Is the new barbecue joint coming to Chapel Hill The Barbecue Joint?

Posted on July 14, 2010 by Porky LeSwine

A tip of the snout to Dave Filpus, who writes at his NC Barbecue Musings blog that a new barbecue joint is opening in the space where the barbecue joint called The Barbecue Joint was located before its doors were padlocked shut. There are also rumors that The Barbecue Joint that used to be located in the place where the new barbecue joint is opening will return but in another location and maybe with another name or maybe under the name The Barbecue Joint.  Confused yet?  So am I. 

According to the website/Facebook page for The Pig, the new place opening up, the restaurant will be “Bringing regional flavors and local ingredients to the party in your tummy, featuring whole-hog barbecue, cola-braised pork belly sandwiches and Mee-Ma’s low-country, house-smoked, chicken-fried tofu.”  Yep, you read that right. 

Stay tuned and I am sure more details about The Pig will be revealed soon… I am wondering if it is actually the rumored return of The Barbecue Joint, as the combo of yuppified barbecue and similarly untraditional dishes (tofu) offered next to fairly traditional BBQ certainly seems similar. [The plot thickens:  since drafting this post a few days ago Dave Filpus has posted more info on his site, check it out.]

Filed under: Restaurants & Reviews | 1 Comment »

Porky’s Pulpit: Shame on Food Lion

Posted on July 12, 2010 by Porky LeSwine

Regional grocery store giant Food Lion is based in Salisbury, NC, one of the most important (if underappreciated) barbecue towns in North Carolina due to its role as perhaps the birthplace of so-called “Lexington-style” barbecue.  Thus, one might expect that the folks at Food Lion would understand how to properly use the word “barbecue.”  One would be wrong. 

Food Lion is currently offering a promotion called “Backyard BBQ with Keith Urban.”  Does this contest offer as a grand prize a Salisbury area pig pickin’ with the New Zealand-born pseudo-country star?  No, it does not.  Rather, by purchasing a bag of Kingsford Charcoal or a bottle of (ahem, cough cough) KC Masterpiece sauce, shoppers are entered into a contest to attend a “BBQ” (i.e., a cookout) in Nashville, TN with Mr. Urban.  According to Food Lion’s website, no purchase is necessary (except for the charcoal or sauce?) to win this “intimate VIP experience.”  

I am sure Keith Urban can throw a mean cookout, but no intimate VIP experiences for me, thank you very much.  I’ll stick to pork shoulders cooked over hickory coals and flavored with some Salisbury-made dip.

Filed under: Porky's Pulpit | Tagged: , , , , | 2 Comments »

Backstage at Hog Day

Posted on July 9, 2010 by Porky LeSwine

The four-person judging team from Hillsborough Hog Day 2010, below from left: Dale Volberg Reed, John Shelton Reed, Joel Grodensky, and Ed Mitchell (not pictured, Chief Judge David Hunt).

They look pretty good considering they just tasted barbecue from 35 cooking teams!

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It’s Swine Time for Israel

Posted on July 7, 2010 by The Rib Rabbi

Using pigs for medical research as a front for being able to raise and eat the state-outlawed-swine: Only in Israel!

In a fascinating article that manages to interweave Judaism, pork chops, Marxism, colorectal cancer, and a collection of decorative pigs, the BBC looks at a kibbutz that raises swine (for research! Yeah…that’s the ticket!).

OK, the medical experiments may not be, strictly speaking, an excuse to raise and eat swine. But somewhere in your heart of hearts, Kibbutz Lahav members, we both know where your primary motivation lies. To which I say: Well done!

Next stop on the Barbecue Trail??


Life’s hard. And I’m sure it’s even harder with the threat of mortar attacks never far off. Why not enjoy the divine swine??

As photographed, the kibbutz’ main hog cooker is Ofer Doron is partial to the pork chop. Trust us, Ofer, if you make some barbecue and do it right, you’ll have that pork ban lifted in no time. And it would probably earn him the chance to fill BBQ Jew’s long-vacant Israel Correspondent slot. Give us a shout if you think you’re up to the task, Ofer.

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iPad Barbecue: Where There’s Smoke, There’s Pixels

Posted on July 5, 2010 by Porky LeSwine

Here’s hoping your July 4th cookout was less pathetic than this tech geeky one.  I guess there really is an app for everything, but I think your hog-tech gadget budget would be better spent on this pork-based iPhone stylus.

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Patriotism Carolina-Style

Posted on July 2, 2010 by Porky LeSwine

It’s America’s birthday this weekend and one of the oldest cities in North Carolina has big plans to celebrate.  What better way to celebrate Independence Day than to build the biggest barbecue sandwich on record?  At least that’s what Tommy Moore, the owner and pitmaster of Moore’s Olde Tyme Barbecue in New Bern figures as he sets his sights on the Guinness world record for Largest Barbecue Open Sandwich (Editor’s note: I’m not sure exactly what that category means, but who cares!). 

