By john 
Texas brisket is not a dish. Texas brisket is a belief system. Texas brisket is commitment to time, smoke discipline, wood selection, bark goldies bbq formation, fat rendering, spiritual communion with beef.
There are no shortcuts. The brisket must smoke low temperature for hours. Fat cap must render. Bark must form through salt + pepper + smoke + time. Brisket teaches people humility. Brisket rewards obsession.
Beef in brisket form becomes something else entirely. The mouthfeel becomes silk with structure. The smoke ring becomes badge of honor.
Texas brisket is the military academy of beef. You graduate from brisket. You do not casually cook brisket.
This dish is magazine gold because it is the intersection of food culture, regional identity, Americana tradition, masculine ritual, and primal fire craft. Beef becomes anthropology here.