A Full Belly

Seriously, Y'all

In an alternate universe, I drive a pick-up truck with a pig face insert for when the smoker isn't hitched. 

Barbecue and Sweet Tea

While doing a little research on the South Carolina barbecue sauce map, I stumbled across the most excellent "A Very Brief History of the Four Types of Barbeque Found In the USA" written by Lake E. High, Jr., President, South Carolina Barbeque Association. It's worth reading in its entirety if you're a barbecue lover or geek, or a Southerner.

Below are a two of my favorite bits on the term "barbeque":

Unfortunately, most Americans who live outside of the South in general and   North and South Carolina in particular, use it as a verb or, if they use it  as a noun, use it incorrectly. Midwesterners or Yankees will say to friends, "I'm going to barbeque some hamburgers tonight." Or they will say, "Let's put some brats on the barbeque and break out some beer." And while everyone will be having a great time sitting around in the smoke, the use of the word in that way is incorrect. That neighbor is going to grill some hamburgers, not barbeque them. The cooker he is going to cook them on should be called a grill, not a barbeque.

[...]

The incorrect use of the term barbeque on television, in movies and in magazines which is, more often than not, written or spoken by people who know nothing about real barbeque, has led to the misconception, for instance, that beef is barbeque. It's not. Don't forget, barbeque is more specifically a noun, a specific thing, and that specific thing is pork, not beef or fish, or beaver, or shrimp or anything else. It's quite possible to barbeque beef; tens of thousands of people out west do it all the time. And it's oftentimes delicious. But it's "barbequed beef" not barbeque. The term barbeque is always properly reserved for pork. (emphasis mine)

Another great food map: The Sweet Tea Line, the availability of sweet tea in Virginia as a representation of the Mason-Dixon line. Did you know that South Carolina is the first place in the United States where tea was grown and is the only state to ever have produced tea commercially? More ice tea and sweet tea history.

Wilber's Barbecue on Serious Eats

I wrote about my recent trip to Wilber's Barbecue on Serious Eats. It is some mighty fine barbecue, and I miss it dearly. 

North Carolina: Cradle of 'Cue

I just completed my application to become a card-carrying member of the North Carolina Barbecue Society. The best part? The oath:

I promise to give some of my time, energies and funds to further the goals of the NCBS (a.k.a “THE FUN TRIBE™”) to wit: cook and/or eat barbecue as often as possible, preferably in the company of good friends, and to promote the Old North State as the “Cradle of ’Cue™” wherever my journey takes me.

I'll do my best.

A little more about NCBS at Serious Eats.

how grilling became a national passion

The Week Magazine on how grilling became a national  passion. Did you know that charcoal briquets came about because Henry Ford wanted a creative way to make use of the scraps from the sawmill that produced wooden panels for Model T's? With some help from Thomas Edison, they devised a cheap and easy way to transform these scraps into charcoal briquets, and sold them at Ford car dealerships.

sustainable agriculture and barbecue

Bitter Greens Journal on sustainable agriculture and barbecue.[thanks, rcb!] The July 2005 issue of Gourmet includes a profile of Ed Mitchell, famed NC pitmaster, who is "now working with small-scale African-American pork farmers in his area to identify a pork breed and develop a raising protocol that can produce pork worthy of the smoking pit." Unfortunately, Mitchell's restaurant closed earlier this year as he faces multiple felony and misdemeanor tax charges.

big apple bbq block party review is coming

I'm still recovering from the wonderful meaty madness that was this past weekend's Big Apple BBQ Block Party so you'll have to wait a little bit longer for my review, but I was there both days (plus Friday's pit set up and VIP party) and shot a lot of photos, here are five to tide you over in the meantime:

Garry Roark of Ubon's "Champion's Choice". (Friday)

Beef brisket and sausage, Michael Rodriguez' of The Salt Lick. (Saturday)

Ed Mitchell of Mitchell's BBQ and some pork waiting to be pulled. (Saturday)

Baby back ribs, Mike Mills of 17th St Bar & Grill. (Sunday)

Pitmasters, hanging out. (Sunday)

If there's anything you particularly want to see photos of or hear about in my review, or you have something to share about your BABBP experience, please feel free to leave a comment!

The 3rd Annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party

Barbecue lovers in the city already know that the 3rd Annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party is this weekend. The rest of you, mark your calendars!

Last year's event drew enormous crowds and long lines thanks to the combined effects of good weather, good barbecue, and poor event planning. I only had enough patience to wait for Mitchell's, and was not disappointed. Thankfully, it sounds like a lot of lessons were learned and this year's event will be bigger and better coordinated. According to event organizers, here are some the improvements you'll notice:

Last year the food was at 26th Street between Madison and 5th Ave. This year the food will be on Madison between 23 and 26th Streets. This means more space for pitmasters and more organized lines.

Last year there were 6 pitmasters. This year there are 10.

Last year you had to buy coupons at one booth, then buy your food at another, which meant waiting on two different lines. This year, you can purchase your food by credit card or cash when you buy your food at the pitmaster tents--no coupons necessary!

