Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2019-06-24)

70 Itusedtobesimple.Atleastthat’swhatfoodTVand
culinarymagazineswouldhavehadyoubelieveaboutbar-
becue.Witha fewsimplesteps(5!4!3!),youcouldprepare
best-everribs,chicken,pulledpork,andsoon.
NotthatAmericanshaven’talwaystakenbarbecueseri-
ously.Thedebateovertomatovs.vinegarintheuniverseof
sauces(essentiallyMemphisvs.theCarolinas)is decadesold
andworthyofa Netflixminiseries.Meanwhile,thevaunted
titleof“pitmaster”hasbeenaroundfor 80 years,according
toexpertJohnEdge.Butthetruecraftwassomethingfew
triedtomasterintheirhomekitchen.
Thissummer,a handfulofcookbooksrevelinthetime
andeffortthatgoesintoachievingauthenticbarbecue.
They’retheoppositeofthefast,all-purposevolumesof
yore.Thesebooksarethestorytelling,podcastversions
ofcooking;theyhappilydevoteentirechapterstowhat
woodtochoose.
InWholeHogBBQ(TenSpeedPress,$30),SamJones
focusesononeparticularrecipe:theoneinthetitle.Jones
is a third-generationNorthCarolinabarbecuemaster,whose
familystartedtheJamesBeardFoundationAward-winning
SkylightInn.“Cookinga wholehogdoesn’thavetobethat
complicated,”heandco-authorDanielVaughnwrite.“It’s
a longprocess,butwitha pickuptruckandtherightguid-
ance,youcouldbeservingonetomorrow.”
It takesabout 16 hourstocooka 180-poundpigthatfeeds
around100.( Jonesfactorsintimeforcookstogeta little
sleep.)Heincludesdiagramsforbuildinga cinderblockpit,
butforthosewhoaren’tinclinedtowranglea preppedpig
intothepitandthenfigureouthowtoturnit overaround PIG:

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CRITIC BloombergPursuits June24, 2019

hour 6, there are recipes from his restaurant Sam Jones BBQ,

including pork spare ribs that are brined overnight, rubbed

with spices, and smoked, which you can then augment with

collard greens, pimento cheese, and other fixings.

Steven Raichlen, author of more than 30 cookbooks and

the poster boy for the basics of cooking over fire, takes on

the hottest trend in barbecue with The Brisket Chronicles

(Workman Publishing, $20). He tells readers to wait out

one of the frustrating secrets of the meat-of-the-moment:

the “stall” that occurs a few hours into cooking when the

temperature refuses to budge. (It’s the result of evaporat-

ing moisture, which cools the meat.) His recipes run the

gamut from burnt ends with smoky barbecue sauce to spice-

crusted “old school” pastrami, which calls for a curing salt

to get that pink interior and requires 12 days of brining and

around 10 hours of cooking.

Paula Disbrowe’s Thank You for Smoking (Ten Speed

Press, $30) encourages cooks to add the alluring flavor of

smoke to every ingredient in their kitchen, offering intri-

cate instructions for smoking pantry items such as spices

and garlic. She dedicates considerable space to doing the

same for beans and vegetables. (Another giant trend this

year: green, or meatless, grilling.)

Even the more conventional Southern Smoke, by chef

Matthew Register (Harvard Common Press, $25), still advo-

cates the low-and-slow approach for dishes such as Smoked

Boston Butt. He also advises readers to go deep on the

details and to buy a notebook to record thoughts on wood

and even weather. After all, you’ll have plenty of time to

think while cooking a 12-hour pastrami. 

The best new cookbooks argue that this fine Southern

art requires commitment and complexity. By Kate Krader

Real Barbecue Ain’t Easy

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