I tried brisket in Italy to see if it lived up to the Southern barbecue standard

There is nothing better than seeing a tender slab of meat hot out of the smoker. The gritty aroma of smoke and BBQ sauce fill the air. Your mouth starts to water as you begin to cut small, juicy slices off of the slab. You know you are close to sweet satisfaction.

As soon as the meat hits your plate, you pick up a forkful and slide it into your mouth. It seems to melt in your mouth and burst with flavor, warming your belly as it travels down your throat. All you want is more. Add a cold glass of sweet tea to the mix and you have most certainly reached a state of pure Southern bliss.

As a Texan, this is what eating BBQ feels like for me every time. It isn’t a meal as much as it is a lifestyle. Going to college in North Carolina, my cravings for good barbecue have only gotten stronger.

I’ve been abroad in Rome, Italy, for almost a month now, and I haven’t eaten meat, other than a meatball, the whole time. Don’t get me wrong, the pizza and pasta here are great, but nothing gets me there like the smoky flavor of BBQ.

Brisket, sausage, steak, turkey legs – the list goes on.

And don’t even get me started on the fact that I haven’t had a cold glass of sweet tea this whole time either. Cappuccinos have to do.

So you could imagine my excitement when I found a “BBQ joint” in Rome known for their tender brisket.

The joint was in a local food market surrounded by Italian classics, so I was already sketchy as to what kind of brisket they would serve – probably not the kind in Texas, but oh well.

I decided to go for the classic brisket sandwich. Instead of getting the typical hamburger bun with meat and BBQ sauce (as I was hoping), I got ciabatta bread with tomato, olives, arugula and meat in a strange lemony sauce.

Don’t get me wrong, the meat was tender and delicious, but it definitely was not BBQ. So my craving continues…with 10 more weeks to go before I’m back in the land of meat.