From the BBQ is NOT a Verb files…
I recognize that I’ve been on the wrong coast too long, because I occasionally catch myself saying stuff like, “what are ya’ll gonna barbecue tonight?”
That’s blasphemy where I come from, and I know it damned well. But then, I’m living here in this blasphemous state (or so my family keeps telling me), so I guess it’s to be expected that my poor mind and habits have been corrupted.
Of course I always rush right away and wash out my mouth with soap… or if soap isn’t handy, I’ll find a strong cleansing concoction containing grain alcohol instead. (Appropriate penance can only be done at 90 proof or better.) Then I have to repeat the mantra, like a sinner repeating, “Hail, Mary”.
“Barbecue (or BBQ) is not a verb. It’s a noun. It’s not beef. It’s not a grill or stove. It’s not sauce. It’s pork, dammit… slow-smoked over wood coals!”
But the longer I live here, the more I slip toward the darkness.
That’s why I was glad to see this article in the Wilmington Morning Star, the daily paper in my old, NC hometown. It’s about a camp that’s being run to pass along the knowledge of real, pit-cooked North Carolina BBQ. Sounds like I may need to make a field trip in October (next adult classes will be held Oct 8-10 in Corolla, NC)! The BBQ Boot Camp is being put on by that scholar of barbecue, Jim Early, whose NC Barbecue Society was established with the following mission:
The mission of the North Carolina Barbecue Society (NCBS) is to preserve North Carolina’s barbecue history and culture and to secure North Carolina’s rightful place as the Barbecue Capital of the World. Our goal is to promote North Carolina as “the Cradle of ’Cue” and embrace all that is good about barbecue worldwide. As we strive to achieve these lofty goals we will be guided by the polar star that barbecue is all about good food, good friends and good times.
At the very least, I can rest assured that someone is making sure the tradition and the magic that is NC barbecue will live on, even as more of the native sons move away to the pagan hinterlands where people refer to beef, fish, and ohmygod, chicken as “barbecue“… not to mention where the unwashed heathens insist that simply cooking outside is “barbecuing“. 
And lord knows, they need to spread the word fast too! Even in this bastion of great cuisine and knowledgeable foodies, San Francisco, they’ve lost touch with the smoky truth. Today’s online edition of the SF Chronicle carries an article referring to a trend toward ”pulled pork” sandwiches in many “barbecue spots“. I’m sorry folks, but those right there are BARBECUE SANDWICHES, and they’re served at grills, diners, or sandwich shops. To the best of my knowledge, there’s not a Real Barbecue Spot in a 100 mile radius of San Francisco.
If there was, I’d have smelled it and I’d be there right now, waiting for them to open the doors for an early lunch. (There actually was a place right up the road in the little town of Niles, but they had to close down when the building they were in was condemned due for asbestos content. They also served “Texas-style” with beef and sticky red sauce, but I forgave them for that.)
Dang… I guess I know what’ll be on the menu when I get back to NC for the archery deer season next month!
Actually, I believe this is not an issue of right or wrong, but rather a matter of regional identification and interpretation. It may seem “right” to those in the south that BBQ=pork. It’s true that barbecue’s genesis in the States had to do primarily with pork. But I grew up overseas and the usage in different parts of the world is as legitimate, particularly when you consider that the origin of the word is probably Caribbean — describing not the meat but the apparatus. And that grilling apparatus probably wasn’t used to roast pig but most likely meat like goat.
August 20th, 2009 at 11:19 am
Noun all the way…although, when it comes down to it, if it tastes good, I’ll call it what ever you want.
Phillip, what county are you going to be in for the archery season opener? I’m down in Onslow Co. and can’t wait for Sept 12!
August 20th, 2009 at 11:31 am
Aha! I sense a challenge!
OK, not really. It’s all in fun, and thanks, Valerie, for chiming in. And of course, if you’re gonna hold my feet to the linguistic fire, you’re right on.
The word has been in use for quite some time, and has come to signify many things… not the least of which stems from a probable source, “barbacoa”, which was a method used by the Caribbean natives of cooking meat wrapped in banana leaves and buried in a pit (similar to the Hawaiian/Polynesian methods). The meat, often goat or pig, was called “boucan”, hence the pirates who often hid out in the Caribbean islands were called “boucaniers” (boucan-eaters)or later, buccaneers.
Or so goes one plausible linguistic theory (as best I remember it… it has been a while since I seriously looked this stuff up).
But all that stuff aside, as any true Southerner, I’ll stick to my guns. Barbecue is pork. Slow smoked over wood.
Surrender, hell!
August 20th, 2009 at 11:31 am
Right on, Carolina Rig! I have yet to turn down California “bbq”, even when it’s chicken.
I’ll be in either New Hanover or Pender County for the opener. We’ll either be hunting my mom’s place in Castle Hayne, or my brother’s little place in Rocky Point. He’s got another piece of property up near Holly Ridge, but since I’ll be combining the visit with seeing family, we’ll likely stay close to home.
August 20th, 2009 at 11:36 am
I gotcha…small world! I’ve got permission on a couple farms in Duplin and Pender Counties, but I’m going to stick with a permit hunt on public land just up the road for bow season. Unfortunately I’ll be out of town for most of bow season, but that just means I’ll have to make up for it during gun season.
Keep your eye’s peeled for piggies…the population is scattered but expanding very quickly. I’ll stick to SC when I want a pork fix, but I bet in a few years time I’ll be able to head out to any creek in the area and find sign.
August 20th, 2009 at 11:49 am
CR, I’m always on the lookout for fresh pork. They killed a couple in Hampstead last year, not too far at all from my brother’s place. The dog guys put a pretty quick smack-down on them whenever they turn up around there, but the signs definitely suggest they’re on the upsurge.
Bears seem to be coming back strong too.
August 20th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Phil,
North Carolina has found sufficient basis to secede from the Union!
August 21st, 2009 at 8:09 am
We did that once, Beast. Didn’t work out so hot.
Now we’re dead set on taking it over.
August 21st, 2009 at 8:34 am
I think it will succeed this time.
Remember, this is a “gut” issue. And I’m sure, the effect of this matter goes straight to the heart — and deadly by implication.
August 21st, 2009 at 9:38 am
All I know right now, is that, after reading this post, I’m hungry!
August 24th, 2009 at 7:32 am