<p>My Georgia grandmama’s Brunswick stew was a bit on the soupy side, but it was hot and had lots of shredded chicken meat. Even my aunts and mother can’t make it as well as grandmama.</p>
<p>Mini, I laughed when I saw your post about Sylvia’s Restaurant in NYC. A lot of New Yorkers don’t think the food there is special (but Sylvia is beloved, nevertheless; and wealthy, so clearly she’s satisfied many customers). But when my folks were in New York at a convention a few years back, they took a contingent of Washington State delegates to Sylvia’s. Dad said that on the flight back to Seattle, everybody went on-and-on about how great Sylvia’s honey sauce ribs were.</p>
<p>Arthur Bryant’s Kansas City is the best BBQ in the world. </p>
<p>My dh is a barbecue nut and we’ve had it just about everywhere. There’s a place in LA that is pretty good called Dr. Hogly Wogly’s Tyler Texas Barbecue. </p>
<p>But my favorite BBQ story was going to a hole in the wall place somewhere near the LA County Art Museum. My husband asks whether the ribs are pork or beef. And the woman sighs and says, “There’s only one kind of ribs white boy and that’s pork ribs.” They were delicious by the way.</p>
<p>On a TV show about a Texas BBQ competition, a cook who looked like he came straight from a “marlboro man” billboard, Stetson and all, snarled at the show’s host whom had asked why didn’t the cook include chicken on his grill. The cook grumbled something about how Texas was steer country and that BBQ chicken was for ladies and children and y’all back east.</p>
<p>Another vote for Arthur Bryant’s! Can’t get near Kanas City without stopping. That said, I love the vinegary NC bbq as well. No surprise, really, since Arthur Bryant’s is not a sweet sauce–more smoky and spicy and, yes, gritty. But here’s the real question: How long have those 5-gallon jars of sauce been in AB’s window?</p>
<p>My issue is not with the BBQ in NC, which I think is different from good old Texas BBQ, but tasty nevertheless. My issue is with the Mexican food in NC. We stopped in at a family-run joint in Chapel Hill, assuming since the owners were Spanish-speaking we would be in for some good food. Wrong. Asked for chili con queso, got something that looked like white cheese soup with no jalapenos, tomatos or any seasoning of any kind, served with cold bag chips. Ordered fajitas, and I kid you not, they served those rubbery, curly beef strips you find at buffet Chinese restaurants, I guess they thought the side of grilled onions and bell peppers made it fajitas. When we asked for pico de gallo, we got a big shoulder shrug. I don’t get it. My husband and I are still mystified.</p>
<p>I believe that last year was the 1st annual New York City BBQ competition at Madison Square Park in Manhattan.</p>
<p>Anyone in NYC know of authentic BBQ joints besides Kennesaw Mountain, or the botique restaurants like Sylvia’s or the Pink Teacup? As for New York’s ‘Dallas BBQ,’ it is simply underwhelming.</p>
<p>We had pretty darn good BBQ down the road from the Brooklyn Museum - I forget the name of the place. There are/were issues with being allowed to use a smoker in the city I believe. We sampled a bunch of BBQ at some festival on the East River a couple of years ago. The rubs at Blue Smoke were pretty good.</p>
<p>20 years ago a law school classmate of mine from “old Florida” recounted stories of hunting baby wild pigs and ocasionally getting treed by an adult. He said that if you were too slow an adult’s tusks to do quite a bit of damage to your ankles.</p>
<p>LW - I can assure you that pig hunting can sometimes be a case where the pigs (actually feral hogs) are hunting you. Even taking a walk through the woods where they root can be a bit of risk. An area where they have rooted looks a lot like it’s been plowed - it really tears it up.</p>
<p>barrons: we ate at Jack Stacks in KC last week…it was awesome! H had burnt ends which was something new for us … loved it. I had prime rib sandwich, but hey, gotta eat steak in KC too</p>
<p>Being a Georgia boy living 30+ years in Texas, I think I know a little about BBQ. Georgia “traditional” Brunswick stew was always made with brains and it was thick. BBQ’ed goat and pickle sandwiches were my mom’s favorite but pork ribs and shoulders were the meats of choice. Cattle were for selling , pigs were for eating. Been so long I don’t have any recommendations in Georgia .</p>
<p>In Texas, the best barbeque is in the town of Llano at a place called Cooper’s. (Their other locations all …uh…suck.) Cooper’s secret is that they cook their wood before they let it cook their meat. Very helpful when you are using mesquite with your oak. They transfer the embers of the cooked wood on long paddles from the wood cooker to directly under the cabrito (young goat), two inch pork chops, pork tenderloin, pork and beef ribs and beef brisket. It is the best I’ve had of the Texas variety. The best Texas BBQ sausage is from Elgin, Texas. </p>
<p>As far as other parts of the country, Memphis and Poplar Bluff, Missouri are great for BBQ. As to the N.C. kind? Hand-Pulled pork is great but that shredded stuff is godawful. </p>
<p>I guess I’m a hybrid. LOL. I barbeque with a vinegar based “mop”, a rag of sorts dipped in a very thin mixture of my own concoction. I cook over cured mesquite and oak, about 1/2 and 1/2. Nobody leaves hungry.</p>
<p>My mouth is watering just thinking about that good Va/NC barbeque! I keep kosher now but my solution is to buy the sauce when I go East and make my own barbeque. King’s Bar-B-Que in Petersburg, Va sells the sauce by the jar. Haven’t found a source of kosher Brunswick stew, however!</p>
<p>My mouth is watering just thinking about that good Va/NC barbeque! I keep kosher now but my solution is to buy the sauce when I go East and make my own barbeque. King’s Bar-B-Que in Petersburg, Va sells the sauce by the jar. Haven’t found a source of kosher Brunswick stew, however!</p>
<p>Grew up in in Oklahoma on Kansas-style BBQ, lots of visiting relatives in Texas on Texas-style (particularly in the Tyler area). All I can tell you is that with my first bite of Carolina BBQ, with slaw on the bun, I was in love. To each his own, but it’s not always a matter of where you grew up</p>