Not that we’re anywhere close to being qualified enough to evaluate books but more so as a public service announcement we will periodically discuss barbecue and barbecue-related books.
Monk: “Let’s be clear from the start: I did not write this book; I assembled it” states author James A. Roller at the beginning of “Going Whole Hog.” And that’s definitely the right way of approaching this book of all things South Carolina Barbecue, subtitled “Mustard, Vinegar, Hash, and Smoke: Celebrating SC BBQ History Traditions, and Flavors.” In it, Roller collects recipes from a variety of sources and intersperses them with interviews and South Carolina barbecue history where he cites sources including Lake High, Robert F. Moss, Adrian Miller, Michael Twitty, and Howard Conyers among several others.
The recipes in “Going Whole Hog” more or less follow what you’d expect from a barbecue recipe book, starting with sauces and rubs before getting into the meats, sides, and ending with desserts. Where it differs from the normal book is there is a full chapter dedicated to over 20 recipes of hash, which is of course South Carolina’s definitive contribution to the barbecue world.
The recipes themselves come from a variety of sources; historic recipes, reader-submitted recipes, and some from pitmasters of current SC barbecue joints including Home Team BBQ, Swig & Swine, Lewis Barbecue, Melvin’s, and Bessinger’s. Each has a story behind it, and this comprises the bulk of the book.
The book does start off with a concise history of barbecue in the United States and repeats the claim of fellow South Carolinian Lake High that South Carolina was the birthplace of the foodway (I’ll let others debate whether that is indeed true). It then goes into the role of the black pitmaster during slavery through antebellum times, which Roller states he included at the urging of Howard Conyers among others. I applaud Roller for including this and not avoiding what can oftentimes be an uncomfortable conversation about the historic role of black pitmasters.
In addition to barbecue’s origin story, the book does include sections detailing the history behind two of South Carolina’s founding barbecue families: the Bessingers and the Dukes, who between them formed what many consider the backbone of SC BBQ restaurants. Rounding out the book, it also contains interviews with current pitmasters Rodney Scott, Jackie Hite, John Lewis, Aaron Siegel, and David Bessinger.
James A. Roller, who also runs destination-bbq.com, self-published the book and it truly is a labor of love. He began his site around the same time as us in 2012 and we have traded some messages over the years; he was gracious enough to send me a copy to help spread the word of this book which he is rightly so proud of. Its a hefty tome at nearly 300 pages and contains full color photographs, which I love to see in a barbecue book but must have come at a great initial expense to the author. Nevertheless, “Going Whole Hog” spotlights and helps cement South Carolina’s place in the modern barbecue world, and you should check it out.
For more information and ordering, visit destination-bbq.com.
