Like most great things in the history of the world— it all began with some tri-tip, a barbecue pit, some wood, fire, a few cold beers and good friends. Well that’s how the greatness of Bird Valley Foodstuff started anyway, but in order to get to those humble beginnings you will need a little history and background of barbecue in California.
Our Story
How it all Started
California Barbecue?
California barbecue you say? Yep, I know what you are thinking, California is known for a lot of things—the gold rush and beautiful missions; Disneyland and the movie stars of Hollywood; sunshine and beaches; good wine and healthy eating; and then of course you can’t forget those jolting earthquakes—but when it comes to barbecue, California doesn’t usually come to mind.
You might already know, with American barbecue, Texas is notorious for it’s beef, especially its slow smoked brisket, the Carolinas do pork and most notably cooking the whole hog, Memphis does ribs right and Kansas City has that classic sauce that we all know and love. Unless you are from California though, you might not know about it’s own rich cattle history and it’s beefy tri-tip (cut from the bottom sirloin subprimal) and a preparation and barbecue style that is uniquely Californian.
California’s barbecue roots date back to the 1800s with the early Spanish settlers in the expansive cattle country up and down the center of the state. The Californios of the day would host huge Spanish-style feasts for their vaqueros, family and friends where the local ranchers would grill large cuts of beef over hot coals of red oak wood. By the early 1900’s those feasts evolved into community cookouts, where organizations routinely barbecued for large gatherings. Prime rib was the preferred cut for decades until meat prices became too expensive. As an alternative, less costly large slabs of top sirloin, known on the central coast area as “top block” sirloin became the cut of choice for a while.
During the 1950’s the face of barbecue in California was taking shape as Bob Schutz, a butcher in the city of Santa Maria on California’s Central Coast first cooked and advertised the “Tri-Tip”, a 2-3lb triangle of flavor that is cut from the sirloin, as a delicious less expensive option to the top block and prime rib that had been the local favorites. It was this glorious cut of meat, the minimally seasoned, expertly cooked tri-tip, served with delicious salsa fresca, alongside a big pot of perfectly cooked pinquito beans, a fresh tossed green salad, and loaves of garlic butter dipped grilled San Francisco sourdough bread, that will be forever known as California barbecue.
California Barbecue!
This is the barbecue that I was raised on. This informal yet grand and festive barbecue, full of community and camaraderie enveloped with the smoky red oak aromas wafting in the radiant California summer. This is California barbecue as I know it.
During the summer of 2014, the groundwork for Bird Valley Foodstuff was being laid a couple nights a week with good company over a live fire. Each week we would cook off a few tri-tips, sometimes playing with a different marinade or seasoning, most times keeping it simple, but always trying to capture at least a glimpse of the feeling of days gone by.
As 2015 began, I temporarily traded in my chanclas for some shoes, and gave up my California sunshine for a chillingly late Indiana winter. In Indiana I found myself craving some warmer weather and barbecue, and although I couldn’t do much about the weather I began to tinker with a spice blend that would bring that flavor of California barbecue with me wherever I went. The “Central Coast” spice blend began as a seasoning for tri-tip (and through testing found it went great with just about anything you put it on) was the seasoning blend that inspired the creation of Bird Valley Foodstuff. My 20+ years of professional cooking experience, along with my love for sauces, seasonings, marinades and the craving for regional condiments and flavors is the ongoing incentive to share with you my favorite foods.
Launching Bird Valley Foodstuff has been the most exciting and rewarding project I have ever been a part of and we are just getting warmed up. Join us on our journey, its gonna be a fun and tasty ride.
Thanks for being a part of our story,
