Friday Find

Friday Find: “Meet the Kings and Queen of Kentucky Style BBQ”

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IfFxC9wMQ8

Monk: Zagat explores Kentucky barbecue in this 14+ minute video that spotlights the state’s historic joints as well as personalities. It also gives a little bit of a primer on mutton, the state’s unique contribution to American barbecue.

Description:
When it comes to distinct American regional style barbecue styles, the state of Kentucky doesn’t get the same praise as Texas and North Carolina. But residents of The Bluegrass State know that amazing barbecue, especially mutton, awaits for anyone traveling through. Zagat visited a selection of local BBQ joints – including Old Hickory Bar-B-Q, Moonlite Bar-B-Que Inn, and R & S Barbecue – to speak with the hardworking families of these institutions to find out what makes Kentucky style ‘cue unique.

Friday Find: Trailer for “Chef’s Table: BBQ”

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Monk: Featured in the latest edition of “Chef’s Table” are Tootsie Tomanetz of Snow’s BBQ, Lennox Hastie of Firedoor, Rodney Scott of Rodney Scott’s BBQ, and Rosalia Chay Chuc. Each of the 4 episodes will be 45 minutes long.

While this is of course welcome content (particularly during a pandemic), I wish they had done more episodes. Perhaps given enough hype, they are saving that for a potential follow-up season.

Description: The Emmy-nominated series shifts its focus to the art of the barbecue, featuring accomplished chefs from the US, Australia and Mexico. Chef’s Table: BBQ premieres globally on Netflix on Sept. 2.

Friday Find: “Here’s Why Wood is the Unsung Hero of Texas Barbecue”

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJnv7kV5i1U

Monk: Zagat travels from New York to Lockhart, Texas to understand why post oak is so instrumental to that style of barbecue. Post oak – so named because it grows straight enough to make fence posts – is native to central Texas and in this video is referred to as “wholesomely sweet” and the “terroir of Texas barbecue.” The host even spends time with the hardworking laborers who have cut down and split it for Kreuz Market since 1975 before treating them to a meal there (a nice touch).

(h/t The Smoke Sheet)

Description:
Texas’ Hill Country is known as the center of American barbecue culture thanks to an abundance of amazing local ingredients. And while most people recognize cattle as the secret to the state’s legendary cuisine, it’s Texas Post Oak that helps put everything in motion. The wood is so popular that restaurants like New York City’s Hill Country Barbecue Market won’t use anything else, even if it means having it shipped over 1,700 miles every week. Zagat traveled to Texas’ famed Kreuz Market in Lockhart to discover what makes this regional wood a favorite amongst pitmasters – and why making that beloved brisket is a lot more dangerous than we think.

Friday Find: Morris Barbeque on The NC F&B Podcast

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Morris Barbeque is a Saturday-only barbecue restaurant in the eastern NC town of Hookerton. It’s Saturay-only because owner William Morris and his daughter Ashley and her husband Ryan work Monday to Friday jobs and do barbecue in their spare time Friday night and Saturday. Interesting fact: they smoke their pigs at 400 degrees in 7-8 hours, which is a much higher temp than I’ve heard of folks smoking at before.

To pick a huge nit, it seems like for most of the conversation, the Morris Barbeque crew are bystanders to the conversation between the hosts and their “special” barbecue guest, who even does an impromptu commercial for his smoker company towards the end of the conversation. When you already have 5 people in a conversation (the two hosts plus the three guests), it seems silly to add another voice into the mix. Particularly when half the time the hosts are doing soliloquies instead of asking questions. Unfortunately, I think that Ashley gets lost in the mix. I hope the NC F&B guys do a lot more asking and a lot less talking next time they have another barbecue guest on the podcast.