Monk: One of the most recent exciting trends in barbecue is the fusion of other cultures with (primarily) Texas-style barbecue. The Gravy podcast producer Jess Eng visits Houston to explore the beginnings of this fusion with Khoi Barbecue before heading to San Antonio to meet with Curry Boys BBQ in this latest barbecue-focused entry into their podcast series. Bonus: Khruangbin on the backing track.
TX
Linkdown: 8/31/22
Featured
Monk: Our prolific friend of the blog John Tanner has been at it again making the rounds in eastern NC recently, so let’s follow along in envy to some of the better places from his recent trip.
Wilber’s BBQ in Goldsboro has been back for a couple of years now but in his first dining room meal in some years, John and co. are wowed
Martelle’s Feed House is a restaurant with a buffet that includes great ribs and fantastic barbecue, located in the tiny town of Englehard (pop. 155), a (according to Wikipedia) “fishing community in Lake Landing Township on the mainland of Hyde County, North Carolina” near the Pimlico Sound
John also tried out Old Colony Smokehouse in Edenton, “a fine addition to eastern North Carolina” where they hold onto old traditions but also incorporate new trends
John passes on the buffet at Captain Bob’s Restaurant and Catering in Hertford for a pork plate but immediately regrets that decision
One of the highlights of his trip was a visit to Sid’s Catering in Beaulaville, a small town in southeast North Carolina
Non-Native News
Things are looking dicey for turkeys this Thanksgiving; this is from Heim BBQ
The BBQuest Eater Heat Map
Dispatches from the Tales from the Pits BBQ + Bourbon road trip
Linkdown: 7/20/22
Featured
Monk: A fairly wide-ranging state of NC barbecue from News & Observer writer Drew Jackson, who has been very ably covering the barbecue scene in and around Raleigh for the past few years.
Despite the invasive species of brisket coming into the state, there are still a number of places clinging to the NC barbecue tradition, be that eastern whole hog or Lexington-style shoulders (though this story focuses on places east of Durham. Wyatt Dickson, Matt Register, Ronald House (night pitmaster at B’s Barbecue), and Ryan Mitchell are all quoted in the story but of course Sam Jones has the money quote:
“The hard lines that used to exist, that barbecue was either this or it’s not barbecue — that’s over. It used to be, for people in North Carolina, it was either whole hog, or it ain’t (expletive). For 10 million Texans, it’s brisket. As times go on and we’re so much more transient as a society, those lines are blurred.”
Sam Jones
Read more at the link:
Native News
Lewis Donald is no longer involved with Dish and will be focusing his efforts on Sweet Lew’s BBQ and the Carolina Barbecue Festival going forward
Axios Raleigh releases their Triangle barbecue list
Barbecue Center in Lexington is closing for a week later this month for some hard earned rest and relaxation, so plan accordingly
Hillsborough’s Hog Day festival is the oldest barbecue festival in Orange County and this year will officially be part of the Whole Hog Barbecue State Championship
Jon G’s makes the Yelp Charlotte Top 25 Places to Eat along with…JD’s Smokehouse in Rutherford College near Morganton?
A behind-the-scenes follow-up to Jeremy Markovich’s story on B’s Barbecue in Our State Magazine from 2016
Non-Native News
A couple of recent stories where Adrian Miller was interviewed:
Little Pigs BBQ is on this Eater essential restaurants list for Myrtle Beach
Feges BBQ hosted Premier League champions (ugh) Man City on their pre-season US tour
Barbecue sauce beer? Barbecue sauce beer.
Friday Find: Aaron Franklin Welds a Rotisserie from an Old Schwinn
Monk: Aaron Franklin takes Huckberry on a trip down memory lane at his salvage yard before he turns his attention towards welding an old Schwinn to a rotisserie smoker for this year’s Hot Luck Festival, which took place earlier this year in Austin.
Description: Who do you call when you need a rotisserie made from an old bicycle? Apparently, Aaron Franklin…
We caught up with the BBQ Chef and self-proclaimed “tinker-er” a week ahead of Hot Luck, a food festival he founded, while in the middle of a project for the festival: a peddle-powered rotisserie, fashioned from an old Schwinn Bicycle.
Along the way Aaron gives a tour of his workshop and personal salvage yard where he works on welding projects for Hot Luck and beyond. In Aaron’s words: he started welding “out of necessity” because to make a good cooker you “have to be someone who cooks.”
More from Aaron Franklin on The Journal: https://bit.ly/3bGFXFt