Dallas Food - Thank You for Smoking (Notes from eastern North Carolina)

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Thank You for Smoking (Notes from eastern North Carolina)
Posted on Thursday, September 10 @ 12:06:54 PDT
Topic: Non-DallasFood

A recent business trip to North Carolina left just enough time for a little barbecue. On to the food...

Allen & Son Bar-B-Q. 6203 Millhouse Rd., Chapel Hill, NC.

Ordered the barbecue plate: chopped pork (shoulders only, with eastern style sauce), coleslaw, and hushpuppies. Pork very tender, but not mushy. Good mix of outside brown. Moist, but not oversauced; not too fastidious about picking out fat (a good thing). Slightly peppery, quite smoky, very moreish. Coleslaw crisp, tangy, mayo-based. Smallish hushpuppies, crisp, somewhat sweet, white cornmeal. Not a thing in the world to complain about, except whiny Coldplay on the stereo. Deservedly a barbecue destination, if this is representative.

B's Barbecue. N.C. 43 and B's Barbecue Rd., Greenville, NC.

(YouTube video of the pits at B's.)

Ordered a barbecue plate: chopped pork (whole hog, with eastern style sauce), coleslaw, boiled potatoes, and corn sticks. Pork hand-chopped, not too finely; terrific texture, firm, but tender; little smoke detectable (cooked over charcoal). Just enough sauce to keep leaner bits moist; slight flavoring from vinegar, salt, and chile, but remaining in background behind pork. (Little noticeable fat or skin in the mix.) Potatoes boiled to near mushiness; served in slightly peppery, sweet liquid. Mayo-based coleslaw overdressed, soupy, and losing crispness. Crispy, crunchy corn sticks more texture than flavor, but good enough. The pork is the star here. Brilliant stuff, well worth the drive.

Skylight Inn. 4617 Lee St., Ayden, NC.

(YouTube video of James Howell chopping barbecue at Skylight Inn.)

Ordered a small barbecue tray: chopped pork (whole hog, with eastern style sauce), coleslaw, and cornpone. Pork hand-chopped finely. Not overcooked, but tender. Lightly smoky and somewhat dry, but with good flavor and scattered chewy and crispy bits of skin. Coleslaw appeared to be mayo-based with mustard; pulverized, mushy, and soupy. Cornpone dense and heavy, nicely crispy at edges. Sides are forgettable, but the pork was very good (especially with a little extra sauce to moisten the dry patches).

Bum's Restaurant. 115 East Third St., Ayden, NC.

Ordered a barbecue plate: chopped pork (whole hog, with eastern style sauce), coleslaw, collard greens, and cornpone. Pork coarsely chopped by hand (leaving big chunks). Texture slightly mushy. Coarse chopping left parts less integrated = textural variation between cuts. Plenty of skin and fat left in (a good thing). Little smoke detectable. Liberally sauced (more noticeable because of the softness of the meat), with vinegar-heavy eastern style sauce (with pepper and salt barely detectable). Slaw very finely chopped, crisp, lightly dressed (mayo), and slightly tangy. (One of the better slaws on the trip.) Outstanding collard greens, finely chopped, well-seasoned, but not at all overcooked. (Ayden is the "Collard Capitol of the US." This visit was at the peak of the season, a week before the annual Collard Festival.) Dense, heavy cornpone. Apart from the slight overcooking and oversaucing (to my taste), pork was terrific (bonus points for the textural contrasts), as were the slaw and collards.

Grady's. Arrington Bridge Rd. and Sleepy Creek Rd., Dudley, NC.

Ordered a barbecue plate: chopped pork (whole hog, with eastern style sauce), coleslaw, boiled potatoes, and hushpuppies. Pork coarsely chopped by hand (with big chunks) and slightly overcooked (though not flat out mushy). Meat seasoned with eastern style sauce with heavy chile component (making it by far the spiciest barbecue of this trip). Pork dotted with small bits of mahogany, crisp (almost candied) skin. Potatoes boiled with light seasoning (perhaps no more than salt). Mayo-based slaw coarsely chopped, lightly dressed, with pickle bits. Small, elongated hushpuppies fried to golden brown. Almost didn't make it here, but very glad I made the extra effort. Another winner in eastern North Carolina.

Wilber's Barbecue. Hwy. 70 East, Goldsboro, NC.

