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photopilot
03/12/11
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03/10/11
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04/10/11
April 18, 2012
Yes, it was the same sword wielding general who triumphed, in a contest organized by the National Army Museum, to determine the greatest enemy commander to face Britain.
The very same future president that historian Stephen Brumwell said was responsible for "the worst defeat for the British Empire ever."
He also, as Brumwell pointed out, had the skills to deal with his political counterparts in Congress and his French allies.
All the more remarkable, since the man who defeated such notables as Irish independence hero Michael Collins, France's Napoleon Bonaparte, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, had little appetite for fighting.
Washington’s diaries are filled, not so much with war strategies, but with juicy references to that "succulent boar" we gorged on in Alexandria, or that "superb hunk of venison cooked so slow over the fires that it fell off the bone."
Of course, if a meal displeased him, he could be as tough.
“It was stringy beyond belief; even Franklin, who’ll eat anything, couldn’t stomach it.”
Both before and after the Revolutionary War, Washington frequented barbecues along the Potomac River, as Mary V. Thompson notes in "Cornbread Nation 2: The United States of Barbecue."
"George even hosted more than a few barbecues of his own, giving one in May 1773 and buying "45 weight" of flour "for barbecue," presumably to make the bread or biscuits that were part of the spread.
Today, of course, there is open warfare about where the best barbecue comes from.
North Carolinians contend that the only true barbecue in the country is cooked around Lexington, or barbecue "down east," around Goldsboro.
Tennesseans say there's nothing like Memphis dry rub ribs.
Then there are the red sauce people from Kansas City and then there’s Texas brisket.
So who makes the best?
I usually side with any barbecue in the part of the country I’m sampling at the time.
I’d like to think George would agree with that diplomatic stance.
Best Barbeque. All of the above. It's not about either/or but where next? Sauces and rubs are all...
Apr. 18, 2012 7:34 AM
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03/19/11
I believe you have it right,Sir.. Good BBQ seems to be localized,and different locales have different tastes,and perperations. Smokin' shacks are fairly universal, but the fuels differ; Apple woods, to Hickry, to Mes....and so,too, with foods of choice; beefs, porks, fish, and then there is pedestrian; sausage,burgers, and most important, veggies (and to a lesser extent, fruits)
One of the best things about RVing is local food purveyors, in far, and winery areas. There are wineries that let you park an RV, buy their wine,tour there vines, and eat there, or direct you to locals that sell what you need to compliment the wines you bought. Cook right there,in your wheeled kitchen,and enjoy wine in the garden. And...you sleep in your own bed! Some of the Harvest Hosts (a group to which I am member) even trade out work for stay space; you help do chores, and learn ...so cool ...and there you get to sample real home BBQ....
Oh boy! I finally have time to check the Eye and find the topic to be one of my very favorites...dear to my heart ... uh... taste buds. I am always on the lookout for good barbecue, usually with poor results. My threshold is too high, coming from Memphis. Really, it's getting to the point where I can hardly remember what a good barbecue sandwich with cole slaw tastes like...but not quite....I still can savor that pulled pork and hot sauce in the back of my mind. I want barbecue!
Good morning RY & JANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
JANE, sooooooooooooooo good to finally see you. There was a where's Jane memo going around a few days ago. Yes, Memphis & Mississippi BBQ is just so fine. There's a little local institution in town that has the best BBQ sandwiches....................it is one of the most savory, saucy, delicious things on the plant. The meat is pulled & meltingly tender. The sauce is so fine that you end up slopping any leftover bun in a a puddle. If you were coming today, I would take off from school & treat you to lunch. I have to say, I am a NO coleslaw on my sandwich gal. Great to see you.
RY..................the wineries sound so wonderful....................I love the idea of staying right there, I bet that it is peaceful & relaxing.
Great day all!
Best Barbeque. All of the above. It's not about either/or but where next? Sauces and rubs are all unique you can taste your geography. The one thing I have noticed is the fancier the place the lesser the taste. Just pass out a roll of paper towels, a few wet naps, a jug of sweet tea and thou..
more on the honor rollJust as all politics are local, the best BBQ is personal.
