An American BBQ pilgrimage- David Plotz in Slate

http://www.slate.com/id/2118542/entry/0/
BBQ seems to have captured the imagination of more and more folks. This should be an interesting journey unfolding before us.


Bill

Mr. Plotz has moved on from KC, but it appears he doesn't like Memphis very much.

quote:

Originally posted by bill voss

Mr. Plotz has moved on from KC, but it appears he doesn't like Memphis very much.

Well, as they say, the worst kind of barbeque is sure as heck better eating than the best kind of chain food.

quote:

Originally posted by chezkatie

quote:

Originally posted by bill voss

Mr. Plotz has moved on from KC, but it appears he doesn't like Memphis very much.

Well, as they say, the worst kind of barbeque is sure as heck better eating than the best kind of chain food.

But how about chain barbecue like Corky's?

One of the things I enjoy about Memphis based BBQ joints is the heavy duty blues music playing in the background. However, we recently stopped by a Corky's in Monroe, Louisiana on a Sunday, and the manager there chooses to play christian rock as background music on Sundays. I have never listened to christian rock enough to know if there is such a thing as good christian rock music, but what they were playing was absolutely BAD, especially when I had been expecting to listen to my favorite genre. I'm afraid that I expressed my frustration to the manager in language that was definitely out of sync with christian rock or anything else christian. But I will never return to Corky's on Sunday.

No matter what 'region' we happen to find ourselves in, I find the slow-cooked BBQ to be outstanding at many local sites. My personal preference is to have the meat served with sauce on the side...not on the meat. I want my pulled pork in chunks, not chopped so fine it looks as though it has been through a grinder, and keep the slaw off the meat Please! Beef Brisket also needs to be in slices thick enough to stand alone if needed. Once again , let me decide how much sauce to apply to the well-smoked Beef, please. Ribs... need to have a bit of chew left in them. If they (and the bone) disintegrates when I get close, I get the feeling they are way tooooo done! You can cook the last hour with a basting sauce, but don't drown the rib in sauce...you lose the identity of the meat that way.
This writer seems to be on a roll on his quest for Que. Let's see what his next stop turns up !

Add- Yeah he sure likes Texas Brisket !! I like the way this guy writes.

today, it's lockhart.

Just a thought. Don't ya' get tired of the same BBQ piece, written over and over again, in books, in newspapers, in magazines, on TV cooking shows, and now in on-line publications? Somehow showing new "insights" in Memphis vs. KC vs. Texas vs. Carolina (this time not even Carolina)? How many folks out there can say they feel they've been to Arthur Bryant's without ever being to the (Mecca is not a good term, given the pork) "geocenter" of Q? Sorry. Ranting again.