Big Apple Barbecue Block Party

Linkdown: 4/27/16

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

– NC State University is holding a barbecue camp in June

– Sam Jones and Ed Mitchell are once again part of The Big Apple Barbecue Block Party

– Grant visits Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Decatur, AL – home of the white sauce and “perfectly fine, middle-of-the-pack barbecue”

– TMBBQ interviews Laura Loomis, the 28 year old female pitmaster of Two Bros BBQ in San Antonio

– A roundup of barbecue cookbooks out this spring

– Bullock’s Bar-B-Que in Durham will be closed for a few weeks after a fire

– The Barbecue Festival in Lexington is a food festival within driving distance from Charlotte that defines NC cuisine, according to Charlotte Five

– Speaking of Lexington, this blog considers it one of the 14 best places in the world for barbecue and we fully agree (although it mistakenly attributes Stamey’s in Greensboro to Lexington)

– Houston Chronicle BBQ writer JC Reid on the pitfalls of defining true ‘cue

Needless to say, a few pitmasters took umbrage with this definition and compliance method. Pitmaster Carey Bringle of the popular Peg Leg Porker barbecue restaurant in Nashville responded on his Facebook page: “I can assure you that (the True ‘Cue folks) are not experts. First off, they are writers, not pitmasters.”

– Potential “Pitmaster General”?

Friday Find: There Ain’t No Party Like a Barbecue Party

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

From a couple months back, here’s a behind the scenes video from the Big Apple BBQ Block Party, courtesy of Nick Solares and Eater.

The Big Apple Barbecue Block Party came to New York on June 13 and 14 for its thirteenth annual festival. And while 140,000 attendees showed up to eat some of the best barbecue from across the country, when you’re professional carnivore Nick Solares, you beat the crowds — and head over the day before.

–Monk

Linkdown: 6/24/15

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

– In Praise of Hushpuppies and Barbecue, by Robert Moss

– After a fire early Monday morning, Speedy Lohr’s in Lexington will be closed for a few weeks

– #Brisketgate explained, from the man who shot the original video at the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party a few weekends back

– NYC’s top 20 barbecue restaurants, according to Eater – bookmarking this for our week in NYC in October

– The name of the article says it all: 11 ways BBQ is like church

These days, it seems like more and more fanatics are joining Belinda Carlisle in the belief that heaven is indeed a place on Earth. To us, it smells of burning oak, cold beer, and fatty brisket. To many, barbecue is like a religion, so much so that barbecue worship is a lot like going to church. Still a non-believer? Here are 11 reasons barbecue is like church, but with better bread. So it was written, so it was smoked.

– Queen City Q is now hiring for its upcoming Matthews location

– EDIA Maps (the folks behind The Great NC BBQ Map) create a barbecue cocktail for the summer

– The case for Santa Maria being the secret fifth major barbecue style in the US

Santa Maria barbecue is always cooked over a fire of red oak logs, using meats heavily seasoned with salt, pepper and dry spices, then marinated or basted with a mixture of vinegar and oil while cooking. Side dishes almost always include fire-grilled then buttered bread, tossed green salad, fresh tomato salsa and beans. Because the area is known for growing sweet strawberries, berry pie or strawberry shortcake is often paired with the main course as dessert.

– Charlotte’s getting a “Mediterranean smokehouse” concept in the old Sol and Tijuana Flats location from local restaurateur Martin Sprock (c0-founder of Moe’s and whose other ventures includes Leroy Fox and RuRu), and it sounds interesting while bringing up a little skepticism from this barbecue bro

The concept for the restaurant is the first of its kind for Sprock. He plans to feature barbecue menu items like pulled pork, smoked butts, chicken and lamb – all with a Mediterranean flavor.

A specialty grill that uses hickory wood will be the focal point of the restaurant, which he plans to adorn with distressed wood and copper trim. The restaurant will also have a bar and an approximately 1,000-square-foot patio

– A NC barbecue trail from the Wilmington Star-News, though curiously it includes Buxton Hall BBQ in Asheville, which isn’t open yet

– Want to win a $500 gift card to Midwood Smokehouse? Of course you do! Even though Father’s Day was last weekend, enter in Midwood Smokehouse’s #SummerofDad photo contest through the end of the month for a chance to win

Linkdown: 3/25/15

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

– The “Elite Ate” of Garden and Gun’s Barbecue Bracket has been posted; in the Mid Atlantic region Skylight Inn has been eliminated by Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge and faces Lexington Barbecue. The rest of the bracket is located here and voting ends Thursday at 10pm

– Speaking of brackets and barbecue, Red Clay Soul’s Georgia BBQ Bracket Challenge is also down to its “Great Eight”

– Last week, Robert Moss took a deeper look at barbecue spaghetti in Memphis

– Marie, Let’s Eat! stops at Hodges Bar-B-Que in Decatur, GA and Blue Sky Barbecue in Woodstock, GA in two of his latest chapters

– The pitmasters for the 2015 Big Apple Barbecue Block Party have been announced, and Ed Mitchell is not attending this year

– Another reminder that the NCBBQA cooking and judging school is this Saturday, March 28

– Aaron Franklin is a James Beard finalist for Best Chef: South

– If, like me, you are less than familiar with Alabama and Georgia barbecue, here’s a primer

When it comes to regional barbecue, some people claim that neither Georgia nor Alabama has a distinctive style. We say, think again.

Sure, you can find everything from Texas brisket to Memphis ribs in Atlanta, but on the two-lane highways, a definite Georgia style emerges. Pork shoulders or hams are cooked over hickory and dressed in a thin tomato-and-vinegar sauce. They’re served with Brunswick stew, a hearty combination of chicken, beef, or pork (or all three) simmered with tomatoes and corn. Some of these elements carry over into Alabama—chopped pork dressed in tomato-and-vinegar sauce, plus a somewhat thinner Brunswick stew. But there’s too much variation to identify a single Alabama style. Sauces range from ruddy, tomato-based mixtures to thick mustard-spiked concoctions. Most distinctive is Alabama’s mayonnaise-based white sauce. Some are traditional, others more modern, but one element unites: They’re all delicious.