16 hours ago
Smoked briskets are slowly making it big in Thiruvananthapuram
Steven Netto, owner of Big Poppa's Bistro, located at Kazhakuttam in Thiruvananthapuram, attributes his motivation to start an American-style diner in the city to a trip he took to the United States a few years ago. After falling in love with 'the art, music, and Hollywood', Steven wanted to pay tribute to his travels across the States, choosing to start a 'very New York' and modern diner. Among other dishes, his menu featured an American classic, the beef brisket — something he often drove down to Kochi to enjoy.
Brisket, a cut of meat from the breast or lower chest of beef, is one of the nine primal cuts of the meat. Loaded with fat and muscle tissues, it is a tough cut and requires long yet rewarding hours of cooking. Eateries such as Big Poppa's Bistro, Tex&Mex by Chefjee and Smoky Ridge, are those serving this slow-cooked delicacy to residents of the State capital.
Steven says, 'The response to brisket has been great, especially over the last three months. Earlier, we served briskets only on weekends; but, now we have it every day. While earlier it used to sell out by the end of the day, now it is sold out by around five in the evening.'
Since 2023, there has been a rise of smokehouses in Kochi with Smoke Culture by Steve, Rebbi's House of Barbecue and Eracci, says food vlogger Anjana Gopakumar. 'However, in Thiruvananthapuram, we were still searching for places or home chefs making briskets,' adds Anjana.
Something new
Jeevanandam Sreekumaram or Chefjee, as he prefers to be called, started Tex&Mex located at Ambalamukku, an eatery with flavours of Texas and Mexico. He explains, 'People in Thiruvananthapuram are used to dishes such as beef fry, beef roast and so on. The brisket cut, however, is not suited for a curry as the meat is tough. Curiosity for new dishes is always there.' Anjana says, 'Beef is a thing we Malayalis love so much, there's no reason why we can't love the brisket, for its meaty, fatty flavours.'
Tex&Mex serves beef brisket two days a week — with barbeque sauce, chimichurri sauce, mac and cheese, coleslaw, potato wedges and bread. The marinated meat is cooked on open smoke and then further smoked by wrapping it in aluminium foil, followed by a resting period. 'This takes around 18 to 20 hours, in between it is sprayed with a mixture of apple cedar and water,' says Chefjee. The meat is smoked with mango, jackfruit and tamarind wood.
Chefjee also aims to prove that it is possible to serve briskets without a premium price. 'We have premium food being served in big restaurants at a high cost. It is possible to bring that same quality to street food, by stripping off the additional expenses.'
Initial challenges
One of the initial challenges for the owners was finding a smoker. While Chefjee purchased it from Thrissur, Steven had a smoker custom-made from Bengaluru. For Abhiram SS running Smoky Ridge at Nedumangad, it involved making his smoker with a neighbour's help. 'It was expensive to buy a smoker and that's when I saw some people using metal barrels to smoke the meat on YouTube. My neighbour said he would give it a go by welding metal sheets and we made our smoker,' says Abhiram.
The 25-year-old home chef picked up cooking during the pandemic. 'I came across Texas-style barbeque online and I found the method very interesting. I later found videos by a pitmaster called Kochin Foodie aka Joel Rebbi,' says Abhiram, who started his endeavour after training at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Kochi.
'Just having a smoker was not enough, because I didn't know how to cook with it and control the temperatures. We tried chicken first and then beef. The first time I made beef, the 2.5 kilograms meat weighed 1.5 kilograms after cooking. It was burnt and dry,' says Abhiram.
'We needed at least five kilograms, and a lot of butchers wouldn't give just the brisket. I failed six times before I figured out how to do it. And each brisket takes 18 hours to cook,' says Abhiram, who is currently only handing takeaways. 'I am setting up a place but I don't think food alone is enough, we also need the ambience for it,' adds Abhiram, who also serves pork ribs and pork belly. Half a pound of brisket costs ₹800, pork belly costs ₹700 and pork ribs cost ₹750.
The gradual expansion of smokehouses in the city is not a mere fad, says Anjana. 'It is something long-term and sustainable. Thiruvananthapuram as a market is both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. Even though it took time to come, it is here to stay.'
Additionally, Steven says, 'We have expanded the menu and have introduced a whole range of smoked meats as well. We have Pastrami that has been selling out pretty fast, which is still a brisket piece of meat, undergoing a different process.'
