Belly Up: The beauty of brisket

Knowing how to make brisket—that heavenly barbecue dish in which spice-rubbed beef breast is slow-cooked over aromatic wood until tender—is an excellent skill to have. Knowing how to make brisket over an open fire pit you've dug in the ground with your own grubby hands is even more rewarding. That’s the plan for Slow Food Madison’s fifth annual Crawford Farm Celebration, an event which focuses on brisket and other “cowboy classics." Cooking will be headed up by Tracey Vowell, the former executive chef of Frontera Grill in Chicago. A custom-built fire pit that's roughly 3' x 3' and 16" deep is at the heart of the endeavor—and you’ll have to attend to see if Vowell lines the pit with bricks, a common method of preparation. The idea is to burn a fire for seven hours the day before to seal the assembly, then slow-roast the meat over indirect heat for many more hours, basting all the while. All of this pit-cooking goodness takes place Sunday, Oct. 4, from 12:30-4:30 p.m. No crashing is allowed, so brisket-seekers will need to e-mail pixperson@aol.com to make a reservation.

Fatsometer: 9. A 2-inch layer of fat (logically called a “fat cap,”) is placed on top of the brisket and dissolves slowly while cooking. The meat becomes swollen with its own juices, while it’s also basted with sauce. None of this is particularly low-cal.