According to the Sun Journal, the big ol’ BBQ on a bun will be unveiled at New Bern’s Fourth of July celebration, which this year marks the town’s 300th birthday. Oh, and since New Bern is also the birthplace of Pepsi (aka “Brad’s Drink,”) you may want to wash your share of that sandwich down with an ice cold one.

Filed under: Hog Happenings | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

Cut/Chop/Cook(/Devour)

Posted on June 30, 2010 by The Rib Rabbi

We previously linked to a piece about Scott’s Bar-B-Q in South Carolina. But anytime Joe York, the Leni Riefenstahl of the Southern Foodways Alliance, makes a short film, we try to find an excuse to link to it.

Despite it being on the wrong side of the border, any barbecue lover can appreciate the craftsmanship and artistry of both Rodney Scott’s cue. Same goes for the film CUT/CHOP/COOK. As if cooking over wood coals isn’t visually rich enough, Scott cuts his own trees to provide fodder for the pit and this documentary. Which leads to this great line:

Kinda like a chef pickin out his tomatoes in a garden, I pick my own trees fresh out of the woods. Yup. There ain’t no other way.

I hate to quibble, but there sure is. It’s just amazing that in a world where cooking with wood is considered by many to be too onerous, Scott regards securing that wood himself as essential. Awesome.

Any ‘cue hound has to love this film and the visuals of the coals, the sauce mopping and especially the slow-mo shot of putting the hog on the pit (at the 4:55 mark).

It’s hard to watch this documentary and not want to start up the car for the drive to Hemingway to get a few pounds. If I do, I’ll be sure to ask for a piece of skin and to respect the 9:30 a.m. opening time.

Filed under: 'Cue Culture | Tagged: , , , , | 5 Comments »

BBQ Jew’s View: Mama Jean’s Bar-B-Q Shack

Posted on June 28, 2010 by Porky LeSwine

Angier & Driver Streets, Durham, NC
919.201.7676
Website
Hours: Usually Thu-Sat  11:30 a.m.. to 3:00 p.m. (or until sold out)
BBQ Jew’s Grade: B+
Porky Says: “This pork on wheels is the real deal.”

Drive-Thru BBQ
The name Mama Jean’s Bar-B-Q Shack is, in fact, a misnomer.  This joint is no shack.  Far from it, as this joint isn’t a joint at all. It’s a BBQ truck.  Specifically, it’s a truck where you order barbecue that is cooked next to the truck on a large charcoal and hickory chip fueled cooker.  Although Mama Jean’s is far from trendy–in the best possible way–it is part of a growing trend in the food truck rich Triangle area, where everything from juice to burgers to tacos to crepes is hawked out of mobile restaurants on wheels.  And Mama Jean’s serves some of the best barbecue I’ve had in the Triangle, whether the ‘cue is on wheels or not.

Truck, Storefront, Whatever
According to Antonio Hill, Mama Jean’s owner and pitmaster, Mama Jean’s will be opening a regular sit down restaurant soon on the same street where he sets up his truck.  But for now, while he puts together the final pieces needed to open the storefront, he’s pretty happy selling his food out of his “BBQ shack on wheels.”  Really, I could care less about where he sells his food. He can cook and he does it with charcoal and wood chips, which is close enough to traditional wood-cooking for me.  Heck, if it continues to taste good he can sell his ‘cue out of the back of a Ford Fiesta for all I care.

Mama Jean’s Grub
There is no obvious menu posted on the food truck.  Actually, I didn’t see a menu at all.  Continue reading →

Filed under: Restaurants & Reviews | Tagged: , , | 10 Comments »

Friday Fountain Fun

Posted on June 25, 2010 by Porky LeSwine

Check this link out, a fountain full of barbecue sauce–not the good, thin vinegar stuff we prefer here in NC (inset) but pretty darn cool anyway.  Thanks to burgeoningfoodie for telling me about it.  Oh, and since this post is only three sentences long you should have plenty of time to read the post from Wednesday about the Museum of North Carolina Barbecue.  I’m thinking maybe the museum needs a fountain… (four sentences, sorry).

Filed under: Miscellaneous | Tagged: , | Leave a comment »

Porky’s Pulpit: Blueprint for a Barbecue Museum

Posted on June 23, 2010 by Porky LeSwine

The unmistakable smell of pork cooking low and slow over hickory coals hits you as you pull into the parking lot.  It’s certainly the first time you’ve salivated on the way to a museum.  But this is no ordinary museum and it’s okay to drool.  You are about to visit The Museum of North Carolina Barbecue.  You stride swiftly from your car toward the museum’s front door, growing more eager to see what’s inside with each step you take.  You pull the door open and… you wake up and realize it was a all a dream.  But it doesn’t have to be.

 A few weeks ago I wrote about the numerous museums in North Carolina, which celebrate everything from teapots to textiles.  Yet there is no barbecue museum in the state, and as far as I can tell there is no such museum anywhere. Not in Kansas City, not in Memphis, not in mutton-loving Owensboro and not even in that big ol’ overconfident state of Texas.  But why not in North Carolina?  After all, we have the nation’s longest continuous barbecue tradition and Continue reading →

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

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