At last year's events, New Yorkers  consumed:
500 lbs of hot links
20 whole hogs
1200 racks of spare ribs
1500 racks of baby back  ribs
2100 lbs of pork shoulder
4700 lbs of brisket
24,000 sandwich rolls
800 lbs of cabbage
37,500 bags of potato chips
1800 slices of watermelon

Things get started this Friday when the pitmasters will start firing up their smokers. Saturday and Sunday line up for your barbecue between noon and 6:00 p.m. For more information, go to Big Apple BBQ.

bars with grills

NYC Bars That Bar-B-Q (For Free!). Nice if extremely short round-up of places you can grill at. Note that the only BYOBBQ listed is Williamsburg's own East River Bar, a total pain in the ass to get to from Manhattan but worth the trip.

the state of bbq in the city

NYC 'cue Crazy. Gothamist post on how BBQ joints seem to be springing up in the five boroughs.

I visited RUB (Righteous Urban Barbecue), Paul Kirk's brand spankin' new outpost of Kansas City BBQ, last week. I'm still working on a long post about it, so stay tuned for that, but for now let me tell you that the food was outstanding and I cannot wait to go back for more! I know there've been a few reports of slow service and uneven food but keep in mind that most if not all new restaurants would suffer from the same were they to be deluged by our fair city's many foodies (not to mention BBQ fanatics) upon opening, no? And real fans of BBQ, a way of cooking that can frequently take an entire day or longer to get done, should be the first people to realize that good things take time...

North Carolina Barbecue: East vs West

North Carolina Barbecue: East vs West. In North Carolina, there are two styles of barbecue. Western style is  pork shoulders glazed with a ketchup-based sauce. Eastern style is whole hog with a vinegar sauce. The debate over which style is superior flares up when after a state bill passed declaring the western-style capital of Lexington, NC the home of the state's official barbecue festival. I agree with Dennis Rogers when he writes, ""People who would put ketchup in the sauce they feed to innocent children are capable of most anything....Let the word go forth from this time and place that we, the Eastern North Carolina purveyors of pure barbecue, will not be roadkill for our western kin."

Barbecue season is here!

The inagural meeting of the NYS chapter of the New England BBQ Society (NEBS) is taking place this  Sunday, May 22, 2005 at noon at Paul Kirk's RUB restaurant located at 208 West 23rd Street between 7th and 8th Ave. They've have arranged for a $25 tasting menu (drinks are extra) and members and non-members of NEBS are both invited. RSVP by Thursday, May 19, 2005 to nycbbq@hotmail.com.

More about NEBS:

NEBS was born to offer New England grillers the opportunity to learn Southern style barbecue techniques, whether using wood, charcoal, or even gas. Since its inception, the New England Barbecue Society has accomplished the following:    
* Promulgated the use of natural charcoals and woods for fuels    
* Organized and supported certified BBQ judging classes    
* Organized and supported BBQ cooking classes    
* Organized "road trips" to many BBQ restaurants
* Developed consistent rules and regulations for cookoffs.    
* Sanctioned and Judged numerous cookoffs and BBQ events

Related: Barbecue joints in NYC

Barbeshoes

If two of your passions are BBQ in your belly and stylish sneakers on your feet and you've got money to burn, the $200 limited edition Adidas Barbeshoes are for YOU.

(If on the other hand, you have loads of cash and a fetish for chicks in stylish footwear, feel free to send a women's 8 to 8 1/2 to Lia c/o A Full Belly!)

Texas Barbecue

If you're heading to Austin for SXSW and are looking for a barbecue adventure, you might want to read this story in the Washington Post: Texas Eat 'Em.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party

There was really only one reason for me to go to the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, and that was to eat some of Mitchell's chopped pork barbecue without having to make the trip home to North Carolina.

In my opinion, it was also the only barbecue at the party worth waiting for in those ridiculously long lines. But you don't have to take my word for it -- this woman was also in line for Mitchell's and something tells me she knows and loves her barbecue more than the rest of us:

If you missed the weekend's festivities, you don't want to miss BBQ NYC 2004 featuring Big Island Bar-B-Cue and Travis the Cuemaster on Saturday, July 24th.

UPDATE: Be sure to check out the "Live" from the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party '04" thread at eGullet, if only to read the first post by Steven A. Shaw a.k.a "Fat Guy" on Mitchell's Barbecue, including his visit to Wilson, NC.

barbecuing areas

Just in time for the holiday weekend: NYC Parks designated barbecuing areas [via BS]

It's an all barbecue weekend!

Hopefully sunny skies will return in time for an all barbecue weekend! Saturday afternoon, BBQ NYC kicks things off on Ward's Island with their barbecue picnic featuring "Slow-Smoked, Dry-Rubbed, Non-Commercialized, Un-Corporate-Sponsored, REAL LIVE BBQ In The Greatest Food City On Earth." $15 in advance or $20 at the door, all you can eat and drink. Details and directions can be found on their website.

On Sunday, the Hudson River Park hosts Blues and Barbecue. Restaurants participating include Blue Smoke, Brother Jimmy's, Oscar Famous BBQ, Tennessee Mountain, and Virgil's Real BBQ. Stay late for fireworks over the Hudson!

And if you're up for a roadtrip, you could always pay a visit to Big W's Roadside Bar-B-Q in Pawling, NY. Ed Levine writes:

This is Big W's Roadside Bar-B-Q, which appeared on a little bit of roadside lawn in front of Pawling Collision earlier this summer. The pork ribs served there are about the best I've ever had within 90 miles of New York City.

Big W is Warren Norstein, 39, and it would be a nice romantic thing to tell you that he learned the fine art of smoking meat from his daddy in Memphis, who in turn learned it from his father. But this is not the case. Mr. Norstein said he is simply "a nice Jewish boy from Brooklyn."

Related: Gothamist's write-up of the 1st Annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party (May 31 & June 1), including a Jeffrey Steingarten encounter.