Hi, everyone --
I've already bored my family with my exultation on last weekend's Very First Smoke-a-thon, and I'm hoping you will be a sympathetic audience and give me the encouragement and applause I crave.
I'm an American expatriate living in Australia. Before that, I lived in DC and Maryland for 17 years, and I grew up in New Jersey. In other words, I knew next to nothing about barbecue for my whole childhood, and slowly became aware of it during my young adulthood in the DC area. Ten years ago (now all those who care to do the math know how old I am!) I moved MUCH farther south: to Australia.
While during my occasional trips back to the States I was able to have barbecue now and then, a few weeks ago I was overwhelmed by homesickness, and it took the form of a ferocious need to have real barbecue. Problem: I had never made it, ever. I did some net-research to find out how it was done. I planned my smoking strategy. I made the sauces and sides that I remembered from home (a freezer is a Good Thing). I stuck my neck out and invited 40 people to the house for Real, Home-Smoked, Home-Cooked Barbecue.
On the day before the event, I bought the meat (pork shoulder and beef rump, brisket being unavailable at the time) and started smoking. I did the best I could: hickory chips over charcoal briquettes in the Webercue (with one piece of meat going in the charmingly named "boot barby" -- a lidded hibachi-like arrangement so named because it is a barbecue device that can fit in the trunk of the car). The beautiful smoke perfumed the entire neighborhood, and nobody even called the firefighters!
Many hours later, the meat was tender, smoke-ring pink, juicy -- almost self-shredding. The next day I served up mountains of barbecue, rolls, baked beans, stewed apples, macaroni and cheese, red-beans-and-rice, cornbread, mashed sweet potatoes, salad....
NONE of the Australians there, and only one of the handful of Americans, had ever tasted real barbecue. It was a life-changing experience for them. They are still talking about it. "I've never had meat that tender -- it melted in my mouth!" "That was amazing! I never knew what Americans meant by 'barbecue'; now I know what the fuss was about." One of the Americans was from Seattle, and had "only ever been served tofu and lentils" at barbecues. Another *was* from the south, but married to a vegetarian, so she took the opportunity to consume enormous quantities of all three styles I made (Texas, KC, NC), and pronounced it all entirely authentic.
I'm so proud of myself! Not a bad result for the first time, eh?
Now, what to do for the next project? My husband and daughter both love smoked salmon. And there's jerk chicken, smoked turkey, yet more pork and beef -- so much food, so little time....
Eagerly,
Laura
I've already bored my family with my exultation on last weekend's Very First Smoke-a-thon, and I'm hoping you will be a sympathetic audience and give me the encouragement and applause I crave.
I'm an American expatriate living in Australia. Before that, I lived in DC and Maryland for 17 years, and I grew up in New Jersey. In other words, I knew next to nothing about barbecue for my whole childhood, and slowly became aware of it during my young adulthood in the DC area. Ten years ago (now all those who care to do the math know how old I am!) I moved MUCH farther south: to Australia.
While during my occasional trips back to the States I was able to have barbecue now and then, a few weeks ago I was overwhelmed by homesickness, and it took the form of a ferocious need to have real barbecue. Problem: I had never made it, ever. I did some net-research to find out how it was done. I planned my smoking strategy. I made the sauces and sides that I remembered from home (a freezer is a Good Thing). I stuck my neck out and invited 40 people to the house for Real, Home-Smoked, Home-Cooked Barbecue.
On the day before the event, I bought the meat (pork shoulder and beef rump, brisket being unavailable at the time) and started smoking. I did the best I could: hickory chips over charcoal briquettes in the Webercue (with one piece of meat going in the charmingly named "boot barby" -- a lidded hibachi-like arrangement so named because it is a barbecue device that can fit in the trunk of the car). The beautiful smoke perfumed the entire neighborhood, and nobody even called the firefighters!
Many hours later, the meat was tender, smoke-ring pink, juicy -- almost self-shredding. The next day I served up mountains of barbecue, rolls, baked beans, stewed apples, macaroni and cheese, red-beans-and-rice, cornbread, mashed sweet potatoes, salad....
NONE of the Australians there, and only one of the handful of Americans, had ever tasted real barbecue. It was a life-changing experience for them. They are still talking about it. "I've never had meat that tender -- it melted in my mouth!" "That was amazing! I never knew what Americans meant by 'barbecue'; now I know what the fuss was about." One of the Americans was from Seattle, and had "only ever been served tofu and lentils" at barbecues. Another *was* from the south, but married to a vegetarian, so she took the opportunity to consume enormous quantities of all three styles I made (Texas, KC, NC), and pronounced it all entirely authentic.
I'm so proud of myself! Not a bad result for the first time, eh?
Now, what to do for the next project? My husband and daughter both love smoked salmon. And there's jerk chicken, smoked turkey, yet more pork and beef -- so much food, so little time....
Eagerly,
Laura
