‘Cue is the great sacrament of our people. No transubstantiation required. It are what we are.
--North Carolinians
Barbeque is a subject of intense interest and loyalties in North Carolina, a subject about which everyone thinks they’re right and that everyone else wouldn’t know a decent plate of ‘cue from a cue ball.
-- Dennis Rogers
The previous post encouraged culinary cheating -- a quicker, easier way to create traditional, complex dishes. An inappropriate term? Well, the language may be somewhat unrefined, but it’s accurate and the idea is solid. However you say it, it’s much better than gastronomic abstinence. Trying an easier version of a classic dish may not look or taste completely authentic, but it’ll still be delicious, and give a real sense of accomplishment. And, wishing hard won’t get you a pulled pork sandwich.
North Carolina BBQ is serious cuisine with well-guarded secrets and highly debated, detailed methods. The proper way means the whole pig, flavorful rubs, getting the wood to the perfect temperature, keeping the wood at the perfect temperature, gradually adding more ashed-over wood, spritzing down flare-ups, slowly cooking with indirect heat for hours & hours until the pork is so tender, it falls off the bone as the fork comes into proximity. Real North Carolina ‘cue is the South’s magnum opus. ‘Cueing a whole hog isn’t a beginner’s project, but with determination, and a few smaller projects under your belt, it can be done.
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