Age-Old Culinary Questions Still Stir a Fire

New York Times ^ | October 23, 2002 | R. W. APPLE Jr.

[LibKill]

Y'all have me drooling like Homer Simpson.

I have got to get some good barbecue tomorrow!

[JRandomFreeper]

If you're ever in the Santa Barbara area of California, ... Pin a note to my pocket and send me home. California doesn't BBQ either. ;>)

/john

[tet68]

Ribs? Try Dreamland in Tuskaloosa!
or perhaps the Rendezvous in Memphis for "Dry" ribs.
And they ship rub and ribs too!
but don't take just my word for it.


Rendezvous is a Memphis tradition for ribs dating back to 1948. I ate
here during a business trip and I highly recommend it. Dining "solo", I sat
at the bar, bypassing the crowds of people waiting for a table. Make no
mistake, this place excels at handling crowds and the wait was short by
anybody's standard.

The fare at this restaurant is "no nonsense" meat! Charcoal-broiled pork
ribs are the specialty and they were great! They had a wonderful dry rub
on the outside and the meat was moist and succulent. A full order runs
$13.50, a small order $11.00. They are accompanied by baked beans
and a great tasting coleslaw. Other "specials" include pork ribs & loin
should combo, pork loin plate, half charcoal-broiled chicken, beef ribs,
charcoal-broiled lamb riblets, pork shoulder plate, chargrilled chicken
breast and meatless red beans and rice (this was the "token" offering for
vegetarians-this is definitely a "carnivore" hangout!). The specials range
in price from $5.95 to $13.95.

While it is limited, the menu also includes appetizer plates and
sandwiches. The appetizer plate are mostly meat and cheese combos
ranging in price from $5.45 to $9.45. There is an appetizer portion of
charcoal broiled lamb riblets for $10.00. The sandwiches are, again,
mostly meat and cheese combos, ranging in price from $2.95 to $4.95
There is also a jumbo pork shoulder sandwich ($4.95) and a chargrilled
chicken sandwich ($6.75). Side orders are limited to baked beans, slaw,
pickles and peppers. The pickles are dill and really crunchy-- can testify
to that!

There is one additional specialty that sounded awesome. However,
since I was dining alone, it wasn't an option for me. It's called "Skillet of
Shrimp" and the story is: with 24 hours notice, the restaurant will prepare
their famous skillet of barbecue shrimp for you: 5 pounds (serves up to 8
people!), served in an old-fashioned skillet. Sounds great-but I didn't see
anybody who had ordered it, and I looked HARD!

Rendezvous has a wonderful, eclectic, upbeat décor. They have a
"museum-like" collection of antiques and other memorabilia, which hang
EVERYWHERE! The walls are lined with oil paintings, watercolors,
firearms, old photos, and other interesting artifacts. The ceiling over the
bar is covered with old musical instruments, sports helmets, license
plates and railroad lights. It is a really pleasant place to eat, whether you
are alone, with guests or with family. Service here is quiet and
unobtrusive. Initially, my waiter forgot to bring the pickles that I had
ordered. When I reminded him he practically fell over with apologies and
rarely left me afterward. When I left he, shyly, engaged me in
conversation (for the first time) and gave me a really big farewell smile,
which sparkled with plenty of gold dental work!

Another neat feature of the Rendezvous is the service they make
available to ship their ribs, sauce and seasoning anywhere in the
continental US via Federal Express. You simply dial 1-888-HOGS FLY.
Now you KNOW these people take their ribs seriously!

[JRandomFreeper]

I like it. Mmmmm. I need to write that number down.

/john

[null and void]

Baked Beans? Not in Texas!

Don't the refried beans fall through the grill???

[null and void]

Ping

(ducking)...

[JRandomFreeper]

Don't the refried beans fall through the grill???

You don't have pictures. It never happened. That's my story.

/john

[sweetliberty]

"They only use beef because you can't lasso a pig,"

Priceless!

[yarddog]

I love BBQ and grew up about as Southern as is possible however I got to thinking about it and Bar-B-Que was pretty rare when I was a kid.

A typical meal was white peas or butter beans, fried okra, pork chops and corn bread (the kind cooked in a skillet). We had pepper and vinegar sauce for the greens if we had them.

