The MeatEater Podcast Ep. 812: The Best Grub in Texas
Dec 25, 2025
Jesse Griffiths, a Texas chef and owner of Dai Due, shares his passion for sourcing local, seasonal ingredients. He discusses his commitment to using everything from nearby farms to create dishes, including turning wild hogs into flautas. The conversation dives into unique cooking techniques, like slow-cooking audad meat and making pastrami from local ingredients. With insights on everything from rendering fats to creating in-house breads, Jesse emphasizes the connection between food and community in Texas.
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Wild Boar Flautas And Sourced Tortillas
- The flautas on the table were made with shredded wild boar trapped in the Hill Country and processed under inspection.
- Jesse even calls tortilla purveyors to confirm their corn source to maintain Texas provenance.
Real Cost Of Unsponsored Food
- Running a local-centric kitchen raises food costs because small producers lack agribusiness subsidies.
- Paying fair prices to family farms keeps them viable and sustains the local supply chain.
Aggregation Solves Wild-Meat Variability
- Tough-to-source wild meats often require aggregation to achieve consistent texture and yield.
- Jesse grinds or slow-cooks variable feral hog and Aoudad to equalize size and fat differences for menu use.