Looking for good BBQ?
Look for a place where the name is obviously hand-painted and it says "BBQ" instead of "Barbecue."
In these Northern climes the words "barbeque" or "bbq" denote a metal construction in which to use either charcoal or gas power to cremate hamburgers and hotdogs, turn steak into shoe leather, or prepare chicken black on the outside and pink inside slathered with horrible store brand sauce.
Luckily, within 50 miles or so there are 2 BBQ places who must have owners who hail from the South. At Chester's in New London a Brisket Sandwich generously laced with sliced pickles is so good tears roll down your cheeks as you reach for your beer. Over near the Coast Guard Academy and Sub Base someone named Ray is sustaining squids with unbelievable pulled pork and ribs.
Coleslaw is an entire topic on its own.
The contention that barbeque is local is true, and isn't that the joy of it? I remember the first time I was in North Carolina and had an opportunity to taste the vinegar-based barbeque of that fine state, Lovely - and different. I prefer a steak in Kansas City - that is what they do best. Virginia has some nice barbeque, though the best I think in Northern Virginia is at Bubba's in the Merrifield area. Interestingly, Bubba is originally from Lebanon. We have a Famous Dave's that has opened in Falls Church and for all the hoopla, I am not impressed. As for me, I have been working on lamb ribs for the last 2-3 years. They must be very slow cooked or they are tough. And the do well with a generous herb rub, and some basting with garlic paste and the liquid of your choice - water, white wine, etc. Excellent taste and texture. Oven or smoker at 180-220 degrees for as long as it takesto get them tender. If in the oven, they spend a lot of time covered and basted. Yum! I love pork barbeque (don't tell the halal butcher who supplies my lamb ribs!), but am not as find of beef. Those who use the metal contraption to incinerate meat need some lessons in how to use it. I've had some fine meals done on an outdoor barbeque, with the glowing coals moved to one side and the meat cooking from indeirect heat. I've read that when we moved from cooking in a fireplace with its indirect heat to a stove and oven that we lost a lot of flavor. Convenience is not always the handmaiden of art.
Overheard from a couple of tables ove,r a debate on the finer points of Chas. Vergos'World Famous Rendezvous,s BBQed dry ribs..."You know BBQ is like all the girlfriends I ever had; all wondeful all the same but all different".
Handy way to decide whether you will eat bbq in a locale is to see if the word is used as a noun or a verb. As a North Caroliian, it's a noun. As in we're having a barbeque, not we're barbequing, even if what you are cooking is a pig for a 'que sammich.
Inkwench~ Its funny how that goes...I was too old for it to matter when I learned that 'party' is a verb.
My lovely bride and happened upon this program concerning "the best" BBQ in Atlanta....
http://archive.pba.org/programming/programs/bbq/
It was so compelling that we decided that we'd got visit every single one of them and give it our review. There were originally twelve, but three have closed, the KC PIT offered great Kansas City style BBQ but alas the owners also liked to traffic drugs and weapons along with the spicy sauces and smoked meats they served. So the ATF and the IRS and the FBI and a few more acronyms showed up with guns drawn and padlocks for the doors.
My personal favorite was "Rolling Bones" on Edgewood, run by a great Jamaican couple, their pulled pork and ribs were smoked in a pineapple rub that was heavenly and the potato salad was beyond belief.
Second was "One Star" Texas style Beef BBQ, ribs as big as the ones you see on the Flintstones, the ones that turn the family truckster over in the introduction.
There was one we didn't visit, but only because it was in the roughest part of town. We drove by and decided that we'd just soon live as eat. It was that bad.
Am I the only reader who wonders about paragraph four? What do Michael Collins, killed in 1922 in the Irish Civil War; Napoleon, defeated by Wellington, and Rommel, defeated in WWII, have to do with George Washington?