Ordered a barbecue tray: chopped pork (whole hog with added shoulders, with eastern style sauce), coleslaw, and hushpuppies. Pork coarsely chopped by hand, with generous mix of reddish outside brown (more chewy than crisp). Light smoke, tender meat (on the verge of mushiness in places), well seasoned with eastern style sauce, though spicier than most. Picked through to eliminate a lot of fat (why?!). Finely chopped slaw (base of mayo, perhaps with a little mustard), crisp. Thin, curved hushpuppies, golden brown and freshly fried (too hot to eat at first). Another eastern NC joint that lives up to its reputation.

Clyde Cooper's Barbeque. 109 East Davie St., Raleigh, NC.

Ordered a barbecue tray: chopped pork (shoulders and hams, with eastern style sauce), coleslaw, hushpuppies, and skins. (Garner implies that Cooper's no longer uses wood/charcoal only, if at all.) Pork finely chopped, almost ground; mushy texture from overcooking and heavy hand with sauce. No smoke to speak of; eastern style sauce heavy on the chile (ala Wilber's). Finely-chopped slaw with mayo, a little heavily dressed (soupy, but still crisp). Thin, curved hushpuppies, golden brown, but soft/chewy from not being cooked to order (in late afternoon). Crunchy rectangles of fried skin. Not a fan of pork, when it's overcooked, over-sauced, and over-chopped into baby food. Good enough to eat, but a far cry from the better eastern style establishments.

The Pit. 328 West Davie St., Raleigh, NC.

Ordered a barbecue plate: chopped pork (whole hog, with eastern style sauce), coleslaw, baked beans, hushpuppies, and biscuit. Pork was finely chopped (with scattered larger chunks), extremely lean, and bone dry--so dry it had a cottony sponginess. No fatty bits; small flecks of skin were neither crisp nor smoky. Slightly spicy eastern style sauce, though not enough of it to moisten the meat. A bottle of eastern style sauce was provided on the table, along with a bottle of Lexington style dip (because a restaurant like this wants to please everyone more than it wants to be true to anything). Oniony hushpuppies were dense and chewy, having been pre-fried some time ago (among the worst of the trip). Biscuit was also pre-baked and dry.

Coleslaw was sliced and coarsely chopped, with purple cabbage mixed in (for added value and visual flair!), allowing all of the mayo-based dressing to pool up at the bottom of the cup. No comment on the beans.

Barbecue should not have split ends.

Moral: Fear gentrified barbecue. Never in history has anyone taken barbecue upscale without compromising on the quality of the barbecue itself. Ed Mitchell has a compelling life story; but from the second I had to push the salt and pepper shakers (and candle!) to the far side of the two-top to make room for an oversized wine and craft beer list, I knew the experience would be informed by the "concept" of big city suits, not by the tradition that guided Mitchell's in Wilson, NC. I've read enough about The Pit to realize my reaction puts me in a minority. Maybe I caught The Pit on a bad day (and every other eastern North Carolina barbecue joint on a good day). But it's the only day they'll get from me, given the wealth of traditional barbecue in North Carolina.

Parker's Barbecue. 2514 US Highway 301 S., Wilson, NC.

Ordered a "small" barbecue plate: chopped pork (whole hog, with eastern style sauce), coleslaw, corn sticks, and hushpuppies. Generous portion of finely chopped pork, with no detectable smoke (Garner says they use charcoal and finish with gas to crisp the skin), flecked with small bits of chewy skin. Very lean and dry (nearly as dry as The Pit), but sauced to compensate. Minced (but crisp), mustard-based coleslaw. Corn sticks and thin, curved hushpuppies pre-fried (perhaps because of off hour). Not on par with the better eastern NC joints, if this is representative.

Bill's Barbecue. 6607 Downing St., Wilson, NC.

(YouTube video of the buffet at Bill's.)

Buffet only: chopped pork (whole hog, with eastern style sauce), whole hog, chicken (fried, barbecued, and baked), coleslaw, hushpuppies, corn sticks, collards, boiled potatoes, candied yams, green beans, mashed potatoes, and more. Pork not chopped too finely; sauce compensating for slight dryness. Flecks of skin (slightly chewy), but no detectable smoke flavor. Buffet included a whole hog presentation for picking; moisture level varying by cut. Fried skins and fatback (!) in bins. Minced, mustard-based slaw. Hushpuppies and corn sticks pre-cooked and suffering for it. Nothing superlative on its own (except for the fried fatback), but an impressive spread for under $10, with the added uniqueness of the "pick your own" presentation in a restaurant setting.