Porky’s Pulpit: I Am Your Sweet Tea Party Candidate

Posted on September 20, 2010 by Porky LeSwine

Ladies and gentleman, I don’t need to tell you that we live in trying times.  (But I will.) The economy remains in shambles.  Millions of hard working Americans are unemployed and therefore the phrase “hard working Americans” sounds more than a little bit nostalgic.  Foreclosures continue at a rate that very nearly keeps pace with the number of Snooki-related news items.  And, needless to say (but I will) the level of political discourse in this country is at an all-time low (Snooki aside).  While most of you are content to vote (or not bother to) for a mainstream Republican or Democrat, and some of you are out on the streets agitating for whatever it is that Tea Party types agitate for (agitation?), I am doing something more impressive.  Yes, today I am proud to announce my candidacy for office under the Sweet Tea Party banner.

What is the Sweet Tea Party? I’m so glad you asked. It is more than a party, it’s a movement.  In fact, it is a large, grassroots movement that is by no means Continue reading →

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There is Hope in Barbecue

Posted on September 17, 2010 by Porky LeSwine

It’s no surprise that when barbecue makes it onto Nightline, the subject matter turns a bit more serious than usual.  John T. Edge, director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, is featured in a recent segment on the show discussing how barbecue culture may present an opportunity to address racism in America.  He makes a pretty good argument for barbecue restaurants serving as a venue in which to address entrenched issues like racism.  In one of his more memorable quotes, in response to the skeptical reporter who asks him whether a place like church might be more appropriate for delving into subjects like racism, Edge says, “Church is so segregated, barbecue restaurants aren’t segregated… I think there is hope in barbecue.”

Filed under: 'Cue Culture | Tagged: , | 4 Comments »

BBQ Jew’s View: Holly Ridge Smokehouse

Posted on September 15, 2010 by Porky LeSwine

511 Highway 17 North, Holly Ridge, NC
910.329.1708
Website
Hours: Tu-Th & Su 6:30 a.m.-8 p.m.; Fr-Sa 6:30 a.m.-9 p.m.
BBQ Jew’s Grade: B-
Porky Says: “Decent Beach-B-Q at last.”

Palatable Barbecue Near the Beach? Finally!
Earlier this summer I took a family vacation to Topsail Beach.  Unsurprisingly, I dragged my wife and kids to a barbecue restaurant on the way.  Equally unsurprising was the fact that I did this over my wife’s protests.  She is only an occasional barbecue eater and, like most women, operates under the misguided belief that a greasy plate of chopped pork and hush puppies is a less than perfect pre-bikini meal.  Nonsense!  Plus, in fairness, my wife knows from traveling with me that barbecue joints within 50 or so miles of the coast tend to be mediocre at best.  Needless to say, that fact has never stopped me from trying to find exceptions to the rule.

Given that it’s located inland about five miles from Topsail Beach, Holly Ridge isn’t really a beach town as much as a refueling pit stop on the way to the beach.  Still, five miles is pretty damn close to the beach by barbecue standards, so I had to try the Holly Ridge Smokehouse despite that it looks like just the type of place I know to avoid.  It is large, Continue reading →

Filed under: Restaurants & Reviews | Tagged: , , , | 8 Comments »

Purvis Previews Q

Posted on September 13, 2010 by Porky LeSwine

Charlotte Observer food editor Kathleen Purvis has a nice series of posts up chronicling her recent visits to some Lexington-style barbecue joints.  Check out the most recent post about Cook’s BBQ by following this link and then see the other posts (on Port-A-Pit and Keaton’s) from there.

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The Amazing World of Ribs

Posted on September 10, 2010 by Porky LeSwine

The weekend is almost here, summer is fading into fall, and it’s the perfect time of year to fire up the grill.  Next time you cook out, you might should consider taking a break from burgers and hot dogs.  You might should want to cook some barbecue.  But you might don’t have a grill large enough for a whole hog or even a pork shoulder.  Plus, slow-cooking those big ol’ cuts o’ pig is more time consuming than most people can handle.  Ribs make for a nice change of pace for North Carolina barbecue addicts, but I’m guessing you might could use some guidance on which cut of ribs to buy.

The best website I’ve seen on exploring the wonderful world of ribs is without a doubt AmazingRibs.com.  Check the site out when you get a chance.  Until then, read the recent Huffington Post article by AmazingRibs.com creator Meathead Goldwyn.  “Unfuddling the Many Different Cuts of Ribs” is an illustrated guide to understanding and selecting the right ribs for your next cook out.  Happy ribbing…

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BBQ&A: Anoop Desai, Barbecue Hero and American Idol

Posted on September 8, 2010 by Porky LeSwine

Picture by J Squared Photography

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumnus Anoop Desai is perhaps best known as the author of an undergraduate honors thesis in American Studies entitled Why Barbecue Matters in the South.  The 60-page paper takes a scholarly look at southern culture through the grease-streaked lens of barbecue.  “If one examines the Durkheimian paradigm in relation to North Carolina barbecue,” Desai writes, “then North Carolinians are divided into two clans of the same ethnic group… there are clear divisions between the eastern and western styles.” Heady stuff indeed, but amazingly Desai’s work in the field of American Studies is not his only claim to fame…

Follow this link to read the interview with Anoop Desai. 

