Posted on 05/29/2005 11:47:02 AM PDT by varina davis
Age-Old Debate Over N.C. Barbecue Fired Up
By MARTHA WAGGONER Associated Press Writer
10:15 AM PDT, May 29, 2005
ARCADIA, N.C. — Fourth-graders here expected a civics lesson when they suggested that the Lexington Barbecue Festival be named the state's official food festival. Instead, they got a lesson in the fierce intrastate rivalry over barbecue that pits west vs. east, tomato vs. vinegar and whole shoulder against whole pig.
"I didn't know so many people would be asking questions and wanting to know how I feel about it," said 10-year-old Kaylyn Vaughan. "You have to realize it is a very big deal."
While Texas generally unites behind beef brisket, Kansas City has its slathered ribs and South Carolina holds dear to its mustard-sauced pork, North Carolinians are divided about their two distinct barbecue styles.
Crowning one style as "official" would be a mistake, said Bob Garner, author of the book "North Carolina Barbecue," which doesn't take a stand on which version is supreme.
"The whole story of barbecue in North Carolina is about these two distinct styles and this fun, family argument that we just refuse to get rid of," Garner said. "People love to argue about this."
North Carolina's western barbecue, also known as Lexington or Piedmont, is made from the shoulder of the hog and has a red, tomato-based sauce. Eastern style takes seriously an old North Carolina adage -- "We use every part of the pig except the squeal" -- and uses a vinegar-based sauce.
The argument about which is best has waged forever, although Garner said eastern style came first. The state's tourism division even conducted an online poll in 2002. Thousands of votes were cast, with eastern winning by a snout, although the head of the Lexington visitors bureau demanded a recount.
The pupils of Friedberg Elementary School in west-central North Carolina fired up the fight innocently enough in February when they decided to undertake a civics project. They could have studied the state tree, the state bird or the state fish. They chose food.
They wrote letters to lawmakers asking that the one-day Lexington event, one of Travel & Leisure magazine's Top 10 food festivals, be named the "state food festival."
Two lawmakers obliged, but when the bills were filed, they mistakenly called for Lexington's event to become the "state barbecue festival."
The damage was done.
"Remind lawmakers that while our humble pig may not get the publicity Lexington gathers from the lying Yankee press, we still put on a pretty good show," columnist Dennis Rogers, a protector of eastern-style, wrote in The News & Observer of Raleigh.
The High Point Enterprise defended the western style, calling it barbecue from "a lean, filet of pork shoulder in Lexington, not all of Old McDonald's pig."
From there, the students' lesson became political. A House committee recommended the festival receive the state designation last month, but the bill ended up in another committee. In the Senate, the bill has been stuck in committee since it was filed.
"I don't really expect that the bill will be heard," said one of its sponsors, Sen. Stan Bingham, a Republican from the Lexington style's home turf of Davidson County.
Bingham denies the bill was meant to say Lexington-style barbecue tastes better than eastern style. "It's just indicating that 150,000 people come to Lexington for the festival," he said, somewhat unconvincingly.
That's what the Friedberg children say as well. And they manage to say it without an arched eyebrow in the bunch.
"I wish we could all get along," said 10-year-old James Lumley.
Then he gets down and dirty.
"I know that we all think western is better than eastern," he said, pointing around the table at three friends, "and I think western is better."
Garner gives the nod to western-style barbecue on two counts: its aficionados have done a better job of sticking to pit-cooked barbecue than their eastern counterparts, who have no big barbecue festival comparable to Lexington's.
But Garner believes it is heresy to pass a bill that essentially gives western-style the imprimatur of being the best.
"I just think it would be a shame to set up either eastern or Lexington as the official thing when it's all about the friendly debate."
Let the fools do the debating, while we do the eating. YUMMMM YUMMMMMM ! Some may be better than the other, but I will never let any of it go to waste.
" then drop a few oak or mosquite chips in "
My wife did our cook-out one day and added the mesquite chips, quite alot of them actually. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing.
Tom, Texans cook with mesquite.
Your receipe for the vinegar based sauce sounds like more of a marinade.
Give me Texas hot short ribs of beef or beef brisket any day. It mmay be CT but we do have a displaced Texan up here who barbeques bison and the pulled bison sandwich is unbelievable.
Vinegar based for me (although, I'll eat either type)
A comprehensive list of the best BBQ joints in the world. A worthy read.
I use it on chicken and pulled pork sandwiches and everyone that has tried likes it. I am sure you could use it as a marinade or a baste but I don't. Most places around here use a tomato based sauce. But I have had some vinegar based sauce that was the same consistency but with a slightly different taste. I am sure if you do some searching you will find plenty of other vinegar based BBQ sauces that has just about the same stuff in it.
This isn't even a question. I grew up in Western NC on the 'other kind' but now that I live in Eastern NC, I have seen the light. Vinegar based is the only kind of barbecue. Although it is acceptable for SC mustard based to be thrown in from time to time
Louie Mueller's Barbeque, Taylor
Cooper's, Llano
Smitty's, Black's and Kreuz Market, Lockhart.
Sam's and The Iron Works, Austin.
If you're in Lockhart hit all three, you only live once....
LOL getting fatter just thinking about them
In addition to Betty's here are a couple of good ones in Brownwood.
Sticks
Smittys
I feel a road trip coming on....
BBQ Ping!
Thanks! Bookmarked for later....
If you haven't seen it yet, this bbq thread is good, too:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1411535/posts
I'm pretty sure it was Gardner's. They had pictures of President G.H.W.Bush on the walls. Thanks I've been trying to remember that for years. If you ever get to central Texas try the City Market in Luling. Better yet, one safe rule is go to almost any town that starts with an L. Llano, Luling, Lockhart, ect......... You'll find good BBQ.
BBQ isn't a cut of meat, it ain't a style of sauce. .
BBQ is a state of mind.
Personally I prefer the vinegar based BBQ
and I like mustard based on Lamb.
As My Son says: "It's all good"!
And it's Thundering and Starting to rain with big drops right now. So No Q!
Thanks Lady Fawnn..
I'll check it out!
Ms.B
I was raised on Eastern NC BBQ and nothing IMO beats it. I make the sauce up even if I'm just making a Boston Butt Roast on the smoker for a small gathering.
True Eastern NC BBQ is the whole hog, rubbed, cooked long and slow, hand pulled and mixed with the sauce though some baste through the cooking process.
Get a bun, slap on some slaw, bit of hot sauce and that is some good eating.
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