Santa Maria Style Barbecue enjoyed a starring role in the latest episode of Man Fire Food, a new show produced by The Cooking Channel.
In the episode titled Cowboy Cooking, celebrity chef and host Roger Mooking (pictured here) came to the Santa Maria Valley for a lesson in Santa Maria Style Barbecue by the Minetti-Righetti family (owners of Susie Q’s Brand and the Far Western Tavern restaurant, a local barbecue landmark since 1958).
The crew first stopped at the restaurant, then continued down to the Righetti Ranch for a traditional Santa Maria BBQ spread, including pinquito beans and Santa Maria Valley strawberry dessert. Along the way, Mooking learned about the tradition of cooking the meat over coals of native red oak, seasoning the meat with the classic local dry rub, and using a Santa Maria-style grill to cook the meat to perfection.
The Cooking Channel now joins BBQ with Bobby Flay, Sunset Magazine, Forbes.com, San Francisco Chronicle and many other high-profile media outlets who have embraced the local flavors of our regional culinary tradition!
