Scene stealers at Texas Hunters and Sportsman’s Expo: Jerky and seasoning

Rust Meat Market’s chili lime jerky

Ever hear of a dill pickle jerky burger? Well, strap in.

You can thank Kay Rust for this concoction.

One day, Rust went to her refrigerator and pulled out some lettuce, tomato and onion. She grabbed a couple slices of bread and proceeded to top her creation with her dill pickle jerky.

The rest is lunch history.

“It was absolutely terrific,” said Rust, co-owner along with her husband Randy of Rust Meat Market and Game Processing in New Braunfels. “The dill pickle jerky isn’t overwhelming and it’s a drier jerky so people like the dill. And it made a good sandwich.”

The Rusts are a staple at the annual Texas Hunters and Sportsman’s Expo and will once again be offering their wide, and incredibly unique, variety of cheese, jerky, sausages and much more.

The 31st annual event takes place Friday through Sunday at the McAllen Convention Center. The show will be open from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

For those looking to test their palates, there will be plenty of options and samples to try from a variety of vendors, including 5 Star Foods and their gourmet pickles, sausages and cheese, Black Rifle Coffee (a veteran-owned and operated business) and its wide variety of gourmet coffee blends and 2 Gringos Chupacabra with several rubs and flavorings, among others.

The Rusts will display their full menu of jerkys, meats and cheese, including a fan favorite lemon pepper jerky that was developed because of regular requests from Valley residents attending the show.

“People in McAllen kept asking for lemon pepper and we would always forget,” Rust said. “One year we made it and Randy said, ‘I really don’t know what I’m doing,’ but he made it, they loved it and it’s perfect. We take it everywhere and it’s a fan favorite. I’m hoping they ask for more flavors.”

Some of the other products they will have on hand include a habañero chicken jerky, the dill pickle jerky, raspberry chipotle pork and chili lime beef.

“That one is picking up as well,” Rust said. “You won’t find a lot of these in grocery stores.”

IT ALL STARTED WITH A DEAD CHUPACABRA

Alton Paris enjoyed barbecue competitions, but he could never find the right recipe or combination to place.

That’s when he decided to make his own seasoning. In 2008, Paris started a salsa-only company. He had no idea at the time how things would change and how fast his company would grow.

“He brought that seasoning to a family outing and my uncle said that would make a dead chupacabra taste good,” said Alton’s grandson, Dylan Paris. “So he started using it in all the competitions and placing. My uncle told him he should be selling that, but at first he didn’t think it would work.”

2 Gringo Chupacabra’s Brisket Magic rub

In 2010, 2 Gringos Chupacabra began selling its unique black label blend. Today it can be found in Wal-Mart, H-E-B, Kroger’s, Albertsons as well as “mom and pop” meat markets.

“It’s all throughout Texas,’ Dylan said. “And we’re looking to expand.”

What started as one style of seasoning has ballooned to a wide variety. One of the most recent is Shugah Shake, affectionately named after Dylan’s great-grandfather, “Uncle Shug,” and his sweet tooth.

“He loved sugar, cinnamon and vanilla flavoring in his coffee.” Dylan said. “So we created the sweet tooth topping.”

Dylan said the latest brand is used especially with ice cream, coffee, on French toast and in sopapillas.

Dylan said he hears a lot of different foods that chupacabra seasonings are used to enhance flavor, from meats to salads (potato, macaroni and more) but maybe the most unique use came from a customer at a previous expo.

“A gentleman came up and asked if we had our beer salt, which we call ‘Fancy Beer Salt,’ because it has a lot more flavor than regular beer salt,” Dylan said. “He said that it was the best seasoning for watermelons and apples. That was just out of the blue.”

They’ll also have their new Bayoulicious Boil seasoning along with their Wing Wub, Cajun blend, Brisket Magic, Ribnoxious, Cluckalicious and a myriad of other seasonings and products.

“We’ll have them all at the show and some cucumbers for people to try samples,” Dylan said. “They’re really amazing.”