If you want to read Desai’s honors thesis on barbecue, click here.

Filed under: BBQ & A | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

Labor Day Pitmaster Tribute

Posted on September 6, 2010 by Porky LeSwine

Pitmasters–the guys who actually do the smoky, sweaty work of tending the coals and cooking the pigs–are vastly underappreciated.  There’s no better time than Labor Day to celebrate the pitmaster for what he is: one of the most important parts of any real barbecue restaurant (i.e., anywhere that still cooks over wood coals).

Chop, chop, chop at the Skylight Inn. Photo by Conor "Swine Factor" Keeney.

Interestingly, the owners of many barbecue joints start out as their own pitmasters, but upon achieving success most focus on the business side of the restaurant and delegate the hard work of cooking the pig to a full-time pitmaster.  The Skylight Inn, one of the state’s finest swine establishements, is no exception.  Though the Jones family comes from a long line of pitmasters and continues to play a major hands-on role in running the restaurant, the guy who shovels the coals and cooks the pigs has no relation to the Jones’.  James Henry Howell, pictured here and featured–especially between the 8:00 and 12:00 minute marks–in the documentary Capitol Q, runs the pits at The Skylight Inn.  As you can see, Howell also chops and seasons the ‘cue. 

Next time you are at The Skylight Inn or your favorite local joint, take a minute to say thanks to the pitmaster for enduring the long hours, the hot and smoky workplace, the modest pay, and the obscurity.  He deserves some credit.  Of course, barbecue joints aren’t the only places where the hardest work gets done by people who get little credit.  In honor of Labor Day, take a moment to think about all the underappreciated, hard working folks who make your life a little better each day.

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Memphis in August

Posted on September 3, 2010 by The Rib Rabbi

What’s better than Memphis in May? Not much. Certainly not Memphis in August, when the World Kosher Barbecue Contest hits town, minus the pork.

But if your May calendar is booked up and you don’t mind beef ribs, brisket and a kosher pickle eating contest, book your tickets for next year’s festivities. Actually, that sounds pretty cool. Even cooler is the event’s genesis:

The beef fest got started in 1989, when a group of Jewish men asked the very established “Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest” to do something a little radical: offer a non-pork category. When organizers said no, Ira Weinstein and Larry Brown of the ASBEE congregation decided to start their own competition.

Another plus is the level playing field dictated by the strict kosher rules. All competitors must use on the same Weber-like grills distributed by the host synagogue to ensure a kosher cooker. That ups the degree of difficulty to smoke, not grill, the meat. Plus, that apparatus requires much more work than the all-too-common gas contraptions found at most competitions.

Best of all–in keeping with barbecue festival tradition–beer is anything but forbidden at the “Granddaddy” of all Kosher barbecue festivals. And this year’s rib category winner, The Barfield Basters, made good use of Pabst to bring home the blue ribbon by steaming and braising with the lager.

While we here at BBQ Jew can get behind brisket and beef ribs, we’re trying hard not to be a bit offended by all the anti-pork propaganda. Teams competing included BP: Beyond Pork and All Pigs Left Behind. And then there was this chef hat, which clearly went too far. To equate pigs with ghosts…now that’s not kosher.

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Labor Day Weekend BBQ Jew Merch Sale

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Porky LeSwine

Good news, BBQ Jew fan(s).  You can order your favorite–or least favorite–BBQ Jew merchandise at rock bottom prices that are cheap enough make a dead man weep. Okay, not really sure what that means, but you can indeed get aprons at 60% off,  and t-shirts and mugs at 10% off. 

Visit the online store and enter LABORDAYSALE for the coupon code at checkout.

Filed under: Swine Swag | Tagged: , | Leave a comment »

BBQ Jew’s View: Smokey’s BBQ Shack

Posted on September 1, 2010 by Porky LeSwine
 
10800 Chapel Hill Road, Morrisville, NC
919.469.1724
Website
Hours: Mon-Wed 11-2, Thu-Fri 11-7:30, Sat 11-7
BBQ Jew’s Grade: C
Porky Says: “Smokey’s is just okie dokie.”

Authentically Inauthentic (or Vice Versa)
Smokey’s feels like what people who didn’t grow up in barbecue country expect a barbecue joint to feel like.  From the joking “Entrance Only – Do Not Enter” sign on the front door to the joint’s a bit too cutesy motto (“The BBQ Rocks and So Do Most of the Tables!”), it has a tongue-in-cheek hillbilly vibe that is both endearing and a little bit grating.  (Judging from the large lunchtime crowd, which was diverse but leaned toward white collar RTPers easily identified by their ID badges, most people find the hillbilly vibe more endearing than I do.)  Similarly, the joint looks like it has occupied the modest white cinder block building on a still-rural stretch of Highway 54 for many years.  Of course, it hasn’t, as The Deli Box occupied the spot just a few years ago.  Still, it’s impossible to deny that the look of the building and location are perfect for a barbecue joint–close enough to RTP to pack in the customers but rural enough to look the part of a 50-year old BBQ joint.

Careful What You Promise
On their website, Smokey’s says it is “the best North Carolina ‘Q’ in Raleigh.”  That is a dubious claim for a couple of Continue reading →

Filed under: Restaurants & Reviews | Tagged: , , , , | 6 Comments »

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