A BBQ Joint Owner Embraces His Cajun Roots With the Help of Cracklins

“I fought it too long and eventually gave up,” James “Blue” Broussard told me, reflecting on how he decided to let his Louisiana heritage influence his Central Texas–style barbecue joint. When he opened 1701 Barbecue, in Beaumont, in 2020, the plan was to offer his native deep southeast Texas something it didn’t have: superb smoked brisket. “If people thought about barbecue in Beaumont, I wanted them to think about 1701,” Broussard said. Part of that strategy was to leave specialties like boudin and cracklins to the multitude of Cajun restaurants in the area. But last year, Broussard reexamined his single-minded pursuit with some encouragement from his pitmaster, Jake Golmon.For the uninitiated, a cracklin is a chunk of skin-on pork belly that’s fried in pork fat…

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