More to Southern cuisine than barbecue

[Randy!]

Well, you'd best not come to Texas, Pardner, because in these parts, many of the best 'cue joints don't even SERVE beans. Or any other sides at all! They are old-time meat markets, and smoked meat is what you go for and smoked meat is what you get.

Why I deeeeclare...actually sniff, I was opening up my gullet, er, soul to the masses...to throw back the gauntlet sir, I would interject:

1. BBQ list wasnt mine - that list as mentioned came off of the web and was for convenient reference only. References to true BBQ can only be measured by the impartee, him-or-herself as the case may be...

2. Anyone can smoke meat...why everyone knows that the only reason texans only use dry rub is "cuz thay cain't" spell "sauce" (sorry, my 's' won't turn around the right way).

3. I've been to Texan many times on business...one time I ate BBQ 3 times in two days and really pissed off my business companion...and by the way as I recall most of them served beans....in fact Rudy's in Austin has premier beans (pintos). Actually, I do remember a little hole-in-the-wall travelling from Austin back to Dallas and it was in fact ribs and bread.

Proof that beans really do exist in Texas BBQ

4. Beans require a knowledge of chemistry. So do hushpuppies for that matter. Anyone with a limb and a match can smoke meat, or for that matter a chromed smoker with mag wheels.

5. When you cook a steak, do you just eat steak? or do you saute your mushrooms in shallots and red wine? or do texans eat mushrooms?

6. I'm a former Razorback, and have cooked at both Coys and Stubby's BBQ in Hot Springs, so I've smoked a few things in my career but as we say (said) in Arkansas...ain't nothin in Texas but steers...oh nevermind.

A funny story though - when I was in the aforementioned Texas last I was meeting with a Department Director in a hospital and we got into a (seriously) one hour conversation designing the worlds most perfect BBQ on a blackboards in his office. So while the saleslady I was with had to eat Q for three days..."Q" put about a $45K sale in her pocket. It was clear that "y'all" take it seriously...

Edited May 20, 2003 by Randy! (log)

[Jaymes]

Yeah, we do have beans. And damn fine beans they are, too.

But our "litmus test" (your words) as to "who makes the best 'CUE" is NOT "who makes the best beans."

[Randy!]

Sorry - litmus test might have been too strong a phrase...but I consider the whole package...as I said Rendesvous is famous for their ribs...but I dont want to pay $20 for 1/3 of a good meal...

Sorry I cant resist an aggie joke as I am a Razorback!:

Why don't the aggies eat BBQ beans?

Because they keep falling through the holes in the grill.

Edited May 20, 2003 by Randy! (log)

[Jaymes]

And since you like jokes, here's another one you might enjoy -

How can you tell if an Arkansas Razorback has robbed your house?

Your garbage is gone and your dog is pregnant.

[Varmint]

And one that both of you can enjoy.

Did you hear the library at Oklahoma burned down?

The sad part was that only half of the books had been fully colored.

[baruch]

kpurvis May 19 2003, 01:19 PM: still can't figure out how to use those damn quote boxes

"Aw, c'mon. Most we get into another of those "barbecue purity" litmus tests? If it's good 'cue to you, it's good 'cue. This is why I dread and avoid barbecue discussions: Because they turn into "my hickory stick is bigger than yours" spats.

You don't like hush puppies? That's fine. But sometimes a hush puppie is just a hush puppie."

WHAT "IS" LIFE WITHOUT a bbq "spat"???????????

2nd, well-made hushpuppies ARE awesome & especially good for your arteries ; however, "seems" more condusive (sic) for a basket to be sitting on a table in a seafood restaurant than in a bbq place, where the "piece de la resistance" is WHITE BREAD ONLY!!

3rd'ly: agree with "jaymes": the litmus test IS THE Q - beans, schmeans

4th: "anyone can smoke meat" WOW!!! anyone can prepare foie gras, but there does seem to be a difference bet an alain ducasse preparation & the rest of the world & IF ANYONE CAN SMOKE MEAT, why isn't every smoked meat place very good?????? btw, smoking is not exactly the same as bbq'g, but then again what DO texans know besides overcooked steaks, country music, & football (?) ?????? HOWEVER, they DO, unfortunately, seem to know basketball, Spurs & Mavs!!!!!

