Marie Let’s Eat!

Linkdown: 12/30/15

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– Robert Moss finishes up 2015 with two posts: Barbecue is Celebration Food and 2015 in Review

As is often the case with food origin myths, these tales get things exactly backwards. Barbecue did not originate as a way to transform cheap cuts of meat into something palatable. Instead, it started as a way to cook all of the cuts of meat at one time, for barbecue originally was a form of whole animal cookery.

In the 19th century, barbecues were large-scale outdoor events, and local farmers donated valuable livestock for the occasion—pigs, cows, sheep, goats, or whatever else they had on hand. On the Fourth of July in the antebellum South, long before refrigeration and reliable supplies of ice, fresh meat didn’t stay fresh for very long. The animals were typically taken to the site of the barbecue and slaughtered right there by the pits.

– Marie, Let’s Eat! spends some time in Kentucky: Thomason’s Barbecue in Henderson and Ole South Bar-B-Q in Owensboro

– Steve Raichlen recaps his 2015 in barbecue

– Congratulations to Midwood Smokehouse, who comes in at #32 in Charlotte Magazine’s Top 50 Restaurants in Charlotte

Linkdown: 10/21/15

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– In honor of tomorrow’s Mallard Creek Barbecue, here’s Kathleen Purvis’s story from last year on the history behind its famed brunswick stew

– Charlotte  Agenda thinks Smoke Modern Barbeque is a “good bet to be Charlotte’s next breakout restaurant brand”; I’m not so convinced based on their Huntersville restaurant (currently #19 on our big board) that was decent, but overpriced with small portions – though I will say that I plan to check out the new Stonecrest location at some point

– TMBBQ’s top25 new and improved barbecue joints in Texas, plus photographer Wyatt McSpadden’s photos from each

It’s been two years since Texas Monthly published its last Top 50 BBQ Joints list. It was a feat of reporting that took me and my barbecue-eating cohorts across the state to eat at countless legendary restaurants, holes-in-the-wall, out-of-the-way joints. The work didn’t end when the issue went to press. My job since then has essentially been one giant scouting mission for the next list slated for the summer of 2017.

– Marie, Let’s Eat! has more barbecue in Florida at Harry and Larry’s Bar-B-Que, this time in a revitalized downtown Winter Garden

– Fayetteville, NC is getting the third NC location of Mission BBQ

– Charlotte Agenda previews new food available at Hornets games this year, including the expanded Queen City Q outpost

– Ever wonder where folks who smoke meat for a living get their barbecue? This is the article for you

– B’s Cracklin’ Barbeque has returned from a fire and reopened in a new location in Savannah

– Daniel Vaughn has tips for ordering barbecue like a pro in First We Feast

Photos: Meeting the Marie, Let’s Eat! Crew at Midwood Smokehouse

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Last weekend, Speedy and I were fortunate enough to meet up with Grant of Marie, Let’s Eat! (plus the rest of his crew) at Barbecue Bros favorite Midwood Smokehouse. You see, he was kind enough to reach out to us a few months back since they were planning to do one of their crazily awesome day trips to the Carolinas (I don’t want to spoil it too much, but in addition to Midwood they also stopped by Mac’s, two seafood restaurants in Fort Mill, as well as a barbecue restaurant and ice cream place in Gastonia – those chapters should be posting on this blog in the coming weeks), and we were more than happy to meet him at our favorite barbecue restaurant in Charlotte.

In addition to eating barbecue (for the record: Grant – pork; Speedy – burnt ends; Monk – brisket; with some sharing of course), we talked barbecue road trips, discussed Atlanta and Charlotte, got a brief pit tour by an associate manager, and stopped by Lunchbox Records after we finished up. All in all, a pretty great way to spend a couple of hours with some new friends. I’m not sure when I’ll be in Atlanta next, but whenever that is I hope to share another barbecue meal with Grant.

–Monk

Linkdown: 12/17/14

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– The Raleigh News & Observer is doing a multi-part story on a four-way crossbreed of pigs called silky pork created by two brothers in eastern North Carolina that are craved by consumers in Tokyo

The Iveys are part of a weekly race against time and circumstance to deliver the pork fresh – never frozen – from barns east of Raleigh to the world’s largest metropolis. It has become an unyielding effort to penetrate the demanding Japanese marketplace, where pork is consumed with a passion akin to North Carolinians and their barbecue.

– We don’t use the word “joint” here to describe just any restaurant, and this story is about how pitmasters consider it a badge of honor

Due to its working-class reputation and association with rowdiness, “joint” came to be applied to other establishments considered uncultured or cheap. The terms “beer joint” and “burger joint” started appearing in newspaper articles in the 1940s and ’50s. It was about this time that the word “joint” started transitioning from meaning a disreputable establishment to one that is, more accurately, inexpensive and informal.

– Four Star BBQ in Wichita “focuses on Carolina-style meats that have been marinated in apple juice and rubbed with brown sugar”…hmmm

– Virgie’s Bar-B-Que, which Rudy visited a few months back, gets a write-up on its nearly 50-year history

– Billy’s Bar-B-Q in Gaston County was damaged by a fire in April and is now planning to reopen for lunch and dinner in January

– The reviews from the latter part of the barbecue circumnavigation by Marie, Let’s Eat!: Skylight Inn in Ayden (which he absolutely raves about), Grady’s in Dudley, Shuler’s in Latta, SC, and BBQ Barn in North Augusta, SC

– Look who stopped by Buz and Ned’s in Richmond this past weekend!

– If you need smoked meats or sides for Christmas lunch or dinner, you have until next Monday to place an order with Midwood Smokehouse