Linkdown: 10/17/18

– A piece on Sam Jones helping out in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence

“Everybody can do some good, not just for hurricane relief but in general. You don’t have to be a cook. You ain’t got to be a millionaire or an orator. … Everybody possesses some type of talent or skill. There is something you can do.”

– The Smoking Ho has some photos from the Woodlands BBQ Festival, where some of Houston’s best barbecue restaurants showed out

– Dallas News staff writer Ben Baby provides an uninformed answer about Texas vs Carolina barbecue in this mailbag column

A: As much as I like the Carolinas and the people it produces (like KAGS-TV’s Matt Trent), this isn’t even up for debate.

Carolina barbecue is essentially all about pulled pork and the sauces. Both are enjoyable. But both of those items exist in Texas.

I’m not going to pretend like I’m a barbecue expert, but I know very few places do brisket as well as us. And there’s nothing like ripping apart marbled, fatty brisket and enjoying it with your meal (if you have some homemade tortillas for the brisket like at 2M Smokehouse in San Antonio, it’s a game-changer).

I like Bojangles a lot. I’m sure Cook Out is fine. But when it comes to food from the Carolinas, I draw the line at barbecue.

– Midwood Smokehouse has the best crinkle cut fries in Charlotte, according to Charlotte Agenda

– From last week’s photo, here’s the story behind what Bill Murray actually ate and drank from Midwood Smokehouse

– Hoodline’s list of five best barbecue restaurants in Charlotte is based on Yelp data and contains a korean BBQ restaurant (Let’s Meat) and the just average McKoy’s Smokehouse

– Jim Shahin’s latest is on New Orleans barbecue

– The Eastern Carolina BBQ Throwdown took place this past weekend in Rocky Mount

– This viral marquee sign at Little Pigs in Asheville is fake news

– Here’s what to expect at The Barbecue Festival later this month

– Say what now?

Linkdown: 10/10/18

– Menu and pricing for the 89th annual Mallard Creek Barbecue coming up in a little more than 2 weeks on October 25, 2018

mcp-10_bbq_cost_poster

– Six names were recently added to the Barbecue Festival Wall of Fame

– A preview of some of the new barbecue foods at this year’s NC State Fair

One of the hottest items at the media luncheon was the Crack-n-Cheese in a Waffle Cone by Hickory Tree BBQ. The waffle cone was stuffed with mac-n-cheese and then topped with turkey barbecue, cole slaw, turkey cracklings and their signature barbecue sauce. While the combination might sound like too much, the end result was a blend of southern goodness.

Chick-N-Que, which also has a popular food truck, served up their Cluck Puppies. A twist on the traditional hush puppy, this dish contains chopped chicken barbecue.

– The Raleigh News & Observer’s 12 Favorite barbecue joints in the triangle

– On Louisiana whole hog boucheries

– Georgia is getting in on the state barbecue trail website action through the work of Georgia College history professors Dr. Craig Pascoe and Dr. James “Trae” Wellborn

– So this recently happened at the original Plaza Midwood location of Midwood Smokehouse

 

Linkdown: 9/19/18

– Operation BBQ Relief has made its way to Wilmington and Fayetteville in the aftermath of Florence

– Sounds alright to me!

– The Takeout stumbles upon the fabled “short, fast-moving line at Franklin Barbecue phenomenon

– Midwood Smokehouse is a Charlotte restaurant that has expanded to the ‘burbs

– Chef Ford Fry picks three barbecue restaurants in Atlanta – Fox Bros BBQ, Das BBQ, and Community Q

– Catch replays of the first show of “TrueSouth” from John T. Edge and Wright Thompson all this week on SEC Network

– TrueSouth even brought up Rodney Scott last week to Bristol to treat ESPN to a pig pickin tailgate

 

Friday Find: Midwood Smokehouse Pitmasters Matthew Berry and Michael Wagner join the Cheers Charlotte podcast

Berry and Wagner join around the 41:50 mark to discuss Midwood Smokehouse’s approach to Texas barbecue and the difference between Texas barbecue scene versus North Carolina. Michael even drops some knowledge on where the central Texas salt and pepper originally came from before Matt drops some knowledge of his own about the history of brisket as a smoked cut of meat. The total discussion lasts about 12 minutes.

Link to the episode on the Cheers Charlotte website