Monk: In this video from Munchies, Rodney Scott walks us through how to make chicken perloo with Carolina Gold Rice, one of the recipes from his recent book.
Description: Rodney Scott, award-winning pitmaster and author of “Rodney Scott’s World of BBQ: Every Day Is a Good Day: A Cookbook” is making a treasured dish known around the South: perloo made with smoked chicken. Perloo, a dish with roots in Africa that made its way to the US via Charleston, South Carolina, is a hearty one-pot meal that features Carolina Gold rice but is flexible enough to work with any ingredients on hand. Rodney’s recipe comes together in a Dutch oven with stewed tomatoes, chicken stock, celery, green peppers, and leftover smoked chicken. Check out the recipe here: https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkd5z…
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: Two of the most highly anticipated barbecue books of the year came out within a few weeks of each other, with “Rodney Scott’s World of BBQ” by Rodney Scott and Lolis Eric Elie coming out first on March 16 followed by Adrian Miller’s “Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue” on April 27.
The first half of Rodney’s book is all memoir, recounting his origins in tiny Hemingway, SC working at Scott’s Bar-B-Que the family barbecue restaurant and convenience store. The story of how he got from there to co-owning Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ in Charleston, Birmingham, and Atlanta (with two more Alabama locations planned just this year) is fairly well worn territory if you’ve heard an interview or watched Netflix’s “Chef’s Table: BBQ.” What’s not as familiar or well-known is Scott’s current family dynamic, particularly with his father Roosevelt “Rosie” Scott.
In sometimes painful detail, Scott and Elie describe how the breakdown of their relationship started with some mistrust as a result of Scott’s budding barbecue celebrity. Even though all of his work and travel was on behalf of the family business, false accusations and rumors began to circulate in their small town. And that ultimately led to a severing of his relationship with his father and Scott departing for Charleston and starting his budding barbecue restaurant empire. His current relationship with both his father and mother is nonexistent as of the writing of this book and the press tours he’s done this spring.
The book is written in Scott’s voice, which can surely be attributed to Elie’s help. Scott’s mantra is “Every Day is a Good Day” and that blue skies philosophy is clear when reading his writing. A cookbook written by Scott himself was surely a draw, but adding in an accomplished writer such as Elie only added to the appeal. Lolis wrote a seminal text in “Smokestack Lightning: Adventures in the Heart of Barbecue Country” back in 2005, a book that has been on my radar for quite some time.
The second half of the book is all recipes, starting with how to set up and smoke a whole hog on a cinder block pit in great detail (similar to what Sam Jones and Elliot Moss described in their respective books). From there, it’s all Scott’s menu and point of view, informed by his Pee Dee South Carolina origins.
While Adrian Miller’s “Black Smoke” traced the history and contributions of African Americans to barbecue’s history, Scott’s book actually makes some history of its own, being the first barbecue book by a black pitmaster/chef ever (think about that). “Rodney Scott’s World of BBQ” is a must read barbecue book that gives you just as much insight into the man behind the barbecue empire as well as his food.
Congrats to the first class of Kingsford Charcoal’s Preserve the Pit Fellowship. If you recall, the winners of this inaugural class will receive a “grant along with immersive training and one-on-one mentorship with industry leaders throughout 2021 to turn their business aspirations into a reality.” And it’s an impressive list of mentors from which they’ll get advice: Kevin Bludso, Dr. Howard Conyers, Devita Davison, Bryan Furman, Rashad Jones and Amy Mills. I look forward to seeing what happens for each of these fellows as a result of this direct mentorship. The winners ae:
Cory & Tarra Davis – Grand Rapids, Mich.: Owners of Daddy Pete’s BBQ since 2012, Cory and Tarra Davis have a passion for barbecue that they share with their friends, family and community. Through the fellowship, their goal is to build a stronger foundation for their business operations to ensure their restaurant continues to successfully operate beyond their generation.
Chef Shalamar Lane – Carson, Calif.: As the head chef and owner of My Father’s Barbeque, Shalamar brings southern hospitality to California by using delicious barbecue as a way to bring people together. As a result of the mentorship, she hopes to improve her management skills to further her business’ success and continue to teach her employees and community about the history of barbecue.
Ronald Simmons – Kenansville, N.C.: Ronald and his family own Master Blend Family Farms, LLC, which provides whole hogs and premium pork products to restaurants and private owned businesses in his community. They’ve hosted farm tours in collaboration with several local schools and hope to transition one of the farms, which has been in the family for over a century, into a farm school and develop a whole hog barbecue station to share their heritage of barbecue and create a path of opportunity for future generations.
And in more good news, the response to the initial call for fellows was so overwhelming that an additional 10 pitmasters were selected to receive a one-time $7,500 grant. Those winners are:
Newly drafted Chiefs WR Cornell Powell will remain an Eastern Carolina boy at heart: “All I’m going to say is that I haven’t been to Kansas City and had their barbecue yet but, I have North Carolina barbecue number 1 right now,” said Powell.
J.H. Rose alum Cornell Powell is headed to Kansas City. Newschannel12's @KCKennedy93 spoke with the newly drafted wide receiver about his journey to the NFL.https://t.co/bl7R0k5KMO
Our new sign will be going up very soon at our new forever home!! Today will be our last day at the Quickie Pickie location!! We can’t wait for this new chapter ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/dtc5spqPXd
RIP Scot Hudson of Hudson’s Hickory House BBQ of Douglasville, GA
More sad news tonight from Douglasville GA. Scot Hudson, of the wonderful Hudson's Hickory House #BBQ, was killed in an accident this morning. https://t.co/CZ4GKYC3FV
— Fire-Breathing Dimetrodon (@MarieLetsEat) May 3, 2021
This week marks the one year anniversary of the lockdown due to COVID-19. However, with the light at the end of the tunnel seemingly in sight (don’t let up now, though!), it’s fun to start thinking about all the things we used to take for granted that we will once again soon be able to do. Things like concerts, having a beer at the bar, lazily perusing the used section at a record store, and perhaps most pertinent, having huge parties centered around smoking and/or grilling.
In this article from Munchies, the author fantasizes about days to come and gives recommendations for smoking and grilling accessories to stock up in advance. He gets a quote from Daniel Vaughn of Texas Monthly (whom he mistakenly refers to as David) about how he plans to smoke a whole hog on cinderblocks in his backyard once its safe to do so and I couldn’t be more in. I have been itching to do it again after my first successful attempt Father’s Day 2019 and I’m now officially in planning mode for that to-be-determined day.
So let it be known: whole hog party at the Monk residence this Fall. Mark it down.
Packing your backyard with friends to scorch meat and shotgun beers is the only way to live. Here are the tools we're coveting for the days when we can grill-rage once more. https://t.co/H0pTew1SIs
Dream job alert: The website Seriously Smoked is looking to hire a “Head of Grillovation” who will be paid to test out "grills, smokers, and a variety of utensils in the comfort of your home" https://t.co/4XaDmHylBi
The BBQ Review visits Rodney Scott’s BBQ in Charleston
RODNEY SCOTT’S Charleston, SC-Inviting yet unassuming little spot with great service. The pulled pork is smoked “whole hog” and it all just works. Perfectly moist, full flavored, with Rodney’s Sauce-vinegar base with black pepper. THIS is destination BBQ (9.1) #BBQ#Charlestonpic.twitter.com/erRaREm7Ht
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