Newsjeff
05-29-2005, 09:49 PM
I just love the North Carolina Barbecue debate. I lived outside of Winston-Salem for about five years. Then I went to college at ECU. After school, I lived on the OBX for about a year until I got a job in Virginia.
I've been to some of the best BBQ restaurants in North Carolina - both in the Western and Eastern parts of the state. I've even been to the Barbecue Festival in Lexington.
There is only one type of N.C. BBQ.
EASTERN.
Give me the vinager and the hot sauce over the tomato paste any day. Throw in some slaw and some hush puppies ... Oh, yeah, baby.
Do you have a favorite BBQ restaurant? I'd love to hear it.
I like both Parker's and B's, both in Greenville.
B's might have it by a hair???
=================================
BC-NC--Barbecue Debate, Bjt,830
Children's civics lesson fires up age-old debate over N.C. 'cue
Eds: Also moved in advance on South wire for weekend use
AP Photos of May 26: NCLEX601-602; NCLH601-602
By MARTHA WAGGONER
Associated Press Writer
ARCADIA, N.C. (AP) -- Fourth-graders in this west-central North Carolina town had expected to get a civics lesson when they suggested to lawmakers that the Lexington Barbecue Festival be named the state's official food festival.
Instead, they got a lesson in the fierce intrastate rivalry over barbecue that pits west vs. east, tomato vs. vinegar and whole shoulder against whole pig.
"I didn't know so many people would be asking questions and wanting to know how I feel about it," said 10-year-old Kaylyn Vaughan. "You have to realize it is a very big deal."
And a mistake, said Bob Garner, author of the book "North Carolina Barbecue," which doesn't take a stand on which version of barbecue is supreme.
"The whole story of barbecue in North Carolina is about these two distinct styles and this fun, family argument that we just refuse to get rid of," Garner said. "People love to argue about this. ... You've got this east vs. Piedmont kind of deal and to try to set up one as the official thing just flies in the face of that."
While Texas generally unites behind beef brisket, Kansas City has its slathered ribs and South Carolina holds dear to its mustard-sauced pork, North Carolinians are content to argue among themselves about their two distinct barbecue styles.
Western, also known as Lexington or Piedmont, is made from the shoulder of the hog and has a red, tomato-based sauce. Eastern style takes seriously an old North Carolina adage -- "We use every part of the pig except the squeal" -- and uses a vinegar-based sauce.
The argument about which is best has waged forever, although Garner said eastern-style came first. The state's tourism division even conducted an online poll in 2002. Thousands of votes were cast, with eastern winning by a snout, although the head of the Lexington visitors bureau demanded a recount.
The pupils of Friedberg Elementary School fired up the fight innocently enough in February when they decided to undertake a civics project. They could have studied the state tree, the state bird or the state fish. They chose food.
They wrote letters to lawmakers asking that the one-day Lexington event, one of Travel & Leisure magazine's Top 10 food festivals, be named the "state food festival."
But when the bills were filed, they mistakenly called for Lexington's event to become the "state barbecue festival."
The damage was done.
"Remind lawmakers that while our humble pig may not get the publicity Lexington gathers from the lying Yankee press, we still put on a pretty good show," columnist Dennis Rogers, a protector of eastern-style, wrote in The News & Observer of Raleigh.
The High Point Enterprise defended the western style, calling it barbecue from "a lean, filet of pork shoulder in Lexington, not all of Old McDonald's pig."
From there, the students' lesson became one of politics. A House committee recommended the festival receive the state designation last month, but the bill ended up in another committee. In the Senate, the bill has been stuck in committee since it was filed.
"I don't really expect that the bill will be heard," said one of its sponsors, Sen. Stan Bingham, a Republican from the Lexington style's home turf of Davidson County.
Bingham denies the bill was meant to say Lexington-style barbecue tastes better than eastern style. "It's just indicating that 150,000 people come to Lexington for the festival," he said, somewhat unconvincingly.
That's what the Friedberg children say as well. And they manage to say it without an arched eyebrow in the bunch.
"I wish we could all get along," said 10-year-old James Lumley.
Then he gets down and dirty.
"I know that we all think western is better than eastern," he said, pointing around the table at three friends, "and I think western is better."
Garner gives the nod to western-style barbecue on two counts: its aficionados have done a better job of sticking to pit-cooked barbecue than their eastern counterparts, who have no comparable barbecue festival, although Newport in coastal Carteret County does put on an event each year.
But Garner believes it is heresy to pass a bill that essentially gives western-style the imprimatur of being the best.
"I just think it would be a shame to set up either eastern or Lexington as the official thing when it's all about the friendly debate."
