Taste: Running the Barbecue Belt

When John Hiatt sings, in 1987’s “Memphis in the Meantime,” “At least we can get a decent meal / down at the Rendezvous,” he’s not referring to some toney French bistro at the far end of Beale Street. He’s talking barbecue, baby, specifically Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous, without question the most famous of Memphis’ many spectacular pork palaces, and arguably the best.

Which goes to show that, in addition to being a mean guitarist and songwriter, Hiatt knows his pig.

Whether he knows his barbecue, on the other hand, is another matter entirely. Because as much as the Rendezvous is home to some of the best tasting ribs in the southeast, purists question whether the Vergoses even cook authentic barbecue, since the ribmasters at the Memphis institution preside over, not a traditional wood-fired pit, but a charcoal grill. And they cook their ribs naked, adding the famous Rendezvous seasoning only after the pig is off the grill, eschewing sauce completely.

But as you’ll surely know if you’ve ever chowed down on brisket in Houston, pulled pork in Little Rock and ribs at the Rendezvous, there are almost as many approaches to barbecue as there are barbecuers. And every single one will be defended passionately by its adherents.

CONTROVERSY #1: FUEL

Whether you’re in Texas or North Carolina, the key to almost all barbecue is slow cooking. (One of the few exceptions being the Rendezvous, where Nick Vergos freely admits that they use “the fastest method we can, simply to be able to cook the 800 racks of ribs we serve nightly.”) Slow cooking means indirect heat, either from wood (most common) or gas (most controversial).

While few pit masters, professionals and self-styled experts alike, would ever admit to using gas to fuel their flames, Steven Raichlen, author of the Barbecue Bible cookbooks and host of PBS’ Barbecue University, notes that 68 percent of Americans prefer and use a gas grill. Of course, chances are that most of these folk are Flipping burgers rather than gently coaxing flavor from briskets or ribs, so let’s give the edge to wood and move along.

CONTROVERSY #2: MEAT

After fuel, the next issue is food, as in beef, pork or chicken.

With apologies to all the poultry lovers out there, fowl just doesn’t fly when it comes to barbecue. Sure, most barbecue joints will offer some sort of chicken, and a few will go as far as to list turkey or other birds on the menu, but those are just for the timid. Real barbecue, most will agree, is beef and pork, the former in Texas and the latter in Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas, and both in Kansas City.

CONTROVERSY #3: TECHNIQUE

Meat and fuel now decided, the remaining question concerns technique, and it’s here that things get the most contentious. Because for a fairly simple cooking style (spice it, smoke it, sauce it) barbecue has a whole lot of variations—from which cut of meat to use (brisket versus ribs, mostly) and when to rub on the spice (before or after cooking) to the sauce’s composition (tomato or mustard or vinegar base). Even whether to chop, slice or pull the meat after cooking becomes an issue in barbecue.

TRIAL BY FIRE

As is the case for most controversies gastronomic, the best way to figure things out is to try the variations yourself, and here—ironically—Northeasterners are at a bit of an advantage. Because there’s no real barbecue tradition above the North Carolina border, barbecue showcases like Boston’s Redbones and New York’s Blue Smoke offer a much wider variety of styles than you’ll ever see in the south. Just try to find Texas-style brisket at Durham, N.C.’s Bullock’s Bar-B-Cue or a slaw-topped pork sandwich at Angelo’s in Fort Worth, Texas. You never will, but you can get both at Syracuse, N.Y.’s Dinosaur Bar-B-Q. But at these northern establishments, you can only get an approximation of the regional styles, and as far as the experience goes, it’s not the same.

For a taste of the real deal you’ll need to run the barbecue belt, and loosen your own belt a few notches while doing so. Start in Texas, perhaps with the famously sauce-less beef brisket at Kreuz Market in Lockhart, before heading over to Little Rock, Ark., for a sliced-pork sandwich at the venerable Sim’s Barbecue. Next, a run north to Kansas City is in order for a pork-rib lunch at the legendary Arthur Bryant’s, followed by classic Memphis ribs back south at the Rendezvous. Finally, head east to North Carolina to experience what may be the fiercest rivalry in barbecue: the Eastern-N.C. style with seasoned vinegar sauce (as at Pete Jones’ Skylight Inn in Ayden), versus Western-N.C.-style barbecue, also served with a vinegar-based but slightly tomato-y sauce at Lexington Barbecue in Lexington.

After that, if the classics haven’t done you in, point your belly south to the next tier of barbecue states, making your way through South Carolina, where mustard-based sauces dominate, and Georgia and Alabama, where things start to redden and vinegar up again. Pause for a plate of barbecue shrimp at the Funky Butt in New Orleans—a dish that has nothing to do with traditional barbecue, but a whole lot to do with butter, spice and immense flavor—before starting it all over again back in Texas.

Then head home to embark on a vegetarian diet for the next month, secure in the knowledge that you have fully experienced what may well be the perfect American food.

FOLLOW THE SMOKE TO THE COUNTRY'S BEST 'CUE JOINTS

» Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous, 52 S. Second St., Memphis, Tenn.; 901.523.2746
» Blue Smoke, 116 E. 27th St., New York, N.Y.; 212.447.7733
» Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, 246 W. Willow St., Syracuse, N.Y.; 315.476.4937
» Bullock’s Bar B Cue, 3330 Quebec Dr., Durham, N.C.; 919.383.3211
» Angelo’s, 2533 White Settlement Rd., Fort Worth, Texas; 817.332.0357
» Kreuz Market, 619 N. Colorado St., Lockhart, Texas; 512.398.2361
» Sim’s Barbeque, 7601 Geyer Springs Rd., Little Rock, Ark.; 501.372.1148
» Arthur Bryant’s, 1727 Brooklyn Ave., Kansas City, Mo.; 816.231.1123
» Skylight Inn, 1501 S. Lee St., Ayden N.C.; 252.746.4113
» Lexington Barbecue, Hwy. 29-70 S., Lexington, N.C.; 336.249.9814
» Dreamland Bar-B-Que Ribs, 5535 15th Ave. E., Tuscaloosa, Ala.; 205.758.8135