May I tell a tale of Famous Dave? He of the Famous Dave's chain...I first saw it up in Hayward,Weeeesconsin,,,,as a matter of fact, that was one of those things that put the "WHEEEEEE" into the name of the state! My friend and neighbor at the time managed a truly impressive Game Farm, and hosted the Governor, T.Thompson,often. Well, it seems Sheriff Dave was quite famous in those parts, and in fact had quite a few industries in town; sport equipment rental,with videorental and parking, the local (and best)rifle calibration station (he did my shotguns,and I hardly ever missed!!), and then there was his restaurant....let me tell you, it is/was phenominal! It was close to the place they did the Lumber Jack Festival/Contest every year, has/had its own lakeside docks (4th of July there was AAaaaaMaaaZiiing)and in the main diningroom, there were antler chandelieres bigger than volkswagens...and the food....OH MY! it was incredable! (I say was, because I've not been back since my last trip with Pinky on that July 4th we went to Tom's Burned out bar on Madeline Island)...we tried many of thesmaller franchise Dave's, in a lot of the surrounding areas, but- - it seems to have lost something in the translation....sadly. Carole and I almost applied to Dave,himself,as official tasters,roaming the country in the RoadYacht and reporting back to the training team if we found too much salt.(a common fault,we found) but alas, it was not to be....*sigh* Anyway, Dave's does use quality ingredients, that would be Sheriff Dave's influence.
Vkerr ~ It troubled me also until I read the article again and the first
paragraph more carefully. Washington triumphed in a contest to determine the
greatest military commander to face the British, not necessarily the greatest commander to
defeat those roguish gents (meaning the British of course).
@vkerr~ don't worry about it, enjoy the ride. I'm in Wales UK and you called by just the right time for lamb chops on the BBQ - you will need warm outdoor clothing.
Lynn******I beg to differ with you about Kansas City. It is well known as a bbq mecca.....just 'cuz it has a steak named for it doesn't mean that's all there is...............
Carol ~ I agree, especially if you can find some of the older establishments with the well seasoned cookers. Many years ago I attended a BBQ festival or something akin to a festival or cook off in Kansas City. I think every restaurant and bbq joint in the city was represented. As Miss Bebe would say....MMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmm
Here are my cookout recipes...for cooking indoors... http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/condiments/heze28099s-pulled-pork-dry-rub/
http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/condiments/north-carolina-style-pig-juice/
http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/main-courses/perfect-oven-roasted-pulled-pork/
I've got to cook everything inside now because I don't have a smoker or a firepit and the grill almost last as long as our marriage before rusting out and falling apart, yes I know there's a metaphor in there.
If you like vinegar then you'll love the pig juice. No one I know who makes it will share a full recipe but I've gotten enough of the different ingredients from different people who make it, that I just cobbled together my own by trial and error.
Here are two of my favorite blogs about outdoor cooking. The Camp Chef stoves and products are made here in the valley I live in and they make really great stuff.
http://www.campchef.com/blog/
http://www.patiodaddiobbq.com/
Carol ~
A basket of Arthur Bryant's burnt ends and a cold beer, or two, is a hard combo to beat… anywhere. "Can we get some more napkins over here?"
It happens to be dumping rain right now and I have to go get ready for a friend's wedding. There will be no BBQing today, good day for soup and rolls that we'll be serving at the reception tonight, I swear this friend is psychic.
Stoney~ Wha are 'burnt ends'? Sounds great but I never heard the term.
I do believe that I have tasted the universes' ultimate BBQ at least fifty times ................in fifty different places.,.........'cos just like so many great pleasures in life, it can happen anywhere, at any moment.
It is influenced by how you feel, who you are with, and just being in the moment and savoring it.
I think that the less noise being made about having the best BBQ, the more likely it is that it is a true contender.
BBQ is like living....the best is yet to come, and may be around the next corner.....
Besides.....the only taste buds I trust are mine.
Peace out
I was not aware that Washington's diaries were in print, either abridged or unabridged. Had I known, I would have obtained a copy. There is still time. I wanted to read Franklin's autobiography, but that section of the library is arranged alphabetically by author and I couldn't recall who wrote it.
Perhaps I should have said the books in that section of the library are arranged alphabetically by author....just to clarify a point for those of you old enough to have dined with Ben Franklin.
Dear paolos, thank you, thank you for clarifying about Washington's "defeat" in the contest. I should have read the opening more carefully.I'm not the "@vkerr" who seemed to respond to you from Wales.
