Dickey’s vs. BBQ Jew: Tweet Battle Royale

Posted on December 15, 2010 by Porky LeSwine

Just days after joining Twitter I received the below none-too-friendly tweet from my new friends at Dickey’s Barbecue. A shot across the bow indeed!

Dickey's Barbecue  Dickeys_NC Dickey’s Barbecue “@BBQJew At some point you will be man enough to allow our response and positive customer feedback that was once there . Why do you censor??”

 Here’s what I said in response:

Porky LeSwine BBQJew Porky LeSwine “@Dickeys_NC I have never censored anything on my site other than spam. Assuming your BBQ isn’t spam, I won’t censor your comments either.”

Maybe Dickey’s will respond by commenting on this post… if they are “man enough.”  Oh brother. I guess this is how Texans settle their differences when the death penalty is not an option.

Filed under: Miscellaneous | Tagged: , | 4 Comments »

But We’re Dumb and Ugly Too!

Posted on December 10, 2010 by Porky LeSwine

A recent poll conducted by Travel + Leisure magazine ranked Memphis the top city in the nation for barbecue.  The Bluff City didn’t do so well in other categories, placing last in attractiveness, intelligence and several other unbarbecue categories.  Better yet, according to Memphis’ The Commercial Appeal, “In almost all categories, Memphians assigned lower rankings than did visitors.”  (There is no word on how Memphis residents ranked their fair city on ‘cue.) 

Unfortunately (?), there were no North Carolina cities among Travel + Leisure’s 35 places ranked.  That means we didn’t have a chance to win the best barbecue category (competing with BBQ powerhouses like Boston and Santa Fe), but at least we don’t have to look at ourselves in the nation’s mirror each morning…

Filed under: BBQ in the News | Tagged: | 2 Comments »

Hanukkah Coming Soon: Still Time to Buy a Pork Cookbook

Posted on November 8, 2010 by Porky LeSwine

Fellow BBQ Jews, need I remind you that Hanukkah comes early in the year 5771? (That’s 2010 for you genteel gentile readers.)  Indeed, the Jewish Festival of Lights begins less than one month from today, as you can likely tell from all the Hanukkah tunes polluting the radio (my local station has “Latkes Roasting on an Open Fire” in predictably heavy rotation).  Though time is slipping away, rest assured it’s not too late to find the perfect Hanukkah gift for the ones you love. 

In case this website sells out of BBQ Jew Merch again, as it has in many past Hanukkah shopping seasons, then consider buying The White Book instead.  As implied by the awkward title (awkward at least for those of us in America, where “white” suggests a mayonnaise-loving racial group more so than a type of meat), The White Book is a pork cookbook.  It was written for Israeli Jews by an Israeli Jew.  Former cardiologist, current author and likely future hate mail recipient Dr. Eli Landau is a not too serious man after my own heart (as The New York Times article puts it, “ANY author has to deal with bad reviews, but how about the wrath of God?”).  He waxes poetic about the other white meat, telling the Times, “Pork meat is to a cook like canvas to a painter.”  He also goes on record suggesting that Israeli Jews will abandon their pork-scorning behavior in a couple of decades; a bold assertion for a people awash in thousands of years of tradition and religious teachings but time will tell. 

Alas, the Mediterranean focus of Landau’s cookbook seems to exclude North Carolina style barbecue pork from the list of recipes, but no matter.  Assuming The White Book manages to break down the thousands of years old wall of anti-pork (and pro-boiled chicken) sentiment among my Jewish brethren then no doubt whole hog barbecue will soon sweep the Promised Land quicker than Moses parted the Red Sea.  Until then, at least you’ll have a nice cookbook to get you through the holiday season if you get sick of latkes.

Filed under: Barbejews, Cooking | Tagged: , , , | Leave a comment »

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 »

By Golly, Barbecue and Hot Tamales

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Porky LeSwine

As the summer winds down, it’s high time for a road trip.  After all, even Porky LeSwine can’t eat North Carolina barbecue at every meal.  Sometimes he needs to eat barbecue from other states (and refer to himself in the third person).  So strap on your computer’s seat belt and come along for a ride to the Mississippi Delta, where tamales are king.

That's Willie in front, chomping on a big cigar.

I recently visited family in Illinois, and while there my father-in-law took me on a short trip to Mississippi (thanks Bill!).  How long did it take us to travel from Illinois to Mississippi?  Just a few minutes, since we took  a shortcut by stopping at Willie’s Homemade Tamales and Smokehouse in Sparland, Illinois. 

Willie, who told me he moved to Illinois from Greenville, Mississippi 33 years ago, has been making his own tamales for years.  He started out selling them from a pushcart near the Caterpillar plant in Peoria, Illinois.  About five years ago he took a leap of faith and converted an old gas station into a restaurant in nearby Sparland.  He now sells various kinds of barbecue (ribs, sausage, pulled pork, pork chops and more) alongside his trademark tamales.

But what do tamales have to do with Mississippi? Continue reading →

Filed under: 'Cue Culture, Restaurants & Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Hip Hop You Don’t Stop The BBQ Mop

Posted on August 25, 2010 by Porky LeSwine

When most people think of the music that best goes with barbecue, they undoubtedly name blues or bluegrass.  But rap music may be a contender on the barbecue scene.  Witness hip hop icon Snoop Dogg, who according to an incredibly uninformative article in the UK’s Mirror, is reported to  be “sniffing out a recipe to make his own barbecue sauce after finding the quality in Europe was dogg rough.”  It is unclear what this sentence means or why anyone in his right mind would use the phrase “dogg rough,” but it’s an intriguing tidbit nonetheless.  Last I heard of Snoop Dogg’s culinary adventures (okay, I watched “Snoop Dogg’s Father Hood” on TV once or twice, I admit it) he was scarfing down chicken and waffles from the legendary Roscoe’s.  It’s good to hear that the rap legend has a taste for ‘cue too.

