Monk: It seems like The Carolina Foodie‘s been on the move constantly throughout western NC for the past six months. In this video he visits Alston Bridges Barbecue in Shelby where, anecdotally, a lot of locals eat. That is certainly the case for my Shelby friends. At Alston Bridges, he eats with three friends and really enjoys the hush puppies and barbecue.
I’ve been accused on focusing primarily on the other Bridges, which admittedly is fair, so I plan to re-visit Alston Bridges Barbecue which I’ve only visited once over 10 years ago.
Description: Great chopped pork barbecue plate at Alston Bridges Barbecue in Shelby, NC!
Not that we’re anywhere close to being qualified enough to evaluate books but more so as a public service announcement we will periodically discuss barbecue and barbecue-related books.
Monk: In the early 2000’s, a decade or so before the barbecue boom of the 2010’s, Lolis Eric Elie, wrote a hybrid barbecue/great American road trip/recipe book. Subtitled “Adventures in the Heart of Barbecue Country,” Smokestack Lightning is named after a song by the blues legend Howlin’ Wolf and was released in 2005. It was initially inspired by Elie’s travels with the Wynton Marsalis band where they would always seek out good barbecue while on tour. More specifically, it was inspired by a stop in Wilson, NC where they tasted barbecue and ribs from Bill’s Barbecue. That taste of barbecue sparked this book documenting an epic barbecue odyssey.
Smokestack Lightning is a wandering travelogue through some specific barbecue cities or regions, sometimes with a plan but oftentimes just whatever Elie and his photographer/partner-in-crime Frank Stewart stumble into (the chapter on Chicago in particular) in their vehicle, a Volvo wagon they dubbed the “Living Legend.”
Not only do they explore the restaurants of barbecue hotbeds in Tennessee, Chicago, Texas, Kansas City, and the Carolinas, Elie and Stewart also take a dip into the competition scene at Memphis in May and the Big Pig Jig in Vienna, Georgia. Along the way, they document both the food they taste and the people they meet as sorts of cultural anthropologists. Stewart photographs are sprinkled throughout the book, and while I appreciate the beauty of black and white photography, I can’t help but wish the book was printed in color.
On their travels, Elie and Stewart find a lot of mediocre-to-bad barbecue but there are one or two bright spots everywhere they go that are adhering to the old ways of barbecue smoked over wood – Vera’s Backyard Barbecue in Brownsville, TX, Black’s Barbecue in Lockhart, TX, Lexington Barbecue in Lexington, NC, Cozy Corner in Memphis, to name a few.
Lolis Eric Elie has recently dipped back into the barbecue book world, co-writing Rodney Scott’s barbecue book “Rodney Scott’s World of BBQ” which was released in 2021. I’d love to see him do a sequel to Smokestack Lightning now to see how much the barbecue world has changed 20 years later, for better and for worse. Regardless, “Smokestack Lightning: Adventures in Barbecue Country” is a worthy documentation of the time before America’s barbecue explosion that was to come.
Smokestack Lightning: Adventures in Barbecue Country is available new and used on Amazon
Monk: Tuffy Stone’s started to become really active on his YouTube channel as of earlier this year, and one of his latest videos features a recap of his time at this year’s Memphis in May. Jess Pryles, Moe Cason, Carey Bringle, Melissa Cookston, and more make appearances in the montage while Heath Riles, Chris Lilly, Brook and Brad Orrison, Big Moe Cason, and the recently-retired Melissa Cookston give more in-depth interviews and sprinkle in a few tips on their process. A really well-done video.
Description: Memphis in May is a special event that brings together some of the very best in the world of barbecue. This year was a busy one for us and while my team did not get the results we were cooking for, we were thrilled to see some of our friends take the stage.
Monk: Queen City Nerve goes deep on the roots of the newly opened Firehawk Brewpub in Mount Holly. While I haven’t made it out there myself (and couldn’t make the media opening due to family commitments), I do plan to make the trip very soon. After reading this article about the barbecue restaurant/fish camp/brewery, I’m even more excited.
With their opening along the banks of Dutchman's Creek in Mount Holly two weeks ago, Firehawk Brewpub is a space that looks to prioritize community, workers … and damn good beer, barbecue and fish camp. https://t.co/nDbmfjj63s
Dana Hanson is a Meat Scientist at NC State and runs their annual barbecue camp, modeled after Texas A&M
There’s no shortage of barbecue experts in North Carolina, but only one hosts the NC State BBQ Camp. That’s Dana Hanson, an NC State Extension meat science specialist who humbly refers to himself as “the meat guy.” https://t.co/SkYWURvY4g
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