I arrived in Midland absolutely bushed. Nothing prepared me for driving 1,600 miles, especially when over 1,000 of them were in 100+ degree heat through barren scrubland. The first weekend I spent resetting myself, but the first course of action for my landlords/roommates/surprisingly kind and cool people was to fill me with some barbeque.
To clarify who I'm talking about, my landlords are a married couple, Heidi and Levi, who own the house and are remodeling it, and our third roommate is Lance. We also have Hermes, but he's been out of the picture working for most of the time. All are transplants for "the real Northern California" as they call it, and they are as hospitable and they are funny.
So when it came to dinner that first night, they had to have a little debate about which joint to take me to. What would give me a true first taste of the ol' West Texas. They landed on the Texas Roadhouse, a chain establishment thick with the smell of barbecue and sweet rolls (including basket upon basket of free rolls you pick up on your way in). Funny enough, the Roadhouse began in Indiana, but hey, good barbeque is good barbeque.
When I sat down I deferred my choice to my new found friend's best judgement, They suggested anything with ribs, so I chose a pulled pork and 1/2 slab of ribs combo. For a side they suggested a loaded sweet potato, so I obliged.
The food was nothing short of great, and for a chain I was quite surprised. The pulled pork was absolutely delicious and the ribs were also top notch. My "loaded" sweet potato came stuffed with brown sugar and melted marshmallows overflowing like sweet foam.
We took home four boxes full of leftovers from that dinner, and they were every bit as good the next night.
Now, one thing you may be wondering is where is the color on this plate (aside from the corn, of course)? One thing I've realized (and that my roommates agreed with) is that we are supremely spoiled in California with the choices and availability of vegetables. Out here, everything has to be shipped in from east Texas because we are in the middle of no-mans land. Even new local businesses have struggled to fill their orders for fresh veggies and fruit.
I'll dedicate a post to barbeque, but another crucial part of the local cuisine that I've tried is Mexican food. California has spoiled me with arm-width burritos stuffed with everything under the sun and delicious meat to boot (thinking La Costena's chicken mole). If there's one thing I thought I wouldn't be lacking in Texas, it was burritos.
Unfortunately the burritos here seem to be the only thing on a diet. But while their size initially disappointed me, the breakfast burritos are cheap and give just enough filling to keep you going into the afternoon without the food coma. One thing I will say is that the concept of cooking potatoes (whether they be home fries or french fries) seems lost here, and most of them are soft and white.
Today I ended up visiting the Martinez Bakery, a Mexican panaderia chock full of the freshest Mexican baked goods I've ever had. I picked out a pink sugar-coated pastry, a gingerbread looking bit, and a plain muffin. For lunch I ordered a barbacoa (barbeque) torta, a Mexican sandwich, and sat down to try one of the treats.
I decided to go for the pink pastry, which was still warm from the oven and was absolutely delicious, much better than the stale pastries I tried back home. The gingerbread and muffin were underwhelming, but the torta was absolutely delicious. I left a happy man.
I'll be exploring more of the culinary nature of Midland and poking my head into the less traveled areas, but if you'd like to hear about something specific, feel free to ask! As always, thanks for reading.
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