VKERR Yes you were-that was HAZEL welcoming you here as am I.
HELLO TO JANE!! I thought you fell into Alice's wonderland or something, so glad to see you didn't.
About BBQ: chefdeb, is this the topic you first commented on here on the Eye? I remember you from BBQ for some reason...are you a winning Best BBQ titlest? - or am I thinking about someone else?
The first BBQ of the year -- like the first watermelon, or the first bite of corn on the cob -- is the best BBQ I ever had.
conversly~ the first mozquito bite is often the wurst....(still thinking about BBQ)
One of the greatest joys of childhood was being messy. I remember wearing cut off jeans no shirt so shoes and having a picnic where the bbq rib juice was all over my face and chest and then diving into the watermelon and the slurp would be dripping from my chin and then being told to go rinse off with the garden hose and sometimes someone would bring one of those water slides and we would go head first and we would slide even faster if you gooed on some of my sis' baby oil/iodine mix. The sound of laughter fills my "haid" when I think of how much more was less. It is worth millions to me to mentally feel my mom scoop me up and goose me until I cackled. Joni was right. You don't know whatcha got til it's gone. BBQ is so much more than good grinds.
Aroma or, if you are on the other side of I-80, smay'll, because it gets to you before you get out of the car.
Then, freshness and appearance: followed by taste and texture… all important considerations with barbecue, BBQ or anything else come to that.
Never permit the great to be the enemy of the real good; the local to defeat the distant; the old fashioned the new.
Wear a smile, be patient. Surround yourself with congenial company, friends and, if you are particularly blessed (and I am) the love of your life… the best enhancer of every meal.
George Hall ~
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1644,128182-250194,00.html
You'd enjoy.
Thanks, Stoney! This sounds fabulous!! Here in the south, at most BBQ places woirth their salt, you can get 'outside sliced' pork which is as the name suggests the outsde smoked porion which is the poor man's version of the burnt ends, I'd guess.
Paolos~ Could the author's namebe in the "F"s? Just trying to be helpful it being an autobiography and all.
I remember the Dewey Decimal System. Would thst count?
PARK4--I think my first comment was about Northern Exposure. BBQ is not in my repetoire--not to say I don't grill things--but not what we're talking about here. I won a prize for apple pie though! But you must be thinking about someone else (although its nice to be thought of at all!).
Nachista~ Is the picture on your Peterman's site a picture of you?? (somebody calla fire department!)
Chef Deb, so it wasn't you. Well. I wonder who that faux-chef was...You got a prize for apple pie? I love that, that you got a prize for pie. It seems appropriate. And if I were a jealous person I'd be envious because I can't make a pie crust if my life depended on it. You are my HERO chefdeb. And by the way, you're thought of OFTEN. And then some.
George Hall: I liked the Dewey Decimal System. I did volunteer work at our local library to "red-do" their card catalog, which back then involved a lot of handprinting on the catalog cards. I liked it. Tedious but it kept track of beloved books and that was important to me. In this new world and age, I'm doing similar volunteer work, transcribing books and lately, historical information from old papers and documents so that they can be indexed and digitalized. I love it. I hate to see these things lost, and there's no way to get them on the computer without the tedious transcription. .... None of it is as comforting as a real wood card catalog in a library, but as they said and sang, 'get off the new road if you can't lend a hand for the times they are a'changin'..." So I transcribe....
Good on you, Park4!
Good on you, Park4!
Thank you George Hall, twice. ;)
bebe!!!!...I was pretty sure you'd be posting today....it has been a while for me, though I did post late on the 13th. Your scrumptious description has me drooling...not a good thing to do over a keyboard .... to borrow a phrase from you ....mmmmmmmm. I settled for a French Dip today...good, but not the same thing at all as BBQ. ...and I've had delicious BBQ in Mississippi and Arkansas. I also love N.C.'s vinegary sauce for a change of taste..
I think a number of you have said it better than I could..that BBQ is just good no matter where....and I especially like the way you put it PL.
Lotlot...I agree and find BBQ to be the "spelling" that says it all.
