For serious BBQ meatheads only

[NikaBoyce]

You know you want it...

Its just a click away....

Read about my unexpected BBQ encounter in the deepest darkest (mildest) reaches of rural New England. I also interview the CIA trained chef, Brian Treitman, who is doing what he loves.

Here is an excerpt:

"In a sneaky, subversive way that I completely approve of, the smoker sits on the back of this custom made smoker-mobile shack thing, pumping out divine BBQ pheromones.

If you stop and get out of your car, you are drawn in like June bugs to a porch light, buying BBQ is a forgone conclusion.

Its primeval, its instinctual, its almost painful if you can’t eat the BBQ right there.

Let me tell you, spending time there doing a photo shoot and chatting without stuffing my mouth full of juicy smoky pork butt, chicken, and beef brisket hurt me bad....... go there ...."

Here is the link to that post

I hope you enjoy it. If you have an occasion to visit us out here in South Central Masachusetts, you have got to try out B.T.'s Smokehouse.

(I am in no way affiliated with Brian - just admire the heck out of him - nor was I paid for anything or given free food, had to get my fix like anyone else)

[Smithy]

What a great article! I just finished eating lunch and I'm hungry again, and regretting that I won't have time to smoke anything for a couple of weeks...and at that, it won't come close to what Brian's doing. I did pick up a couple of good pointers from the article, though.

Brian sounds like a really nice guy as well as a talented chef. I hope his business does well. I wonder if he'd be a good candidate for the eGullet spotlight?

Thanks for posting the link!

[NikaBoyce]

What a great article!  I just finished eating lunch and I'm hungry again, and regretting that I won't have time to smoke anything for a couple of weeks...and at that, it won't come close to what Brian's doing.  I did pick up a couple of good pointers from the article, though.

Brian sounds like a really nice guy as well as a talented chef.  I hope his business does well.  I wonder if he'd be a good candidate for the eGullet spotlight? 

Thanks for posting the link!

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I am sure he would be game for it (I am new here so I do not know what that entails.. if it requires scaling great heights or wrestling greased pigs, bring it on).

[MarketStEl]

Great to see that there is a talented acolyte spreading the Gospel of 'Cue to those without the Word in New England. (I did eat at a 'cue joint in Davis Square, Somerville, the last time I visited Boston; it was okay for New England. This looks like the Genuine Article, OTOH.

Question, though: "quasi-grilling in the mid-west"? Where in the Midwest did you go? Doesn't sound like you made it as far as KC.

[NikaBoyce]

Great to see that there is a talented acolyte spreading the Gospel of 'Cue to those without the Word in New England.  (I did eat at a 'cue joint in Davis Square, Somerville, the last time I visited Boston; it was okay for New England.  This looks like the Genuine Article, OTOH.

Question, though:  "quasi-grilling in the mid-west"?  Where in the Midwest did you go?  Doesn't sound like you made it as far as KC.

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Are you referring to Red Bones in Cambridge? - super yum. You come out of there ready to eat veg for about a week. In some online reviews of it I see these people complaining about the "ambiance" there, its "supposed" to be a dive, eeesh. As in the best of Texan BBQ joints, its not about the fancy linens or even a whole table to yourself, its about pigging out on mounds of sticky BBQ'd meat. We like to sit up at the counter and watch the guys cook and pull massive slabs of BBQ meat out of dark corners of the kitchen.

I lived in various parts of Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin. I am not talking about BBQ at a restaurant, I am talking about backyard BBQ.

This entailed coating chicken pieces with BBQ sauce and then throwing it on a charcoal grill, burn until done.

I actually like and miss that taste because thats what I knew then. I also miss the BBQ from Texas (ok, I miss that most of all). Lived in SAT for years.

I dont think I have ever been to KC and I may have passed through Kansas once, on the move down to Tx.

BBQ is very individualized so I prefer to see each BBQ I eat as an expression of that person. For this reason I try to appreciate it and the person and all the history that lead to that person making that BBQ. BBQ is so wrapped up in some people's identity. Much more so than, um, tortellini salad or foie gras or chicken noodle soup, whatever.

