Once upon a time, long ago but not too long ago, Elder UC#3, UC#4-SU, Sally T. Intern, UC#2 and I met up at Sodolak’s Original Country Inn in Snook, Texas. The quest: a pilgrimage to the origin of Chicken Fried Bacon.
Our get-together was in August of 2011, during a serious Texas drought. We both commented on the scorched corn fields we’d passed on our respective journeys. More on that in a later blog.
First…. we need some reference material:
Chicken fried bacon consists of bacon strips dredged in batter and deep fried, like chicken fried steak. It is an American dish that was introduced in Texas in the early 1990s. Frank Sodolak of Sodolak’s Original Country Inn in Snook, Texas, states that he invented the dish; however, there is a similar recipe in the 1954 cookbook Louisiana Cookery by Mary Land which uses salt pork instead of bacon. It is usually served as an appetizer with cream gravy or sausage gravy for dipping and sauce.
Notoriety Sodolak’s version of the dish acquired enough of a reputation to be featured in Texas comedian John Kelso‘s[3] Texas Curiosities. The entry states that “Things are not only bigger in Texas, they’re greasier” and that “it’s hard to imagine a more artery-clogging food.”
Sodolak’s version serves six strips of bacon, battered and fried, with a bowl of cream gravy.
Wikipedia / Image By Cara Fealy Choate from Austin, USA – Chicken Fried Bacon, CC BY 2.0
Wikipedia CFB Image and Details
Homemade chicken fried bacon frying in a panBy The original uploader was ChildofMidnight at English Wikipedia. – Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons., CC BY 2.0
“They’ve taken fat, they’ve double-coated it in fat, they’ve fried it in more fat, and then they’ve served it with a side order of fat.” – The Washington Post
Is WLBOTT an enabler? Perhaps. Please use your best judgement.
An Early Gathering of the Elders
The Day Tripper Visits Snook
I expected greasy, fatty bacon, covered in oozing batter dripping with grease. Something like frying fat in more fat and then dipping it into a vat of fat. I told my wife to get the defibrillator ready. Let’s be honest, that’s what you would expect too. However, I was wrong. The chicken fried bacon is surprisingly crisp. I won’t call it “light” but it’s not heavy.
With the help of my wife, 2 year old son, and Aggie sister and brother-in-law we polished off the plate in no time, and then readied our stomachs for lunch. Ironically, I think the salad put me closer to the grave than the bacon. There’s a salad somewhere under that dressing, I promise.
Chet Garner is the creator, executive producer, writer, and host. Around these parts, they call him the “trail boss.” Chet loves Texas and loves barbecue, which means he considers his job to be the greatest job on earth. Chet is also a proud husband, proud father of 5, Eagle Scout, monthly contributor to Texas Highways Magazine and firm believer in John 10:10 – “I have come that you may have life, and live it to the fullest.” The Day Tripper
Getting There
Sodolak’s Original Country Inn is conveniently located in Snook, Texas. 9687 Fm 60, Snook, TX 77878 +1 979-272-6002
The Austin / Houston / Snook route is reverently known as “The Golden Triangle” in Texas.
For our Canadian visitors, we recommend traveling by bicycle. Because of the change in elevation, you should be able to coast most of the way.
A Tribute to John Kelso
[3] I would not characterize John Kelso as a comedian. Certainly he was incredibly funny, but he was much more: a hero and legend in Austin.
His official obituary, from the once-great[4] Austin American Statesman starts out with:
John Kelso, the bard of South Austin, an involuntary native and vigorous tormentor of Oklahoma, the author of three humor books and a four-decade fixture in the pages of the Austin American-Statesman as well as hearts of his readers and newsroom colleagues, died Friday.
Kelso, an endlessly funny writer and genuinely sweet guy, was 73. Going on 12.
He died Friday from complications after a recent fall. He had been weakened by a second bout with cancer, which befell him in 2015 and stilled his ready wit and raucous staccato laugh after surgeons were forced to remove his larynx.
Even so, he continued to write his Sunday column, which he had done for the newspaper since his retirement from the American-Statesman in 2011. His last column, bemoaning his lack of home repair skills and the difficulty of finding a good handyman, ran July 2.
[4] Great, until they were bought out by right-wing media investors, whose only editorial goal was apparently to wipe the blue island of Austin off the red Texas sea.
From the Austin Chronicle:
It’s the undoubted end of an era in Texas reporting today, as the Austin American-Statesman reports that veteran columnist John Kelso has died at the age of 73.
A National Press Club award winner and 13-time Best of Austin winner, Kelso’s satirical columns were a fixture at the Statesman for 40 years. Over time, he became one of the defining voices of Austin, especially representing a particular strand of South Austin identity, tied up in traditions of BBQ and the Broken Spoke…..
Our most sincere condolences from the Chronicle to the surviving Kelso family, his friends and co-workers at the Statesman and beyond, and those touched or moved to laughter by his writings.
Kelso was like everybody’s favorite uncle. He’d let you get away with just a little bit more than your parents. He’d give you hope. He’d poke the powerful. He had an underhanded way of showing you a moral lesson of kindness and compassion while making you laugh.
And most importantly (I just learned this today), he’s the reason we’re not all speaking Russian today.
John Kelso was certainly an influence and inspiration for creating the WLBOTT world, and we hope he is smiling down (or up, depending….) on the Elders as we engage in our curated absurdities.
Spoilage
And now, to spoil a perfectly good BLOTT, let’s let Elder G weigh in on this.
