The Great NC BBQ Map

Linkdown: 10/29/14

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– Creative Loafing: Is there an Atlanta barbecue? With quotes from our friend Grant from Marie, Let’s Eat (via)

But is there an “Atlanta style” of barbecue? Arguably the unofficial capital of the South, Atlanta should be known as a barbecue mecca the way Memphis is, right? Or Austin? Hell, even Lexington, N.C. — with a population of fewer than 20,000 — is more of a bona fide barbecue destination than we’ve ever been. Atlanta is situated in the heart of barbecue country, but when you ask some of the area’s best barbecue bloggers and chefs to explain the city’s place in the wider world of ‘cue, you get more hemming and hawing than from a pitmaster being grilled on what’s in his top-secret rub.

– Speaking of Atlanta, the latest barbecue stops for Marie, Let’s Eat are Poole’s Bar-B-Q, Joe’s BBQ, and Sam’s BBQ-1 West

– In this past weekend’s third annual Tempeh Challenge in Asheville. a tempeh from The Bom Bus captured the People’s Choice Award with “its black bean tempeh and North Carolina-style barbecue sauce served with sweet potato mash and sweet potato chips”

– Eight years in, southern Californian Carolina Panther Ryan Kalil knows the difference in barbecue between the two areas…kinda

Q. What has become your favorite Southern tradition?

A. Barbecuing’s a big deal in southern California and it is here, too.

Q. Different styles though, right?

A. Different style, different lingo. Like back home you say, ‘Are you going to a barbecue?’ Here you say, go to grill out. I’m like, ‘Grill out?’

Q. What’s the food at a California barbecue?

A. Different kinds of burgers, steaks. Here it’s like pulled pork.

– A video feature on The Great NC BBQ Map from High Point’s Fox 8

– WRAL’s pick for favorite entree at this year’s NC State Fair was a barbecue sundae

Carthage’s own Pik-N-Pig offers the best entree option at the N.C. State Fair – The Barbecue Sundae. Now, it isn’t a traditional ice cream sundae. It is more like a barbecue parfait with layers and layers of goodness. The barbecued pork is topped with a layer of baked beans, then a layer of coleslaw. Just add your favorite sauce on top (we like a mix of both sauces), and you are all set. Served in a convenient 20 oz. plastic cup, you are able to walk and eat quite easily with this blend of sides and meat. Don’t be surprised if you end up finishing it, because it is not nearly as heavy as it sounds.

– WRAL also reviews The Fire Pit, a new barbecue restaurant in Wake Forest

– On Sunday, Sam Jones hits Dallas with his brand of North Carolina whole hog awesomeness for Dia de los Puercos

– More info on Dia de los Puercos from TMBBQ themselves, noting that the “hogs that Samuel Jones will be cooking are a Texas-raised heritage breed,” plus this cool photos

– Lexington is #4 on this list of the 12 meat cities in the US, and for good reason:

Of the many “barbecue capitals of the world,” Lexington is by far the smallest. There’s a barbecue restaurant (19) for every thousand people, and most are world class.

– Finally:

Linkdown: 10/8/14

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– Congrats to Marie, Let’s Eat! on their 300th barbecue review, Blind Pig in Jackson, GA

– The NC Whole Hog Champion was crowned after this past week’s championship in Raleigh, and congratulations to Grillfather Cooking Team of Roanoke Rapids, captained by Ernest Twisdale

– A man and his two sons also participated as contestants in the Whole Hog Barbecue Championship this past weekend in Raleigh

– Charlotte Observer writes up next week’s Q City Charlotte BBQ Championship, which for the first time this year is a NC BBQ Association event

– Uncle Ho nears the opening day of Arrogant Swine

The first issue was getting my hogs. I have specific heritage breed pigs shipped up from North Carolina. Getting the logistics set up for them to arrive in time for me to cook is harrowing indeed. There’s really no last minute supplement either—it’s not like I can wander into any random supermarket and pick up a 200-pound pig if my delivery falls through.

…

Cook too much and you waste money. Cook too little and you not only lose sales, you also sour relationships with customers who made the trip to see you. It’s basically spinning a roulette wheel with over $20,000 all on red. If that’s thrilling to you, you’re in the right place. I, on the other hand, needed a midwife next to me reminding me to breathe while placing my orders.

