Santa Maria/Colorado Springs Tri Tip Barbecue

Santa Maria/Colorado Springs Tri Tip Barbecue- For this post, we're doing something a little different in several ways. Allow me to break it down, this is not our recipe. This is the product of a local collaboration taking place in Season Two Taste's backyard, meaning here in beautiful Colorado Springs. That's not the only way in which this is a major digression from our usual course on this site, though. This recipe is brilliant in the sense that it takes from several different barbecue styles, but really doesn't play by any of the rules inherent to them. I'm very excited to share this with everyone, as this was a thoroughly fun and interesting cook, as well as a veritable roller coaster of flavor for our palates!

A Note About Chefs and Community

Every community, big or small, has a food culture, when people eat, they inevitably are expressing themselves some kind of way. The preferences inherent in any group in turn influence the people that provide those products and services, so the farmers, ranchers, butchers, restaurateurs, food writers, and chefs, to name just a few. This part of the "ecosystem" of the local food culture, the ground level suppliers, so to speak, not only provide what the citizens and diners what they expect, the are able to help shape that culture as they find ways to educate and entertain within the realm of food and drink. We believe very strongly in this mission as the two chefs that are Season Two Taste. Now I know that all seems really deep, I'll try not to wax poetic too much, but trust me, you'll see where I'm going with this.

In this first of a series of posts covering the local food scene here in Colorado Springs and the surrounding areas, we are both very excited and proud that Matthew Schniper, food author and journalist, is at the center of this story. He has been, and continues to be, an incredible boon to the local food scene here. I could go on, but I think his work speaks for itself. You can find out more about him and his substack newsletter here, and while you're at it, he has a very entertaining and informative podcast also.

Chris and I subscribe, of course, and this edition really piqued our curiosity. In it, Matt describes a colaboration between him, Ranch Foods Direct, ( a local Colorado meat retailer of great importance), and Gather, (a culinary center with classes, and a retail market, a relatively new but also important player in the local culinary scene,), all centering on this beautiful tri-tip recipe.

Tri Tip, Santa Maria Barbecue, Colorado Springs Style.

We start this recipe by visiting the Ranch Foods Direct store and purchasing a tri tip, and a packet of the Gather custom seasoning/dry rub for it.

The cut of beef known as the tri tip has it's origin story placed right in the middle of a southwestern/California style of barbecue known as Santa Maria. It was developed in the Santa Maria valley region of California (hence the name), grilling beef over red oak indigenous to the area on grills with a grate of adjustable height to temper the heat. originally sirloin was the cut of choice, but it was largely replaced when a local butcher of the area isolated the tri tip cut from the bottom sirloin in the 1950's.

The reasons that I use the term "Colorado Springs style" are as follows; the meat, recipe, and ingredients used are all from the city. Tri tip cooked in this fashion would normally be seasoned with only salt, pepper, and garlic, not a complex dry rub. My hat is off to the team at Gather, though, as this dry rub is phenomonal.

Equipment

• barbecue grill/smoker
• tongs
• probe thermometer
• carving knife

Ingredients for Colorado Tri tip

• tri tip
• gather dry rub- see recipe if not able to purchase
• brown sugar
• apple cider vinegar
• non stick pan spray
• dijon mustard

Process for Santa Maria Tri Tip