Perhaps it’s no surprise that a Kansas City rapper would dedicate some rhymes to his city’s favorite food.  (Rapping about barbecue puts a whole new spin on the phrase “biting rhymes.”)  According to The Pitch music blog, hometown rapper Tech N9ne’s latest album is called “The Gates Mixed Plate,” a reference to legendary Gates Bar-B-Q.  Here’s to hoping Tech N9ne’s album is fresh like Ollie Gates’ ‘cue and not stale like his hip hop moniker. 

Like any good hip hop or barbecue story, there is a feud in the Kansas City BBQ rap world.  Fellow KC MC Mac Lethal, who put out an album called “Crown Prime Rib Mixtape,” says Gates’ place doesn’t hold up to Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue.  As Lethal delicately puts it, “I know it’s like calling Jesus Christ a fa&%ot, but I’m just telling you, out-of-towners without an emotional attachment to Gates invariably say that either Jack Stack or Oklahoma Joe’s is their favorite.” 

I don’t know if any North Carolina hip hop stars like barbecue, but given that 9th Wonder, arguably North Carolina’s most famous rapper, hails from Winston-Salem it seems likely.

Filed under: 'Cue Culture | Tagged: , , | Leave a comment »

Yankee Doodle ‘Cue

Posted on August 4, 2010 by Porky LeSwine

It’s amusing to learn about the deviant behavior in the north that passes for cooking barbecue.  Recently the New York Times ran a piece on some friends putting on a “pig roast” in New York state.  This was no ordinary barbecue, at least by our humble southern standards: the pig was stuffed with “quartered and peeled pineapples and butternut squash, halved red onions and a dozen sprigs of rosemary” and then wrapped in banana leaves.  Instead of hush puppies and slaw, sides included kimchi,  as well as “a vegetable piccalilli with ample peppers” and “a concoction of coconut milk, pineapple juice and crushed banana mixed with a pesto of basil and cilantro.”  Yep, we ain’t in Mayberry anymore, Toto.

It’s easy to poke fun at New Yorkers cooking a hog, but all kidding aside it looks like the pig roast participants had a good time and a good meal, which are two defining features of good barbecue.  Plus, the slide show of pig roast pictures is nice.  Still, it’s hard not to smirk when the guys wrap the pig in banana leaves followed by burlap followed by chicken wire.  As if that’s not enough overkill, they then lower the strait-jacketed pig into a stone-lined pit in the ground and cover it with coals and dirt.  Sheesh,  I guess it’s hard to rent a pig cooker up north?

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Dickey’s Barbecue Pit at DFW

Posted on May 26, 2010 by Porky LeSwine

Lord, forgive me for I have sinned.  Consider this post a confession more than a review. 

I was flying from the east coast to the left coast and had a layover at Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) airport.  As I walked from one gate to another, I spotted a Dickey’s Barbecue Pit.  “What a coincidence,” I thought, “to find BBQ right in front of me while traveling.”  (I found out later that DFW features, count ’em youself if you don’t believe me, three Dickey’s locations so spotting one may have been less coincidence and more inevitable.).  Since I knew that Dickey’s was founded in Dallas I decided to try it.  I figured I could more easily live with myself eating Dickey’s ‘cue at an airport in Texas than not far from my house in North Carolina.

Knowing that Dickey’s is from Texas and made its name there, I ordered the sliced brisket sandwich.  It was on the dry side and a bit lacking in flavor but it was okay, especially for airport fare.  Heck, even mediocre ‘cue is better than most things.  Dickey’s menu also features links, turkey, ham, chicken and “Southern Pulled Pork,” among other dishes. 

I suppose I should try the pulled pork just to complain about it, but it just doesn’t seem right to do that in North Carolina, even though there are a couple of Dickey’s in NC and five more on the way.  Maybe next time I am travelling through DFW.  Until then, Lord, I’ll stick to local barbecue joints.

Filed under: Restaurants & Reviews | Tagged: , | 2 Comments »

Sex, Drugs and… Bar-B-Q?

Posted on May 19, 2010 by Porky LeSwine

Shocking (if not all that surprising) news from the nation’s largest barbecue festival.  “Apparently, you could get a little more than pork shoulder in one tent at the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest,” reads the first sentence of a recent article in The Commercial Appeal. 

Three members of the Shotwell Smokers cooking team were arrested for having some unsanctioned secret ingredients on hand–“just under 2 ounces of marijuana, about a half-ounce of hash, a fraction of an ounce of cocaine, 37 hydrocodone pills, 57 oxycodone pills, three Xanax pills, two morphine pills and one Darvocet.”  Good eats!

Although it’s important to respect that whole innocent till proven guilty thing, I challenge you to take one look at the photos of the three men charged and not conclude they were planning to set up a meth lab too.  Ironically, the guiltiest looking one of the bunch is named James Innocenti.  Needless to say, the Shotwell Smokers will not be favorites to win next year’s Memphis in May competition but their future cellmates may learn a thing or two about barbecue.

Filed under: BBQ in the News | Tagged: , , | Leave a comment »

Talk About Fusion Cooking!

Posted on April 16, 2010 by Porky LeSwine

Earlier this week we learned of the better-than-it-sounds barbecue sundae.  And now we have another reason for BBQ Jews to rejoice: The New York Times recently featured an article about a Garden City Park eatery that specializes in bagels and barbecue.  Wow. 

The aptly named Bagels & BBQ features traditional water-boiled bagels along with hickory-smoked ‘cue.   This is the first time in my life I’ve considered relocating to New York…

Filed under: BBQ in the News | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

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