Just about every time I ate BBQ was at some gathering or at a restaurant. We almost never cooked it ourselves.

As far as BBQ is concerned, the only meat to use is pork brisket. All the others taste ok but pork is by far the best. The mild relish and tomato sauce are the best and it is not necessary to put anything on the meat as it cooks except salt. I am starting to get hungry.

Unfortunately my wife is from Oklahoma and her Mother was from Iowa and she never has learned to cook Southern, despite the fact all her Fathers people are from the deep South.

[sweetliberty]

"To Southerners, BBQ is an obsession, we're born with it"

That is so true. Actually I thik I was nearly a teenager before I ever even had a hamburger. I grew up in a tiny little town in Virginia. We didn't even have our own cop, but we had 3 places you could go for barbeque. Can't say I've ever had better than this one little place we used to go. You could get your barbeque (pork of course, for those who don't know) either minced or sliced, with or without slaw, on a lightly grilled bun with a mustard based sauce. On the side were home made fries and of course sweet tea or a coke to drink. And for desert, peach ice cream. This was our weekly supper outing. And they sold comic books. None of this weird stuff like is around now, but the good old fashioned kids comics like Nancy and Sluggo and Casper and Wendy. I'd always get to buy a comic book to read with my meal. *Sigh* Now I'm hungry!

[sweetliberty]

"A recipe for healthy tofu barbecue with a side of kidney-bean chili?"

Blasphemy!!!

[sweetliberty]

Brisket is good, but I will never be able to bring myself to call it barbeque.

[sweetliberty]

"not a problem, and Brunswick stew that isn't ground to mush"

An honest to God Brunswick Stew is second only to barbeque as a culinary delight.

[sweetliberty]

Nully, you are very bad pinging the Swervie to one of these threads without pinging the Ratt. You just like to watch us all go at it. This has been a very civilized thread so far....okay, so I have had to bite my tongue a few times, but all in all. If Swervie shows up I will have to practically bite it off!

[null and void]

Nully, you are very bad pinging the Swervie to one of these threads without pinging the Ratt.

I can never remember how to spell his screen name...

[TheLion]

So, where in Virginia did you enjoy these culinary delights? I love the pig roasts that still abound in Virginia. Nothing like a good day long outdoor party with good food!

[sweetliberty]

It was in a town called Ettrick. It is situated between Petersburg, Colonial Heights, and Matoaca. There was also a great place in Colonial Heights called Gene's barbeque and there is a place out in Dinwiddie county, or at least used to be, also called Gene's, although I don't know if they are owned by the same people. Good barbeque though. Dinwiddie county also used to have Brunswick stew cook-offs.

[STONEWALLS]

.....glad to see pecan mentioned...pecan is first cousin to a hickory....I prefer it when I can get it; generally after a hurricane there's plenty free for the asking....it's too valuable a tree to cut otherwise...

...now about BBQ.....the best there is IMHO is true pit BBQ and it is very rare now days because of the work involved.....first you need to dig a pit in the ground about the size of a grave opening only 2 1/2 feet deep and sloped on each end so you can continually shovel in coals...about 2 am you build your fire [we're talking cord wood here]in the pit and after it burns down to hot coals you put your grill over the opening...a lot of guys like steel mesh but I've also used an set of army cot springs.....simultaneously you build another fire so that you have fresh replacement coals to shovel in the pit....then you put your meat on and it will be ready for your guests at noon..the trick is to keep your fire low and slow.....it takes two men to tend the meat and the fires and it can be hard on your back cause you're bending over a lot.....it's easier if you use a 3-tined pitch fork with a cut down handle to turn your meat...sauce is made up in a 5 gallon buckets and applied with a clean cotton mop with a cut down handle.....you can feed a couple hundred people.....I was introduced to this method in Georgia and old timers said the red clay there makes the best pit...it really holds the heat.....I've also seen it done in S.Texas cooking both steers and goats.....

Good luck to everybody!

Stonewalls

[gratefulwharffratt]

Yesterday

[Grut]

Blasphemy!!!

Mind you, that's kidney-bean chili with brown sugar, stewed tomatoes and no nasty cumin, though. ;^)