Thursday, July 17, 2008

BBQ Ain't a Verb!

Since I eat in a lot of restaurants in different states, I have become somewhat of a connoisseur of fine BBQ. There is nothing better than to happen upon a good BBQ joint at lunchtime on some back road.

But I have noticed that people like their BBQ different from state to state.

For example , I worked in a meat market all my growing up years and we sold a lot of brisket. But I never ate any until I started hanging around Texans. Brisket is boiled in Georgia. It is the BBQ of choice in Texas. When I was at Hilton Head recently I read an article in a magazine about a BBQ place in South Caroline and their yellow mustardy BBQ sauce. In Memphis, the BBQ is a different dish than you will find at Dreamland in Tuscaloosa.

You get the drift. Different strokes for different folks.

And my friends who live north of the Mason Dixon think BBQ is a verb. Real BBQ ain’t a verb. In the south BBQ is the most scrumptious noun you will ever come across if it’s cooked right.

My brother George told me one time he doesn’t like the BBQ chain restaurants. He said they will do in a pinch but when he looks for real BBQ he wants to find the folks with the red eyes who stayed up all night cookin’ and drinking beer.

That’s real BBQ.

A BBQ cookin’ friend sent me this video the other day. I laughed. I think you will too.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I loved this. I remember those all night cookings back when I was a kid. My daddy and several of his brothers would start cooking early on Saturday getting ready for our family reunion on Sunday. I think that you attended a few of those yourself. Our family BBQ is hard to beat. LOVED IT!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Check out the alka seltzer spot for buffets. Love it!