North Carolina: The Historic Barbecue Trail

Only in North Carolina could you find a historic trail devoted enturely to barbecue. These people make no apologies about the face that the wood-smoked is an essential part of the region's history. This map, put together by the NC Barbecue Society, covers all of the long established places, family-run stands that still cook with wood. Have a look.

Skylight Inn, Ayden, NC

A Family Tradition from Mark Dolan on Vimeo.

The Pit, Raleigh, NC

Ed Mitchell, longtime pitmaster at Mitchell's barbecue in Wilson, NC, talks about his new restaurant in Raleigh, called the Pit.

Ed Mitchell Talks About The Pit from John Sconzo on Vimeo.

North Carolina Barbecue Trail

Two short videos on barbecue in North Carolina. When you hear people discuss North Carolina, they'll inevitably refer to the ongoing "feud" between Eastern and Piedmont styles. Eastern barbecue is old-school: Whole hogs cooked over wood coals, with nothing but pepper and vinegar in the sauce. Piedmont barbecue is done with individual cuts of meat, usually shoulders, and perhaps most controversially, includes a bit if ketchup in the pepper-vinegar sauce. The sides also differ: Eastern places usually serve the meat with a slab of flat cornbread, whereas Piedmont barbecue often includes hushpuppies and some variations on slaw. Famous "Eastern style" establishments include the Skylight Inn in Ayden, NC, and Wilber's in Goldsboro. The most celebrated Piedmont version is done by Wayne "Honey" Monk at Lexington Barbecue #1, Lexington, SC.

And how did the distinction come about? John and Dale Reed note that the Eastern style goes back centuries, and owes elements to English, native and African traditions. The Piedmont style is a 20th century phenomenon. The Reeds actually draw a connection with German cuisine, noting the German migration to that region in the 19th century, as well as the remarkable number of Piedmont pitmasters with German surnames.

This distinction is the basis of the so-called "feud" you'll hear about in the media. It's served the state well. As columnist Jerry Bledsoe says, "The fight's as good as the food".

More Unknown Hinson Awesomeness

Charlotte-area singer Unknown Hinson is the chart-topping King of Country Western Troubadours, "Every woman's dream and every jealous woman's nightmare." Here, he pitches for Liquid Chicken.

Fish Camp Woman

Unknown Hinson pays tribute to the Gaston County NC tradition (close to where I grew up) known as the fish camp.

Fish camp womern
I like the way you smell
Fish camp womern
Lord, I like the way you smell
Whether it's hushpuppies, flounder or slaw, baby
I'll be damned if I can tell.

More on fish camps here and here. More on the incomparable, chart-topping Unknown Hinson here.

Holy Smoke

An excerpt from John Shelton Reed and Dale Volberg Reed's book,Holy Smoke: The Big Book of North Carolina Barbecue:

"The North Carolina Museum of History's online 'History Highlights' has two entries for 1924:  The founding of Duke University and the opening of Bob Melton's Barbecue in Rocky Mount.  It is not clear why Duke gets equal billing.  North Carolina already had a university, after all, while Melton's . . . seems to have been the state's very first sit-down barbecue restaurant."

John Shelton Reed is a retired professor of sociology at UNC.  His essays on the South are terrific and hilarious.  This book may be the best thing I've read on the subject, covering all the history and sociology, and throwing in some recipes and instructions on cooking your own.  There are even instructions on contructing a backyard pit with cinder blocks.

Pig Meat is What I Crave

Piedmont bluesman Blind Boy Fuller, born in Wadesboro, NC, sings:

Now, pigmeat is kicking today, today, something I do crave
Now, pigmeat is kicking today, today, something I do crave
Had a little gal, she was little and low
She used to shake it but she won't no more
Now pigmeat is kicking today, something I do crave,
Something I do crave

(To make an obvious point, "pigmeat" did not always strictly mean food)