Park4, helloooooo...that's me from the hole. I've just been so busy that if I have time to read the Eye posts, I'm too tired to say anything....either that or I just have nothing to add, but it's always good to see everyone's comments. Yours are some of my faves, as you have a wonderful way with words.
RY, your posts make me smile, if not laugh....Paolo, you always get my attention.....whether you're being funny or serious. Nachista, I've saved the NC sauce and pulled pork recipes and found a few more on the page that I saved. Thanks for those links. Now I'm really hungry!!!
JANE, JANE, JANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hey chickletta! You are correct, PL said it perfectly........wherever you are, that BBQ is the best! Hope you get to relax tonight.......................so nice to see you.
OT.....................is there anyone on tv who is creepier than Eliot Spitzer??????????????????????
I want some BBQ....................mmmmmmmmmmmm............................................
Come year end, we’re gonna miss him. Good night all, good night Mr. Clark.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geTO-ezljd8
STONEY, I love your pronunciation of "smell"; you could be quoting me!
Like cornbread (and other ingredients) dressing (NOT stuffing), barbecue is distinctly personal and regional. Even in my one state, where I hear identify five different speech patterns, and can usually tell where you live, barbecue differs.
Sconyers' Barbecue here made a big hit when Jimmy Carter was in office because Carter had barbecues catered by Mr. Sconyers (once our mayor), especially when entertaining guests from abroad. And Sconyers does typify "our" barbecue, wherein the unfortunate pig cooks slowly, watched, all night. The best offering at Sconyers is pork tenderloin -- everything else is too huge (for me). Our sauce is more mustardy than sweet; in fact, never sweet, as you find in Texas, say. Wherever you eat it, it's accompanied by iced tea (sweet), pickles, potato salad, and coleslaw. Occasionally hush puppies, but at most bbq places like Sconyers', they simply put several loaves of plain white bread on every table.
So you pays yer money and takes yer cherces, as they say; it will differ in small ways...over the river in SOuth Carolina, between here and Charleston, there's a "Sconyers' equivalent"
Called Edmunds Barbecue." Popularized by employees at the Savannah River Site of E. I Dupont de Nemours Company, nearby, whose ads remind us they 'saved us from the Cold War,' they create nuclear fuel; they also eat lunch, though, and Edmunds BBQ is surrounded by cars Thursday-Saturday.
Their meat and hash are not unlike Sconyers': lean pork loin cooked overnight; they add green beans, corn, hush puppies, and coleslaw to the offering.
Funny how accustomed we become to 'our' barbecue: A friend who moved here from N>C.
had N.C. barbecue served at her wedding-rehearsal dinner. Her family brought it in cars.
She'll never know, but I so disliked the sauce, I couldn't enjoy the rest. And in N.C. a barbecue is a "pig-pullin.' I'm told everyone gathers around the fire and pulls off pieces of meat. Yet N.C. is but one state away from me.
So enormous is Texas, they may have countless recipes, but the only one I've eaten (prepared a serious Texan) wasn't pork to begin with -- they used beef. Which automatically alters the sauce. It was very unlike any barbecue I'd tasted, and IVAN, perhaps you'll tell us what it's called?
The absolute worst was in England, asnd you might well ask WHy in heaven's name order bbq there? We were so curious we had to try it once. Pass!
Really! Made me want to go find some Beechnut Spearmint gum......
Is it easy to dance to? Does it have a good beat? I never really watched Bandstand, but I did like Dick Clark. How could you not like Dick Clark, he was one of the most likeable public people I can think of...he seemed to really love the life he was living. He was blessed, deservedly so. And we were lucky to have him while we did.
That refers to what I sooo remember from when I was about 12 yrs old and American Bandstand would come on the TVmachine, and I,as a plump young man (yes, clothes from the huskey section at Robert Hall's)would sing along with the theme song, and the Beechnut song, their one sponser I still remember.....and in my memories of Dick Clark, he never changed a bit....
How could I omit the ubquitous hash from Sconyers' menu? Everyone offers it. Not my favorite, but when spooned onto the rice always available, it rounds out the meal.