But I do have preferences! For me, the best pork BBQ is what I grew up with, whole pig roasts, not just one piece that is shredded into oblivion and then drowned in a vinegar sauce. I have tried to eat that but the vinegar sauce just blows the top off my nose and I am left gasping.

If you ever get a chance, try "Fat Matt's Rib Shack" in Atlanta. Oh man, so delicious. The complete experience is sitting outside, dripping sweat in the humid heat of an Atlanta summer, eating off of paper plates and sopping up the sauces with the white bread they serve it with (I dont eat white bread usually but its part of the experience).

Man those were the days, grad school and fat matts. -sighs-

Edited August 9, 2007 by NikaBoyce (log)

[MarketStEl]

Are you referring to Red Bones in Cambridge? - super yum.

That's the place, and it is in Somerville. One of my college roomies hailed from Somerville, and I think he'd be pissed to have Davis Square moved south across the city line, especially since it went from in a funk to funky since the subway extension opened.

  You come out of there ready to eat veg for about a week.  In some online reviews of it I see these people complaining about the "ambiance" there, its "supposed" to be a dive, eeesh.  As in the best of Texan BBQ joints, its not about the fancy linens or even a whole table to yourself, its about pigging out on mounds of sticky BBQ'd meat.  We like to sit up at the counter and watch the guys cook and pull massive slabs of BBQ meat out of dark corners of the kitchen. 

You are correct in suspecting any BBQ joint that has "ambience." Those usually don't have good barbecue.

I lived in various parts of Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin.  I am not talking about BBQ at a restaurant, I am talking about backyard BBQ.

This entailed coating chicken pieces with BBQ sauce and then throwing it on a charcoal grill, burn until done.

I actually like and miss that taste because thats what I knew then.  I also miss the BBQ from Texas (ok, I miss that most of all).  Lived in SAT for years.

Oh. Gotcha. I'm familiar with that style of "barbecue" too. It does have its charms, and you're right -- it's really grilling.

I dont think I have ever been to KC and I may have passed through Kansas once, on the move down to Tx.

If you've seen enough of my posts, you know that I'm a native of Kansas City, which is in Missouri. (Repeat after me: "Kansas City, Kansas, is in Kansas.") If your move to Texas from anywhere north or east of St. Louis was entirely via Interstates, you either missed Kansas completely, took a side trip via Old Route 66, or went via Kansas City.

BBQ is very individualized so I prefer to see each BBQ I eat as an expression of that person.  For this reason I try to appreciate it and the person and all the history that lead to that person making that BBQ.  BBQ is so wrapped up in some people's identity.  Much more so than, um, tortellini salad or foie gras or chicken noodle soup, whatever.

But I do have preferences!  For me, the best pork BBQ is what I grew up with, whole pig roasts, not just one piece that is shredded into oblivion and then drowned in a vinegar sauce.  I have tried to eat that but the vinegar sauce just blows the top off my nose and I am left gasping.

If you ever get a chance, try "Fat Matt's Rib Shack" in Atlanta. Oh man, so delicious.  The complete experience is sitting outside, dripping sweat in the humid heat of an Atlanta summer, eating off of paper plates and sopping up the sauces with the white bread they serve it with (I dont eat white bread usually but its part of the experience).

Man those were the days, grad school and fat matts. -sighs-

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Your point about great barbecue being highly personal is well taken. But I'd say that actually applies to any outstanding dish, even those born of the more formal traditions of haute cuisine. Given that haute cuisine is more formal than BBQ, it might be easier for someone else to replicate an outstanding haute cuisine dish than to replicate someone else's BBQ recipe, and those dishes may not reflect the childhood or other life experiences of the cook beyond their formal training, but IMO every great cook puts something of him- or herself into what he or she prepares.

And I share your attitude towards white bread. It's mandatory for barbecue (and for grilled cheese sandwiches and French toast) but to be avoided otherwise.

[NikaBoyce]

That's the place, and it is in Somerville.  One of my college roomies hailed from Somerville, and I think he'd be pissed to have Davis Square moved south across the city line, especially since it went from in a funk to funky since the subway extension opened.

...

