Alabama fan, pitmaster Matt Pittman teaming up with YETI for Texas tailgate
Matt Pittman has made a name for himself by smoking up Texas-style barbecue. However, the Texas-based pitmaster’s culinary roots stem from his family back in Alabama. So does his love for the Crimson Tide.
This weekend, Pittman will have the opportunity to put all of the above on display as his barbecue company, Meat Church, teams up with YETI for a tailgate on the University of Texas campus ahead of Saturday’s game between the Crimson Tide and the Longhorns. The tailgate is set to take place on Bevo Blvd. and will begin at 8 a.m. CT, three hours before Alabama and Texas kickoff inside Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
Fans who make it out to the cookout will have their choice of Texas-style brisket tacos or Alabama-style pulled pork tacos prepared by Pittman. They’ll also get a look at YETI’s new 48-inch and 60-inch wheeled coolers which will be used to transport the meats to hungry tailgaters
Pittman, a YETI ambassador whose barbecue has been featured on the reality television series “BBQ Pitmasters," was born in Chattanooga, Tenn., but is a life-long Crimson Tide fan thanks to countless weekends spent with his grandparents in Scottsboro, Ala. When the opportunity arose to cook out for Alabama’s much-anticipated trip to the Lone Star State, he couldn’t pass it up.
Before firing up the smokers Saturday, Pittman spent some time with Tide Illustrated to talk about his Alabama fandom, his prediction for the game and some tailgating tips.
Take us through how you became a Crimson Tide fan
“I was born in Chattanooga, but my Alabama grandparents indoctrinated me into that at a super, super early age. My grandparents were building their retirement home back where they're from in Scottsboro, Ala., so growing up I spent every weekend there with them for years. From there, that was pretty much it.
“I moved to Texas at 13, but I would go back home to Alabama in the summers because my parents were divorced. I learned to drive and got my first driver’s license in Scottsboro. I ended up getting an 85% scholarship here in Texas to the University of Texas at Arlington, so while I wanted to go to Alabama, my dad was like, ‘We’re not paying for you to go out.’
“So, yeah, that’s the history. I’ve been to every national championship but one in the recent years, and I’ve got to go to a lot of huge games. My son ended up going to Alabama for a little while. He played football for Arkansas Tech and then came home and ended up going to Alabama. My whole family's pretty Alabama rabid.”
So what got you into Texas-style barbecue?
“Honestly, as a teenager, I had Texas barbecue, but there wasn’t this aha moment. Then in college, I had a beef rib, which is like, you know, in the south, you're getting pork ribs, or these itty-bitty, you know, three ounces of meat or two ounces of meat on the bone. You come here, and you get a beef rib, and it's like two pounds. And like one rib is like 35 or 40 bucks.
“I was at Black's Barbecue in Lockhart, Texas, which is regarded as the barbecue capital of the world, and I took a bite of a beef rib and was like, holy shit. And it was a total head-pop-back moment. I was like, I want to do that.”
When did you start cooking in general
“My grandmother in Alabama is actually who taught me to cook. So I've always been a big-time cook, non-barbecue, for a while. She made the classic southern meals — fried chicken, sweet tea, 95 vegetables on the table after church.
“I was always asking questions like, ‘How do I make biscuits, and I wanted to be a chef. But I was like, ‘You know what, I don't want to work those crappy hours, and I want to make more money. So I decided that I was gonna go in and try and make what I thought was real money. So when I in college, I just said I'll cook, and I was self-taught for the longest time.
“... I had a knack for cooking and just became like the de facto outdoor cook and got into competition barbecue with a couple of college buddies. That's how I got started, basically.
What's your biggest tailgating tip?
"I always say prep in advance. Usually, if you're tailgating, you're going early, and people have a tendency to wake up and start trying to get ready to go. I do all of my food prep the day before. Whether I'm taking food with me or cooking on site, especially if I'm cooking on site, I do all my knife work and all my prep in advance.
YETI Coolers are the number one thing that helps me with tailgates, whether it's cold or hot items I'm taking. If I'm taking hot barbecue, for instance, I tell people to load the YETI up with towels and fill it up because a cooler that's more full is more effective. Same way on the cold side. The more you have in it, the more effective it is. And condition them in advance. You can't put cold stuff in a hot YETI that you just pulled out of your shed and expect it to be very effective because the cooler is hot as hell. It's the same thing on the hot stuff if your cooler is already cold.
Who wins at barbecuing, Alabama or Texas?
"If I'm being honest, I think Texas wins in the barbecue arena. I always tell people that I love all the regions of barbecue and the differences just because you think about the history of why they do what they do. As long as you like what you're eating, it doesn't matter how you did it or what the past is, but I love them all. But I think Texas barbecue came, and I think it's undisputed in my opinion."
What about on the football field?
“I think it's Alabama and Alabama by a wide margin. Texas just isn't there yet. I think this early in the season, with a brand new quarterback, it’s going to be too much for them.
It's going to be at home, and it's going to be loud, especially since they're playing Alabama. So they've got that, but that’s about the only thing they have going for them. The other thing is that their coach is the former Alabama offensive coordinator, so he certainly knows Alabama's tendencies. That'll help them, but from a personal perspective, they're just outmatched. And I don't think it will be close."