I'm on vacation in the U.S., visiting family on North Carolina coast. I'll be back in France soon.
That's what my cousin said to me today. I never thought of it that way. It must be because it's something typical of North Carolina that brings back so many good memories. Plus the fact that it's just good eats.
That's what my cousin said to me today. I never thought of it that way. It must be because it's something typical of North Carolina that brings back so many good memories. Plus the fact that it's just good eats.
One of my favorite barbecue joints is Wilber's in Goldsboro, N.C.
That's my sister, Joanna, getting into the car.
That's my sister, Joanna, getting into the car.
When I say barbecue, I mean pulled pork with a vinegar and hot pepper sauce. No ketchup. No mustard. No tomato puree. No sugar. No Worcestershire sauce. Just vinegar, dried and crushed hot red chilli peppers, and some salt and pepper.
I liked this neon sign at King's barbecue restaurant in Kinston, N.C.
My aunt says that one of the best local barbecue cooks here in Morehead City used to put some sage in hers, for flavor. I have to try that, since we have two or three big sage bushes out in the garden in Saint-Aignan.
One of my vivid memories of my late father dates back to 1967, the first time he drove me up to Durham, N.C., to leave me at the university there. We stopped at Wilber's (see photo above) and ate barbecue together. You'll notice that "barbecue" is the Eastern North Carolina term for what "people from off" insist on calling "pulled pork."
Okay, yes, it is pork. But you know how lean pork is (or can be) these days. In Eastern North Carolina, whole hogs are slow-roasted over smoldering hickory or oak logs for many hours in smoke houses or portable smoker grills, and basted with the vinegar sauce.
If you want vegetables with your barbecue, you can order off the board on the left.
When the pork is well cooked and smoked, the meat is pulled off the carcass and bones. The bigger pieces are chopped quickly with a big knife or cleaver. Some more vinegar sauce is added. Then it's made into sandwiches with cole slaw, or packed into containers to be sold by the pound to people who want to take it home and eat it there. Or ordered by people far and wide and shipped to distant locations by air freight.
"Toss" salad?
ReplyDeleteHi Ken, Our friends here in Northern France are from Goldsboro N C their names are Don and Brenda Nusbaum, you may know them
ReplyDeleteWalt. I shudder to think. That may say more about me than them, though.
ReplyDeleteKen - they say they deliver anywhere. Maybe you should call them out on that one. I'll volunteer (along with Susan)to help dispose of the evidence.
Toss salad. Ice tea. I see a pattern.
ReplyDeleteAny idea what is Brunswick stew?
ReplyDeleteBrunswick stew is made with chicken, pork tomatoes, corn, potatoes, beans, okra, etc. Historically authentic versions are made with squirrel or rabbit.
ReplyDeleteSimon, the sign says "nationwide shipping" — not "worldwide..." Oh well.
ReplyDeleteIn NJ, we didn't really have pulled pork with bbq sauce (or any other way), so when someone used the term, barbecue, it just meant that whatever you were having was going to be grilled outside, perhaps with (gloppy, sweet) bbq sauce (or not). So, the first time I was in Indiana, and our hosts told us we were having bbq, that was the first time I ever heard of this pulled pork dish that's called, bbq. Voilà!
ReplyDeleteSo then, it should be "pull pork." :)
ReplyDeleteYou got your fill but will it be enough to last you another year? I am sure it was "finger lickin good".
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to see "blackeyeD" pies on the sign.
ReplyDeleteCHM, Brunswick stew is good eats! Ken needs to make us some and we can enjoy it without the calories on the blog.
You know I meant to type blackeyed PEAS ;-) I need a proof reader!
ReplyDeleteahh this is what i've been waiting for! yay! glad that you got some bbq. i think if you tried to explain all the iterations of BBQ to your readers it might very well make them dizzy. i've been making pulled pork - on a bun with slaw, of course.
ReplyDeletei'm curious about country ham. i've had it and its really salty...
Your cousin lives in barbecue land. It's all around him or her. When you can eat BBQ whenever you want, you don't give it much thought. Move away, though, and the cravings start.
ReplyDeleteKen, will you be around next weekend for the Edenton Pilgrimage? I love the house tour part, my husband not so much, but we both love the fish and barbecue at Cap'n Bob's.
I love the conjunction of the Kings barbecue sign with the Piggly-Wiggly market next door.
ReplyDeleteWalt, "toss" salad seems to be a trend around here. I notice it particularly in the grocery stores where the aisles are labeled with things like "can vegetables".
Carolyn, it depends on which weekend you mean. I go back to Saint-Aignan on Wednesday 4/17.
ReplyDeleteSimon, you blew a phonetic theory I had about toss salad and ice tea when you mentioned can vegetables.
OFGirl, country ham needs to be soaked/desalted for a few hours before you cook it. That's how you treat a whole Smithfield ham too. Soak, change water, and then boil.
Now that I know what it is, I'll have the Brunswick stew, with rabbit, please. I don't especially care for squirrel.
ReplyDeleteI'll make some when you visît next, C-H., avec un lapin.
ReplyDeleteNever been a big fan of barbecue.
ReplyDeleteOMG, I am so jealous! Pork BBQ with collards and brunswick stew on the side - heaven on earth. I remember Wilbur's so well: stopping on the way home from Chapel Hill.
ReplyDeleteI was so disappointed the first time I ordered BBQ in Texas. It is always beef, generally chopped brisket. I've come to like it but there is nothing like good ole Eastern NC pork BBQ!
~Margaret
I am sooooo lost! I had no idea BBQ on the East Coast (or maybe the Carolinas) was made with vinegar and NO tomato sauce! That's a revelation for me. I guess I've been asleep at the wheel when reading your other recipes, Ken! But it sounds good to me, and I know how good some of your recipes have tasted - I've tried them!
ReplyDeleteOh yum, Wilber's is the best! Margaret, remember when I took you to Stephenson's? I live right in the heart of NC BBQ and have it all the time. Go much west and it isn't the same.
ReplyDelete