Friday Find: Barbecue Bros on (German) TV!

Did you guys know that Speedy and I are basically the David Hasselhoff of North Carolina barbecue to Germans (sorry Rudy)? No? Well, a few months back a German TV producer named Lars reached out to us because they were filming a short TV documentary at locations loosely based on the Historic NC Barbecue Trail. So on a rainy Friday back in July, Speedy and I met Lars and a cameraman (both super nice guys, btw) at 12 Bones Smokehouse (the Arden location) and then drove with them an hour and a half through the rain to Switzerland Cafe and General Store. That footage was then incorporated into a 30 minute TV documentary on North Carolina barbecue for a series called “Abenteuer Leben” (translated as “Adventure Life”), similar to a food travel show you might see on The Food Network or The Travel Channel here stateside.

Producer Lars has promised us an English language version at some point, but for now here is the German version. For those of you who don’t know German (that would be a group that would include us), here’s a rundown of our scenes:

  • 00:13 – A shot of Speedy and I walking to the smokehouse at Switzerland Cafe, as well as me taking photos at our meal
  • 00:39 – Speedy takes a bite out of a rib at 12 Bones Smokehouse
  • 15:35 – This is the beginning of the segment of Speedy and I, starting with an establishing shot of the two of us, then me driving in my car on the way to Little Switzerland, and Speedy searching for joints on his phone
  • 15:56 – Speedy explaining some of the reasons why we started the blog from the back of my car
  • 16:14 – Me pulling into Little Switzerland Cafe in the rain; the spot I pulled into was way too tight for my car but I stayed in it because it wouldn’t have been as cool to pull out, choose a spot two spots over, and then pull back in, possibly requiring some more straightening
  • 16:23 – Speedy and I walking back to the smokehouse, similar to the shot used at the beginning of the show; my NC barbecue shirt appears to be more of a “smedium” than a medium and also, I hate the sound of my voice
  • 16:48 – Another shot of me taking photos, this time of the smoked fish from Little Switzerland; I then take a bite and say some really insightful commentary: “its good…it’s different, but its not bad” – brilliant, I know
  • 19:43 – I try to provide some TV-worthy comments while driving; again, super insightful stuff
  • 23:13 – A shot of us pulling into the back of 12 Bones Smokehouse and right up to the smoker, which is definitely something we always do; my smedium shirt makes another appearance
  • 23:29 – Speedy does a good job of explaining what we look for when we check out the smoker – woodpiles (and type of wood), gas, electric, type of smoker, etc
  • 23:48 – More shots of me taking photos (notice a pattern?)
  • 24:15 – “Over the last few years, we really consider ourselves ‘barbecue pilgrims'” – this was a line fed to us from the producer and cameraman; maybe just a little corny but they really wanted us to incorporate it into our conversation; I tried to use it a second time and they were like “once was enough, you don’t need to overdo it”
  • 24:30 – Starting here for about 25 seconds, they used shots of plates I’ve taken from our various reviews as well as voice over from (I believe) me about Lexington-style barbecue being our favorite; gotta say, seeing my photos in a montage was pretty cool

We’ll post the English language version if and when we get word of it being posted. Hope you enjoyed this at least.

Monk

Friday Find: Zagat visits Arrogant Swine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NN3OQwccEs

In case you missed, it, here’s a short video review from Zagat to Tyson Ho’s Arrogant Swine, the first Carolina whole hog barbecue joint-slash-craft beer hall in New York. I so want to check this place out.

With the opening of Arrogant Swine, New Yorkers finally have a place to enjoy traditional whole hog Carolina barbecue. However, with in your face additions like chicharrones and a mac and cheese waffle — not to mention craft beer — this Bushwick abode is anything but humble.

Monk

Friday Find: Kathleen Purvis’ Short 2010 Barbecue Road Trip

Image via Kathleen Purvis

In 2010,  Charlotte Observer food writer Kathleen Purvis documented a barbecue road trip in 3 short blog posts and if there is anything we love here at Barbecue Bros, it’s a barbecue road trip. If you want to read the opinion of someone who is actually qualified to write about barbecue and food in general, please read on. I’ve included a few short sentences below from each of the entries.

Barbecue road trip, Part I: Keaton’s, Cleveland, NC

The real star of the menu is just the same: Half-chicken fried, dipped in sauce and grilled. The meat inside is a little dry, but the skin is the point, peppery and just a little chewy.

Barbecue road trip, Part II: Port-A-Pit, Statesville, NC

The barbecue is smoky, moist and already sauced, the sauce on the side is dark, sweet and tastes strongly of liquid smoke.

Barbecue road trip, Part III: Cook’s BBQ, Lexington, NC

I’ve been hearing about Brandon Cook at Cook’s BBQ for a couple of years. I had just been waiting for an open travel day to check his place out. The son of barbecuer Doug Cook, who owns Backcountry Barbecue in Lexington, Brandon opened his own place and decided to forego modern shortcuts like electric or gas cookers and go back to all-wood cooked barbecue.

Link to all posts on Kathleen Purvis’ blog tagged with “barbecue”

Monk

Friday Find: Help fund more “BBQ with Franklin” videos

Aaron Franklin is looking for help when it comes to his BBQ with Franklin web series.

We’re looking for community support to fund this project. KLRU is a non-profit public media organization and relies on community support for funding. Response from the first web season of BBQ with Franklin was smoking and we’ve been getting messages every day asking for new videos. We want to deliver them as soon as we can, so money raised during this campaign will go directly to the finishing costs and post-production of the second series.

The campaign will close on November 25 and has a goal of $25,000. More details here.

Monk