I kept hearing about how "great" North Carolina BBQ was.
"Oh, you'll LOVE IT!" our neighbors gushed. "It's real southern BBQ!"
Apparently, this dumb northerner doesn't know BBQ from beans, because I thought BBQ meant that THERE WAS BARBECUE SAUCE INVOLVED SOMEWHERE!
Nope. Not in North Carolina!
We went to a locally known BBQ house to get take-out. I ordered just the BBQ beef. (I've had NC hush puppies and, as good as they taste going down, they're hell on the way out. Change your oil, anyone?)
So, I'm at the drive through window and I'm picking up my BBQ beef. The big white bag is passed out the window, and I roll happily out of the parking lot, thinking... "Mmmm, I can just taste that tangy sauce..."
Again... NOPE. Not in NC.
I get home and open the two styrofoam containers and there's this shredded grey meat stuff inside! Covered with vinegar sauce! EEK! Did I order the 'Catfood Surprise' instead?
Nope. This is what you get in NC when you order BBQ.
Not one iota of red, smokey sauce will ever be seen within the boundaries of the state of NC. It's all beef cooked/marinated in a vinegar broth. Here I was, dreaming of KC-style tangy tomato sauce with long slabs of meat.... and I get picklemeat. It was spicy in a sour way and of course Thing1 and Thing2 didn't like it at all. I wasn't thrilled with the taste myself. USMCMan immediately moved on to PB&J (in the interest of saving his intestinal tract) and so I am now stuck with two pounds of meow mix. What to do? Mail it to AirportMan and XCircMan? ("Honey, PLEASE!")
Please compare the photos. NC BBQ on left--Kansas City BBQ on right. Which do you prefer? Why? Am I just overly biased to KC cookin'?
3 comments:
Have to both agree and disagree with your choice of BBQ. That NC Meow Mix looks mighty nasty! But, I don't care for my ribs soaking in tomato-based sauce either. I love those tasty Memphis/St. Louis style dry rub ribs. Grew up on ribs cooked in the oven swimming in sauce and then I moved to Missouri and found out about dry rub ribs slow cooked in smokers and there is no comparison.
There really isn't any good place to get fine BBQ in J'Ville, NC. I've heard rumors about places out in the hinterlands of NC, but that would involve an EXPEDITION, not a quick jaunt to the local BBQ take-out. Why, oh why can't I find any good BBQ? I do enjoy tomato sauce, and I agree with Monchichi, the dry rub is yummy! I'll just have to admit defeat when offered the vinegar version. Thanks, but no.
Sorry, I have no frame of reference for ANY of this, being the SoCal girl that I am!
Post a Comment