Dana Bowen reminisces about her early introduction to regional differences in North Carolina barbecue.
An examination of the two different styles and sauces of North Carolina barbecue by Dana Bowen from the June 2011 “BBQ Nation” edition of Saveur Magazine.
Last night on the Colbert Report, South Carolina native Stephen Colbert continues his beef with North Carolina’s barbecue, aka that “sauceless, vinegar-based meat product”
Not only does he fire shots at NC barbecue (again), he also gets a dig in at Charlotte. Strike 2, Stephen.
Watch Stephen Colbert Hate on North Carolina Barbecue (Again)
But sauces and slaws aside, it’s the distinctive smoky flavor in that meat that draws people to old-school North Carolina barbecue. And that flavor comes from pit cooking. At the pit at one of the most popular destinations in town, simply called Lexington Barbecue, the cooking process starts at 6 a.m., just like it did 50 years ago when it opened.
The wood fire heats up to around 2,000 degrees. Then, the coals are shoveled out and spread under racks of dozens of pork shoulders. As the meat cooks, its juices and fats drip down onto the coals, creating that smoky flavor. Then it’s chopped up and served to customers….a LOT of customers.
Manager Rick Monk says, “I serve between six and eight thousand people a week, and I’m closed on Sunday…so we stay busy.”
WFAE reporter (and friend of the blog) Duncan McFadyen along with fellow WFAE reporter Marshall Terry file a report on Lexington Barbecue.
-Monk
Of course, even food cooked on a gas grill gives off aromas — all food does. But food grilled over a charcoal flame has a special one: guaiacol.Guaiacol is an aroma compound produced when you use heat to break down lignin, the resin responsible for holding strands of cellulose together to form wood. “It has a smoky, spicy, bacony aroma,” says Sacks. “In fact, the flavor that most people associate with bacon is largely degraded lignin.”
Translation: Cooking over charcoal makes your food taste like bacon. Let me repeat that: blah blah charcoal blah blah BACON.
Bacon? Case closed. (via)
-Monk
Grilling Over Charcoal Is Objectively, Scientifically Better Than Grilling Over Gas