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Kent -
I went back to your website today - just cruising around - and read your review of the barbeque at the Skylight Inn in Ayden, NC. (i.e. Pete Jone's place). I must say that my opinion of the q at The Skylight Inn differs from your taste. I rate the bbq at the Skylight Inn as the 'mecca of eastern NC barbeque'. [There are some things about The Skylight Inn that I do not like - for example, you have to pay for each time you fill your sweet tea cup - refills on tea at a bbq joint should be free and I drink a lot of sweet tea.] Obviously you have your own 'heritage' about eastern NC barbeque - but to me the 'ultimate' of this product is (1) cooked with wood - and has enough wood flavor for me to taste, (2) includes the 'whole hog' - thus has pieces of skin in the product, but not too much of this, (3) is of a consistency which is 'moist' - not dry but not 'greasy', and finally (4) tastes like pork - with enough of the vinegar/hot pepper sause to compliment the pork flavor but not so much as to overpower the pork (and some pigs are tastier than other pigs). I visited The Skylight Inn about 8 months after Pete Jones died and I arrived at exactly the correct time of day. Just as I parked my truck the 'pit cook' was coming out of the pit (finished his shift for the day) and I had a long conversation and a trip into the pit area with him. This cook indicated that he has been the head pit cook for many years - while Pete Jones ran The Skylight - and he intends to continue to do the pig cooking for many years to come (so I was much reassured that there is and will be no change in the cooking of the pigs at The Skylight Inn). This cook really knows what he is doing and what he wants to do in cooking the barbeque. [By the way, finding someone who is willing to 'put up with the hard work and the hours required to cook barbeque with real wood in real wood pits' is the major challenge to a continuation of this North Carolina tradition. This is the major concern for the owners I know who still insist on continuing the tradition. I have even suggested that perhaps they can train some Latinos - and this suggestion has not been totally rejected. After all, some of these folks are familiar with the Texas tradition of pit cooking beef barbeque.] By the way, if someone really loves barbeque and is a real 'tightwad' - like me - a real bargain can be found at The Skylight Inn. Provided you arrive at The Skylight early in the day, at about the time they are opening - or slightly before - you can purchase for a very reasonable price 'a bag of bones'. These are the bones from which the meat has been cut (and there is plenty of meat left - at least on the bones in my bag). [There is an old saying, "The nearer the bone - the sweeter the meat" and my experience indicates that this is a true saying.] There is usually a line for this bargain - the 'locals' are not uninformed. For most Eastern NC barbeque I do not really even 'rate' the slaw - but some slaw is better than others - because I really prefer 'barbeque slaw' (sometimes called 'red slaw') found in the area of Lexington, NC. [my son was taught to make barbeque slaw by his uncle - Mr. Richard Whisnant - a native of Lexington, NC. This is a real 'skill' and you have to roll your sleeves up above your elbows and 'get into the slaw' with your arms up to your elbows. A fact that few people seem to be aware of is that for Lexington barbeque the 'hot stuff' is in the slaw - not in the sauce applied to the meat as it is chopped. (A very famous owner/cook/supervisor of preparation of Lexington style barbeque says, "You have to be a fool to actually put sauce on the shoulder while it is cooking, it will burn every time" . This cook is correct about that, so any flavoring sauce is added when the meat is cut.)] I have been told many times by various barbeque restaurant owners that 'no one can really tell the difference when the barbeque is cooked by wood or gas or electric' and I'm positive that they believe that statement. For me, they are wrong. I can taste the wood smoke flavor - and I can taste when they simply "add some wood after the meat is cooked' to 'give the smoky flavor'". By the way, for my taste, the very best "barbeque pork ribs" in North Carolina are found at Alston Bridges Barbeque in Shelby, NC. Again, these are cooked - completely cooked - with wood in wood-fired pits. They are not always 'falling off the bone tender' - you need to have teeth and you need to be willing to 'gnaw' the meat off the ribs to get the full rib effect - and to get the sauce all over your hands and face (a handy clean restroom with soap and plenty of paper towels is almost a necessity after eating good ribs). [Many folks have disagreed with me about these ribs because they really prefer 'not to have to gnaw' but my opinion has not changed. I will always 'go to the trouble' for the great taste. My brother-in-law disagreed with me - primarily because he just did not like to chew - or maybe he did not have a lot of teeth.] Alston Bridges learned to cook with wood in pits from the early experts in Lexington, NC. Leon Neal Please send all comments to my private email address at: leon@hkentcraig.com |
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