– Congrats to BSA Troop 33 for winning Creative Loafing’s Critic’s Choice for Best Barbecue (huh?); meanwhile, Midwood Smokehouse wins the reader’s choice for best barbecue

– The Great NC BBQ Map gets more coverage, this time from Paste Magazine

– Mac’s Speed Shop buys a former auto shop in Greensboro and plans to expand there

– Charlotte Business Journal interviews Mike and Anna Hicks, owners of Carolina BBQ in Spartanburg, SC

– Here and Now reports on how politics and barbecue are intertwined in North Carolina

– Scott’s Bar-B-Que gets mentioned in yet another barbecue list (via)

– John Lewis of la Barbecue to open a barbecue restaurant called Lewis Barbecue in Charleston next spring and as a result I just so happen to be planning a trip to Charleston for the late spring/early summer

– Speaking of John Lewis and Charleston, this:

– Charlotte, NC is the #1 “Best Big-City Bargain” according to Money Magazine and Midwood Smokehouse gets a brief shoutout

 

Linkdown: 10/1/14

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– NC barbecue guru Bob Garner has a new book out that *gasp* isn’t completely about barbecue

The 187-page book does mention the state’s signature varieties of smoked meat and sauce, but it also explores other North Carolina food traditions, including fish stew, Ocracoke fig cake, banana pudding, collards and even Moravian chicken pie. The book is part cookbook, part essay collection, part dining guide.

– TMBBQ interview with friend of the blog Barbecue Rankings

– So there’s this:

– BBQ Jew with a short write up on The Great NC BBQ Map

– Q 4 Fun interviews a board member of the NC BBQ Association

What makes you different than the other associations, societies and networks?
We train our judges to recognize and appreciate NC-style BBQ. Teams will be judged on their ability to produce traditional NC-style BBQ. I don’t think other sanctioning bodies concentrate on regional BBQ styles. Furthermore, we not only sanction competitions, but hold cooking classing and are beginning to work on projects that will promote NC BBQ to the general public. We don’t see the other bodies as competitors. We see them as partners and can hopefully jointly sanction some events as with this year’s comp in Washington with the NC Pork Council.

– Arrogant Swine failed their construction inspection, but trudges on anyways; the blog post does have this great photo

– The Whole Hog Barbecue Championship is this weekend

– Diva Q visited Barbecue Bros fave Ed Mitchell’s Que (our 5 hog review) earlier this week

Linkdown: 9/24/14

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– Check out our Taste Trekker’s list for Five Unique Barbecue Experiences in Charlotte, North Carolina; it was partially (ok, very) inspired by this list from Marie, Let’s Eat!

– The latest Arrogant Swine post on opening a barbecue restaurant on Serious Eats finds Uncle Ho trying to hire a staff

The saddest moment in any barbecue guy’s professional life is when you realize that the person you’re training to do the cooking just doesn’t give a royal fuck about barbecue. They’d be just as happy making pizza or ramen noodles. The food was coming out awful and Jack couldn’t care. “Just cover it with barbecue sauce and no one will tell the difference,” he once noted.

– More information on the barbecue events at the World of Bluegrass festival in downtown Raleigh on 10/3

– More coverage on the NC BBQ Map from the Elkin Times and TWC News

– Andrew Carter’s column leading up to last weekend’s ECU drubbing of UNC took the pulse of fans at Parker’s Barbecue in Greenville and ends with this choice quote:

Down at Parker’s the lunch crowd had picked up and Parker went out to help work the register. A line began to form, a small version of what is coming Saturday.

“Everybody in this town needs to thank God for East Carolina,” said Parker, whose restaurant had already booked six catering events at the stadium on Saturday. “I mean, really. For the hospital and for East Carolina.

“(Without) those two things — well, Greenville would be Kinston.”

– “The pitfalls of barbecue reportage” examines how barbecue journalists such as Daniel Vaughn attempt to report on pitmasters without romanticizing them

– Boone’s Bar-B-Que Kitchen (our current #1) has posted an updated schedule for their foodtruck and they will be at a few upcoming Charlotte beer festivals starting with this weekend’s Charlotte Oktoberfest

– Marie, Let’s Eat!’s latest barbecue stop is Log Cabin Smokehouse Bar-B-Que in Rome, GA

– Barbecue Rankings had a lot of posts in the last week: Dallas, Seattle, Detroit, Pecos, Albuquerque, and Phoenix

– Aaron Franklin brought his smoked meats to Feast Portland last weekend; TMBBQ has the photos and story

– As is to be expected, barbecue is the signature food of several states including North Carolina