------
On the Net:
Lexington festival: http://www.barbecuefestival.com
Friedberg Elementary School: http://www.davidson.k12.nc.us/friedberg
Bob Garner's books: http://www.blairpub.com
North Carolina Legislature: http://www.ncga.state.nc.us
End ADV for May 28-29
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
APTV-05-29-05 0943EDT
I've been to some of the best BBQ restaurants in North Carolina - both in the Western and Eastern parts of the state. I've even been to the Barbecue Festival in Lexington.
There is only one type of N.C. BBQ.
EASTERN.
Give me the vinager and the hot sauce over the tomato paste any day. Throw in some slaw and some hush puppies ... Oh, yeah, baby.
Do you have a favorite BBQ restaurant? I'd love to hear it.
I like both Parker's and B's, both in Greenville.
B's might have it by a hair???
=================================
BC-NC--Barbecue Debate, Bjt,830
Children's civics lesson fires up age-old debate over N.C. 'cue
Eds: Also moved in advance on South wire for weekend use
AP Photos of May 26: NCLEX601-602; NCLH601-602
By MARTHA WAGGONER
Associated Press Writer
ARCADIA, N.C. (AP) -- Fourth-graders in this west-central North Carolina town had expected to get a civics lesson when they suggested to lawmakers that the Lexington Barbecue Festival be named the state's official food festival.
Instead, they got a lesson in the fierce intrastate rivalry over barbecue that pits west vs. east, tomato vs. vinegar and whole shoulder against whole pig.
"I didn't know so many people would be asking questions and wanting to know how I feel about it," said 10-year-old Kaylyn Vaughan. "You have to realize it is a very big deal."
And a mistake, said Bob Garner, author of the book "North Carolina Barbecue," which doesn't take a stand on which version of barbecue is supreme.
"The whole story of barbecue in North Carolina is about these two distinct styles and this fun, family argument that we just refuse to get rid of," Garner said. "People love to argue about this. ... You've got this east vs. Piedmont kind of deal and to try to set up one as the official thing just flies in the face of that."
While Texas generally unites behind beef brisket, Kansas City has its slathered ribs and South Carolina holds dear to its mustard-sauced pork, North Carolinians are content to argue among themselves about their two distinct barbecue styles.
Western, also known as Lexington or Piedmont, is made from the shoulder of the hog and has a red, tomato-based sauce. Eastern style takes seriously an old North Carolina adage -- "We use every part of the pig except the squeal" -- and uses a vinegar-based sauce.
The argument about which is best has waged forever, although Garner said eastern-style came first. The state's tourism division even conducted an online poll in 2002. Thousands of votes were cast, with eastern winning by a snout, although the head of the Lexington visitors bureau demanded a recount.
The pupils of Friedberg Elementary School fired up the fight innocently enough in February when they decided to undertake a civics project. They could have studied the state tree, the state bird or the state fish. They chose food.
They wrote letters to lawmakers asking that the one-day Lexington event, one of Travel & Leisure magazine's Top 10 food festivals, be named the "state food festival."
But when the bills were filed, they mistakenly called for Lexington's event to become the "state barbecue festival."
The damage was done.
"Remind lawmakers that while our humble pig may not get the publicity Lexington gathers from the lying Yankee press, we still put on a pretty good show," columnist Dennis Rogers, a protector of eastern-style, wrote in The News & Observer of Raleigh.
The High Point Enterprise defended the western style, calling it barbecue from "a lean, filet of pork shoulder in Lexington, not all of Old McDonald's pig."
From there, the students' lesson became one of politics. A House committee recommended the festival receive the state designation last month, but the bill ended up in another committee. In the Senate, the bill has been stuck in committee since it was filed.
"I don't really expect that the bill will be heard," said one of its sponsors, Sen. Stan Bingham, a Republican from the Lexington style's home turf of Davidson County.
Bingham denies the bill was meant to say Lexington-style barbecue tastes better than eastern style. "It's just indicating that 150,000 people come to Lexington for the festival," he said, somewhat unconvincingly.
That's what the Friedberg children say as well. And they manage to say it without an arched eyebrow in the bunch.
"I wish we could all get along," said 10-year-old James Lumley.
Then he gets down and dirty.
"I know that we all think western is better than eastern," he said, pointing around the table at three friends, "and I think western is better."
Garner gives the nod to western-style barbecue on two counts: its aficionados have done a better job of sticking to pit-cooked barbecue than their eastern counterparts, who have no comparable barbecue festival, although Newport in coastal Carteret County does put on an event each year.
But Garner believes it is heresy to pass a bill that essentially gives western-style the imprimatur of being the best.
"I just think it would be a shame to set up either eastern or Lexington as the official thing when it's all about the friendly debate."
------
On the Net:
Lexington festival: http://www.barbecuefestival.com
Friedberg Elementary School: http://www.davidson.k12.nc.us/friedberg
Bob Garner's books: http://www.blairpub.com
North Carolina Legislature: http://www.ncga.state.nc.us
End ADV for May 28-29
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
APTV-05-29-05 0943EDT