Christopher B. 'Stubb' Stubblefield, or Stubbs, a Texas Barbecue and Music Icon
Even if you haven't been to Texas, you might be familiar with Mr. Stubblefield. His brand of barbecue sauce, known simply as Stubb's, is stocked at most grocery stores nationwide. And though some might assume it's just a marketing ploy, that face on the package was real. He died in 1995, but his legacy (of making fingers everywhere all sauced-up) extends to the music world. He was as obsessed with music as he was with smoked meats.
NPR's Kitchen Sisters has a nice profile on Stubblefield, whose Austin barbecue joint (also, conveniently, called Stubb's) doubles as a concert venue, and was hot this week on the four-day SXSW music fest circuit. From Neko Case to Ben Harper, plenty of musicians were stopping by.
One of the highlights on NPR's audio feature is Stubb's appearance on a Late Show with David Letterman episode from 1992. When asked how he got into this he said, simply, "I was born hungry my dad said."
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4 Comments:
I came across Stubb's sauce near the end of a slightly hairbrained quest to try all the BBQ sauces at my neighborhood grocery store. It was low on my list for all of the seeming minstrelcy-laden, half-racist gimmick aura from the package: I was just certain the stuff was made by a bunch of honky taste lab engineers who appropriated Proper Black American BBQ imagery.
Boy, was I wrong. Stubb's is now my sauce of choice, for everything from chicken to pork to burgers to beans. It was so good I didn't care if I'd been hoodwinked, but this article does much to rest my soul that the story and the sauce came honestly.
filmjr at 11:03AM on 03/21/09
Can anyone else vouch for Stubbs' sauce? I've been keen to try it, but I am a BBQ sauce newbie. It's between Stubbs and Rufus Teague.
Carnal at 2:12PM on 03/21/09
The sauce us good. Especially the Spicy. Being an Austinite, I cannot say that the food is worth two cents. It has become very corporate and of lower quality.
mommak75 at 5:59PM on 03/21/09
I am a fan of both the sauce and the moppin' sauce...
lo82070 at 12:09PM on 03/23/09