Catalog Critic: When Pigs Fly --- Barbecue-by-Mail Is Sizzling, So We Probe the Pork; `3 Rednecks Over a Pit

• Published in: The Wall Street journal. Eastern edition
• Main Author: By Pooja Bhatia and Edward Felsenthal
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, N.Y Dow Jones & Company Inc 03.08.2001
• Edition: Eastern edition
• Subjects: Attitudes; Hogs; Mail order; Pork; Recipes; Restaurants; Vinegar
• ISSN: 0099-9660

This may not seem revolutionary for those who think barbecue means anything thrown on the grill. But the cuisine in its purest form -- slow-cooked in a brick pit -- is practically a religion in pockets of both North and South. Politicians from Bill Clinton to Newt Gingrich are legendary for going miles out of the way for a plate of pork, while the Rolling Stones have often parked their tour bus at the Rendezvous. And barbecue is fast expanding its reach, with big chains such as Applebee's and Chi-Chi's increasingly serving it up -- "even though that's not authentic stuff," sniffs Sam Edwards, co-owner of mail-order smokehouse Virginia Traditions. For expert counsel, we went to Memphis barbecue doyenne Emily Payne, who has been cooking pork shoulder for nearly 70 years, first in a backyard pit her grandma dug and now in a gas station she turned into a restaurant. For a Northern perspective, we brought in New Yorker Jeff Zupa, a veteran judge of barbecue contests. Further help, much of it unsolicited, came from a panel of hungry co-workers and friends. Since we couldn't convince FedEx to ship an entire restaurant, we focused on the meat. That was easier said than done with the pork from Maurice's Gourmet Barbecue, because the meat was overpowered by an attention-grabbing mustard sauce. "When they sauce it up like that, they're usually trying to hide something," explained Mr. Zupa. Still, our lay tasters mopped it up.