Long years ago in a cooking class I enjoyed, we made bbq from scratch, using a fresh pork tenderloin, but sauce from a place in Savannah -- now, I think it's 'imported' from there. It was some of the best I've eaten, bar none. Though our instructor had studied at COrdon Bleu and others in Europe of that ilk, she was equally gifted at down-home cooking. I took three classes, loved all. She fixed enough {of what we learned that day}for the whole class (and wore ankle-strap wedge shoes I'll bet she'd had since the first time they came 'round, and well she should: she had the ankles for them,) I just realized I naturally slipped in another Southerism: we "fix" supper, "fix" squash, "fix' COUNTRY-FRIND STEAK, "FIX" oops
most thing (but "make" a cake, a pie, most desserts. Not 'til I was grown did I hear people refer to "making" a turkey -- or any other food.
I'd never have noticed that, but for suddenly remembering what a wondrously wide swath the Village cuts, in terms of nationality and locale. Y'all uncomplainingly tolerate my speech idiosyncracies: a favorite of a friend from Boston is, asked if I can baby-sit tomorrow, I'd respond, "I might could; let me check." He so enjoys that, he uses it in his novels. I'd never noticed it in mine or anyone's speech 'til he pointed it out, used it, then thanked the two of us who gave it to him. Oh, dear, I've veered Off Topic...the end of that tale is comparing speech in his native Boston to that of SOutherners, he says Southerners demand music in their speech, while the often 2nd-ord generation adults at home use language dispassionately: As the shortest distance between two points. According to him, if you follow the (Local) speaker in her wanderings, stay with her 'til she returns to the main road, you'll learn several more stories along the way, and much more about the first (than in his hometown).
RY.......................you weren't plump, you were husky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GEORGIA...................my baby brother who lives in NC will be getting married in October & he told me that they will be having a pig pullin'. I was not quite sure of what that meant, but now I know thanks to you!
Jane, thank you for saying that.....when it comes to good food experiences we all express ourselves from the top shelf.
Be well
Welcome inkwench! And I agree 100 per cent that barbecue is never a verb -- though I constantly hear it used as such. Oh, well, we're a happy lenient group here.
Why, when I think of Dick Clark......do I remember girls in swirling poodle skirts? That was just a rhetorical question of course....
Dang, missed
Shad Planking!
well, PL~, offhand I'd say that you wouldn't want to remember boys in poodle skirts....
One of the boys from Philly today had the pork b^2Q sammich @ Bikinis in Charlotte and he liked the food and the southern hospitality.
BBQ sliders known as 3 little pigs with 3 different sauces is a different and satisfying twist especially finished off with a little mini pecan pie. 60
rings90 ~
In a dream last night, I watched from the mezzanine as you, tall and cool, calmly dangling a check between thumb and fingertip, completed a the sale of a bundle of books that were wrapped in heavy pin striped kraft paper and tied… with string.
The customer: tweedy, scarved and scholarly looked ecstatic and a young red-haired man stood poised to get the door.
No spider plant in the window, no raw wood or crates: a very professional and sophisticated place with rolling ladders, leather furniture, two thermal coffee containers, a brass bucket of ginger snaps and perfectly lit.
I know: not what you've been dreaming of but it looked and smelled like money.
Probably just a reflection of me thinking more of your abilities than you do… I'll try to hang around while you catch up.
Hey~~is that a stop on thesepia line? ...a destination, or merely a stop-over? and is there a smoking section for fine cigars?brandy?
RY ~
During jazz hour after closing? We should ask.
Dang, crickets..............bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I won my bet & get to buy a cherry vanilla cone after school......................
Hi All!
Here's another George that will make "Father George" satisfied and even smile. Sharing a tried and true recipe from our families favorite PBS Chef George Hirsch. He makes grilling look as easy as riding a bike.
This tastes as divine as the pictures look.
Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Honey Pork: http://ow.ly/anNbK
George that was a younger more carefree me...about 6 or 7 years ago, that is not my hair. Jane, happy eating! Rings, how come you're never here when I actually post? So did anyone actually have any BBQ yesterday?
Miss Nachista ~ I did, a Memphis pork plate in Georgia...and I had cake with it. MMmmmmmmmmmmm. Helllllooooo cakewitheverything.