tows his barbecue trailer to a quiet spot in the parking lot of the Rose Rich shopping center on 90A on the Richmond Rosenberg line and sets up a shade tree barbecue operation he calls Smokey’s Barbecue and Grill. The trailer is licensed by the City of Richmond health department.

Dewayne puts out a well-worn card table and four plastic chairs under the shade of a tree where his customers can sit and eat. I got a two-meat plate with brisket and ribs for ten bucks. It came with beans, potato salad, two slices of white bread, pickles and onions and a Fanta strawberry soda.