Browse by State
ALABAMA BBQ INTRODUCTION
by Jake York
It is only by cartography, law, and convention that Alabama
is a state. From within, it reads like a perverse anthology in which the
Appalachians give us a taste of the Carolinas, the Tennessee River guides
a northern influence, the pine barrens continue the work of Georgia, the
Black Belt gestures toward Mississippi, the coast combines Florida and
Mississippi, and the Wiregrass gives you a sense of another world entirely. Go to the Alabama Oral Histories»
MISSISSIPPI BBQ INTRODUCTION
by Tom Freeland
Mississippi barbecue has a few elements found in other states. The earliest extant commercial establishments such as Abe’s in Clarksdale are from the 1920s, when good roads and inexpensive cars catalyzed American automobile culture. Mississippi barbecue is ethnically diverse—Abe’s was and is Lebanese owned, and Old Timer’s in Richland has a Greek proprietor. Go to the Mississippi Oral Histories»
NORTH CAROLINA BBQ INTRODUCTION
By John Shelton Reed
When George Washington “went in to Alexandria to a Barbecue and stayed all Night,” as he wrote in his diary for May 27, 1769, he won eight shillings playing cards and probably ate meat from a whole hog, cooked for hours over hardwood coals, then chopped or “pulled.” By the early nineteenth century at the latest, a sauce of vinegar and cayenne pepper (originally West Indian) was being sprinkled on the finished product. This ur-barbecue can be found to this day in eastern North Carolina and the adjoining regions of South Carolina and Virginia, virtually unchanged. Go to the North Carolina Oral Histories»
TENNESSEE BBQ INTRODUCTION
by James R. Veteto and Ted Maclin
In 1923 Calvin Coolidge assumed the Presidency of the United States, Hank Williams was born in Alabama, and Thomas Jefferson “Bozo” Williams opened Bozo's Hot Pit Bar-B-Q in Mason, Tennessee. Many years later, in the 1980s, Bozo's the barbecue joint was engaged in a decade-long trademark battle with Bozo the Clown. The restaurant ultimately won, but only after the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court. Barbecue in Tennessee is serious business, with a long history that is intimately wrapped up in local identity and authenticity. Read the Tennessee Oral Histories»
TEXAS BBQ INTRODUCTION
by Robb Walsh
The pitmaster squints into the smoke as he opens the giant
steel door. From your place in line, you watch him fork and flip the juicy,
black beef briskets and sizzling pork loins. Your heart beats faster as
he opens a steel door to reveal a dozen sausage rings hissing and spitting
in the thick white cloud. Slowly, the sweet cloud of oak smoke makes its
way to you, carrying with it the aroma of peppery beef, bacon-crisp pork,
and juicy garlic sausage. Read the Texas Oral Histories»
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