In partnership with the Texas Center at Schreiner University, Alstadt Brewery will host the “We Are What We Eat: An Immersive History of Texas Sausage” symposium from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, March 6, at 6120 E. U.S. 290 in Fredericksburg.
Tickets are $20 and must be purchased in advance at www.flavorytx.com/sausage-symposium.
Supported by a grant from Humanities Texas, FlavoryTX and The Texas Center at Schreiner University have collaborated to present a program that will combine art, history and tastes of Texas sausages for a one-of-a-kind experience that captures family traditions, Texas cultures and the customs of an age-old process.
A short program on the history of sausage in Texas will be presented by local historian Michael Barr, followed by a tasting of featured sausages guided by Alstadt Executive Chef Philippe Verain, who has more than 20 years of experience in the restaurant industry.
To help tell this story, internationally acclaimed photographer Al Rendon traveled across Texas to capture the essence of this culinary culture. The visual story will be exhibited along the walls of Alstadt Brewery’s Grand Hall.
Rendon is both a commercial photographer and artist who has been documenting the life and culture of San Antonio for decades. He began as a teenager taking photos of rock bands. Eventually, he started to focus his lens on photos that represented San Antonio’s Mexican culture, including conjunto and Tejano musicians, local artists, street food vendors, charreada riders and ordinary people.
Most notably, Rendon worked with Mexican-American Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez as her career exploded in the early ’90s. His photos of Selena were used as cover art for her 1992 CD, “Entre a Mi Mundo,” as covers for several magazines, including Newsweek and People, and hung as portraits in The Smithsonian. His artwork has also been exhibited in museums in Chicago, Houston and China.
Rendon will give a lecture from 2:30 to 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 5, at the Junkin Campus Ministry Chapel on the Schreiner University Campus, 2100 Memorial Blvd. He will discuss his work and host a Q&A after.
FlavoryTX is a nonprofit based in Fredericksburg that is dedicated to celebrating Texas agriculture, culinary excellence and award-winning wineries. Through educational experiences and community-focused events it helps to elevate regional flavors and support prosperity and innovation across the Texas Hill Country. To learn more, visit www.flavorytx.com.
The Texas Center aims to support the cultural preservation, education and impact of Texas heritage.
For more information about the center and the programs it offers, call 830-792-7476 or email Don Frazier, the director of The Texas Center, at DSFrazier@schreiner.edu.
This article was originally published in the March 4, 2025 edition of The Kerrville Daily Times.
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