5th: what IS the point of a dry rub??? might as well "smoke" a catcher's mitt

6th: brunswick stew is "kind of a leftovers pot with bbq sauce" WOW!! better not say that to a real georgian bulldog!!!

7th: for a very interesting side with bbq, try hash & rice just DON'T ask whats in it

8th: the universal Q? what does define a REAL BBQ "PLACE": ITS THE Q - stupid!!!!!!!!!!! with as few sides as possible + the old southern drink - sweetened ice tea

LASTLY: A HUGE THANKS TO RANDY for THE bbq list link

Edited May 20, 2003 by baruch (log)

[Zeb A]

anyone else notice that Monk's in Lexington, NC won some sort of Beard award? Scroll Down

[baruch]

how would anyone who has eaten BBQ at virgil's, blue smoke, & brother jimmys in manhattan compare the 3 with each other & to the "best" they have eaten regardless of region, & why??

[Zeb A]

We had an opportunity to try two eastern NC joints this week: Wilbur's BBQ in Goldsboro and King's BBQ King's BBQ in Kinston. My wife had been to both before, but these were my first visits. Both were excellent. Your basic eastern NC bbq with traditional sides of slaw and puppies (King's billboards on 70 advertise it as being the home of the "pig in a puppy"--we didn't try one). Wilbur's was jam packed; King's seemed to have more capacity. The general consensus among our group was that while the BBQ at Wilbur's was good, it was better at King's (juicier meat with better flavor)--and King's had better puppies. Wilbur's had better slaw. Both were worth visits and are conveiently located midway between Raleigh and Atlantic Beach.

[Guilty Gourmand]

Kings and Wilburs both serve great BBQ and are real institutions on Highway 70 between the Triangle and Atlantic Beach. Growing up, my family always preferred King's (seems you generally went to one or the other) which uses electric cookers. With all the emphasis on hardwood places these days, I felt compelled to switch over to Wilbur's but I must admit that I sometimes find the base meat a little drier than I prefer. You really cannot go wrong either place though. There is also McCall's BBQ in Goldsboro which I have never tried. Has anybody tried it?

For folks heading to beaches at Topsail Island, Wrightsville, or points south via I-40, great BBQ is available on that route as well. I highly recommend a stop at Stephenson's BBQ just outside the Triangle. Although it has a Willow Spring address, it's really closer to McGee's Crossroads just a few miles off of I-40. We often try to have an early lunch there and get some extra BBQ to take to the beach for later. I believe Stephenson's uses hardwood coals which, in my opinion, gives it some of the best flavor in the state.

[Lan4Dawg]

6th: brunswick stew is "kind of a leftovers pot with bbq sauce" WOW!!  better not say that to a real georgian bulldog!!!

damn straight & GO DAWGS! Brunswick stew is an art form for which there is no receipt. You start w/ a hogs head & two squirrels & go fr/ there! (although, truth be told, most of us skip that part now)

back to the original question: you have to grow up w/ Southern food to understand, appreciate, & enjoy it. No one who lives o/s of the South would even consider collards as food. They would turn their nose up at it. Yet we think a plateful of collards is the equivalent of the second coming and revel in the joy of eating them. Add some pepper sauce, a bit of onion relish a side of cornbread to soak up the pot likker and we'll slap our mommas to get to it. The same applies for such simple items as boiled peanuts, sweet potatoes, grits, catfish, cracklin's, sorghum syrup, okra, buttermilk, and a host of other foods.

that is why Southern restaurants fail elsewhere. Others just do not appreciate our food (same as we for years did not appreciate food fr/ other cultures).

I have often told people who want real Southern food to make plans to drive many miles out in the country. Find a small frame or clapboard church w/ a cemetery adjacent, unpaved parking lot, & poured concrete picnic table to the side and ask when is "homecoming". Show up & enjoy!