You are correct in suspecting any BBQ joint that has "ambience."  Those usually don't have good barbecue.

...

Oh.  Gotcha.  I'm familiar with that style of "barbecue" too.  It does have its charms, and you're right -- it's really grilling.

..

If you've seen enough of my posts, you know that I'm a native of Kansas City, which is in Missouri.  (Repeat after me: "Kansas City, Kansas, is in Kansas.")  If your move to Texas from anywhere north or east of St. Louis was entirely via Interstates, you either missed Kansas completely, took a side trip via Old Route 66, or went via Kansas City.

...

Your point about great barbecue being highly personal is well taken.  But I'd say that actually applies to any outstanding dish, even those born of the more formal traditions of haute cuisine.  Given that haute cuisine is more formal than BBQ, it might be easier for someone else to replicate an outstanding haute cuisine dish than to replicate someone else's BBQ recipe,  and those dishes may not reflect the childhood or other life experiences of the cook beyond their formal training, but IMO every great cook puts something of him- or herself into what he or she prepares.

And I share your attitude towards white bread.  It's mandatory for barbecue (and for grilled cheese sandwiches and French toast) but to be avoided otherwise.

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ROFL .. this is what I get for typing while feeding a wriggling baby .. I meant to go back and change it to somerville but I am lucky I even got the right state and I really DO know better re: KC but, same reason LOL.

In our migration down to TX from IA, we had to take a detour of sorts BUT it was so long ago its hard to remember.

My main memory from that trip is this:

1) HEAT

2) the song "My Sharona" - played LOTS on the radio stations all the way down. (yikes!)

Edited August 9, 2007 by NikaBoyce (log)

[MarketStEl]

Moving from Iowa to Texas, it would have been hard for you not to pass through Kansas City, and even harder still to avoid passing through Kansas. The shortest Interstate routes from Iowa to Texas all pass through KC.

As for "My Sharona", obliquely bringing this back to food: How familiar are you with the work of "Weird Al" Yankovic?

His parody of that song is called "My Bologna." It's not the only time he's written a food-based song parody, either: there's also "Eat It" (Michael Jackson, "Beat It"), "Girls Just Wanna Have Lunch" (Cyndi Lauper, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"), and "Livin' in the Fridge" (Aerosmith, "Livin' on the Edge"), among others -- these three barely scratch the surface.

[NikaBoyce]

Moving from Iowa to Texas, it would have been hard for you not to pass through Kansas City, and even harder still to avoid passing through Kansas.  The shortest Interstate routes from Iowa to Texas all pass through KC.

As for "My Sharona", obliquely bringing this back to food:  How familiar are you with the work of "Weird Al" Yankovic?

His parody of that song is called "My Bologna."  It's not the only time he's written a food-based song parody, either: there's also "Eat It" (Michael Jackson, "Beat It"), "Girls Just Wanna Have Lunch" (Cyndi Lauper, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"), and "Livin' in the Fridge" (Aerosmith, "Livin' on the Edge"), among others -- these three barely scratch the surface.

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see, now, I was still trying to get over the My Sharona thing.. even went and played a clip of it on iTunes, and you have to brig up Yankovic?! I can only take so much silliness in a day :-)

[jsmith]

It's not the only time he's written a food-based song parody, either: there's also "Eat It" (Michael Jackson, "Beat It"), "Girls Just Wanna Have Lunch" (Cyndi Lauper, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"), and "Livin' in the Fridge" (Aerosmith, "Livin' on the Edge"), among others -- these three barely scratch the surface.

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Addicted to Spuds (Robert Palmer, "Addicted to Love")

Edited August 10, 2007 by jsmith (log)

[Domestic Goddess]

NikaBoyce, my kentuckian hubby just ooh'ed and aah'ed over your picks. I swear he was practically drooling when we browsed the picture collage of yummy smoked meat goodness.

[NikaBoyce]

NikaBoyce, my kentuckian hubby just ooh'ed and aah'ed over your picks. I swear he was practically drooling when we browsed the picture collage of yummy smoked meat goodness.

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Glad he liked it! We are hitting that BBQ place today for some more. Cant get enough :-)