"ElizabethKarmel" news and stories

What food do you eat that would give you a bad rep if other chefs knew about it?
EK: I own all my food! But my dirty little secret is I LOVE Chic-fil-A with extra pickles! It's the first thing I eat when I go home to North Carolina.

Which celebrity would you love to cook for and why?
EK: Lyle Lovett--because I listen to his music when I cook and he looks like he could enjoy a good meal and a tumbler of tequila with me!

What chef would you like to see naked?
EK: Really?!!!?

What do you think of vegetarians?
EK: That they are only eating half of their food.

What's going on in the food world these days that's pissing you off?
EK: I am grossed out by the chemical content in a lot of our food supply and the fact that fast food costs less to buy than fruits, veggies etc. So people are on a hamster wheel of eating cheap processed food. We should all eat as close to the source as possible--whole foods, real food. But sadly, it has a big price tag and is not available to everyone.

Elizabeth Karmel is executive chef of Hill Country Barbecue, the best barbecue in NYC as voted by New York Magzine and Time Out NY. The restaurant was named by the Wall Street Journal as one of the top barbecue joints in America.

Cow head in banana leaves at Hill Country. Photo: Kat Kinsman

There comes a time in every girl's life -- when she's ripping open the long-braised skull of a short-lived calf in order to better wobble out its beer-marinated brain -- that she smiles contentedly and realizes she loves her life an awful lot. Then she goes for the eyes.

Well OK, not every girl's life -- but at least those of a troika of squeam-free dames including Hill Country's executive chef and cookbook author Elizabeth Karmel, Homesick Texan writer Lisa Fain and lucky, lucky me. And it all happened because of Twitter.

See a step-by-step barbacoa making slideshow and read a description after the jump. Warning -- it's not for vegetarians or the faint of stomach.

As promised, we're beginning our recap of the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party this past weekend, featuring 15 of the best pitmasters from around the USA. After you take a dip in the barbecue sauce fountain, courtesy of Mike Mills and Amy Mills of 17th Street Bar & Grill, click on the post to see our photos. "Peace, Love & Barbecue," everyone!