The Cooking Gene

The Wilber’s Barbecue pits have officially been refired

This is how it’s done 🔥

We shovel coals all night, every half hour, for about 12 hours, while the pig cooks, low & slow, over oak embers #pitcooked #bbqpit #bbq #ncbbq #wilbersbbq pic.twitter.com/I4Oc7hjPRA
— Wilbers Barbecue (@wilbersbbq) June 6, 2020

Congrats to Desiree Robinson of Cozy Corner Restaurant, 2020 BBQ Hall of Fame Inductee and the first African-American woman to be honored with that distinction

Honoring 2020 @AmericanRoyal BBQ Hall of Fame Inductee Desiree Robinson, a Memphis Barbecue Legend https://t.co/IxhCaH17vQ
— Robert F. Moss (@mossr) June 10, 2020

Backyard Barbecue Pit is a black-owned restaurant to support in the Triangle of NC

Readers have been asking for a list of Triangle area black owned businesses. We've started one https://t.co/DOsxjpFqab
— WRAL OutandAbout (@WRALOutandAbout) June 3, 2020

Black-owned barbecue restaurants that ship overnight nationwide: Bludso’s BBQ, Interstate Barbecue, The Bar-B-Q Shop (sauces)

Jones Bar-B-Q is among this list of black owned businesses to support

30 Black-Owned Food and Drink Businesses to Support Now, and Always https://t.co/qa3c3aMfvA
— Esquire Food (@ESQFood) June 8, 2020

Greg Gatlin of Gatlin’s BBQ in Houston spoke with Rien Fertel in this oral history for Foodways Texas in 2013

Check out our conversation with Greg Gatlin owner of Houston's @GatlinsBBQ. He talks about the early days of Gatlin's, its roots in his family's traditions, Houston barbecue, and much more. https://t.co/OvnOnx2ZdJ pic.twitter.com/pp6rx0MMkx
— Foodways Texas (@foodwaysTX) June 8, 2020

Helen Turner of Helen’s Bar-B-Que was interviewed by the Southern Foodways in 2012

“The Cooking Gene” by Michael Twitty has been on my list and I need to get around to it

.@KosherSoul's memoir, "The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South," explores the issue of race in Southern cuisine through his own ancestry. Learn more about the book and where you can purchase it. https://t.co/9e26QlSeQq
— Serious Eats (@seriouseats) June 9, 2020

Derrick Walker’s of Smoke-A-Holics BBQ in Fort Worth is one of four pitmasters to help the backyard smoker

Four Texas pitmasters share their tips on backyard barbecuing, which really isn't all that different from the meat smoking they do day in and day out, give or take a few pounds. https://t.co/qry1Po0YRQ
— Texas Monthly (@TexasMonthly) June 8, 2020

Lolis Eric Elie remembers David McAtee

https://twitter.com/soulphoodie/status/1270381270804168707

We follow barbecue from West Africa to the American South to the south side of Chicago, with help from culinary historian Michael Twitty (@KosherSoul), a pitmaster in Chicago, and @pang of @thetakeout, all in this week's podcast: https://t.co/dfR2gYJzOY pic.twitter.com/4feYRbCANJ
— Dan Pashman (@TheSporkful) December 11, 2018

Food writer Michael Twitty, writer behind The Cooking Gene, explores the origins of barbecue with Sporkful host Dan Pashman.

“They call [BBQ] suya in West Africa,” Michael says. “Suya, dibi, and piri piri are all little parts of what we would consider the barbecuing system in the [American] south.”

Then, in a kind of part 2 from last week’s podcast from Gravy, Pashman heads to the south side of Chicago to explore how that barbecue tradition migrated during the Great Migration out of the American South in the mid 1900’s. There, he speaks with Gary Kennebrew of Uncle John’s BBQ, who still identifies as being southern.

In fact, Garry is originally from Alabama, and he moved to Chicago with his family, when he was nine.
“Alabama will always be my home,” Garry says. “[But] I have grown to like Chicago.”

For more on the Sporkful, check out their previous episodes here. We previously featured a podcast from them on a pitmaster from Centerville, TN who moonlights as a preacher on Sundays.

Barbecue Bros

Barbecue Travels in NC & Beyond

Linkdown: 6/10/20

Friday Find: Tracing Barbecue from West Africa to Chicago’s South Side on the Sporkful podcast

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