Monday, August 3, 2009
Battle BBQ (Round 4): Texas v. Georgia
It's been a while since our last round of Battle BBQ. This go-round, Georgia steps up to the plate. Can a state of peaches even begin to hold a candle to a state of beef and beer? Or can the home of the annual National BBQ Festival, the Big Pig Jig, and championship BBQ teams like Jack's Old South give the Lone Star State more than it can handle? Weigh in, folks.
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Considering, I've lived in both places, let me put forth my opinion...
Georgia knows how to do Pork. Their pork can compete with the big boys if not completely crush them. (however there are a few TX joints that will give the great peach state a run for their money.)
Texas owns Beef. There is no competition, therefore no need for an explanation!
over and out...Todd
Todd, I like you - but living in Atlanta for a year hardly qualifies for living in Georgia. With that said, I do agree that Georgia knows how to do pork. When we put beef on a grill...we call it steak, as it should be. There is nothing better on a hot summer day than a chipped pork BBQ sandwich. But for me there is so much more.
The sauce. The ketchup based sauces out of places like Fresh Air in Jackson, Fincher's in Macon, Old Clinton in Gray, Scott's in Cochran and Shug's in Eastman - there really is no comparison. The sauce is what makes the 'Que, in my opinion. BBQ sauces is like sweet tea in Georgia - everyone has a family recipe and you know who's recipe it is when you put it in your mouth. And the best thing is that Georgians know the perfect ratio of sauce to meat for the perfect sandwich - I don't recall every really "needing" to add sauce to a sandwich other than to make it literally finger licking good.
If you are in Georgia in November, head down to Vienna for the Big Pig Jig and see what I'm talking about...there is no better way to spend a weekend or make your tummy happy.
My mom called recently and said she'd just had some great brisket at a place in Hawkinsville - and we were both surprised that she was able to find it on a menu. MOOOOOve over Texas, we are coming for you!
But this Georgian is loyal, and I'll turn up brisket anywhere any day to get a good ole' BBQ sandwich. SEND ME ONE SHUG!
I didn’t even know Georgia had BBQ?
I have never had it, but I imagine it’s like their football team, over-hyped and over-rated with disappointing results.
Just like Georgia had to come to Texas to get its star quarterback, it should come to Texas to get BBQ tips. Pulled Pork smothered in sauce can’t be that difficult. (By the way, the Bible recommends not even eating pork, see Leviticus). The flavor of any meat can always be covered up in sauce. The trick to BBQ is having meat so full of flavor you don’t need sauce.
There is a reason only BBQers in Texas consistently serve brisket, it is the most difficult meat to cook well, and only Texans can do it.
If we were discussing shrimp and grits, Georgia would win hands down, but when it comes to BBQ, Texas remains on top.
Char's rallying her Georgia troops, folks! http://charlottehcoffee.blogspot.com/2009/08/i-need-some-help.html. Props to her for not shying away from what we all know is a futile fight. :-)
My wife is from Georgia and we go there once a year. She swears by the BBq there but I know it is just emotion and nostalgia driving here preference. In her mind, BBQ requires Brunswick stew...which is really funny to me that stew is considered a must have side for BBQ.
I have had some great pork in GA, but the best pork I've had is in Round Rock at Johnny T's.
Great pork is one thing...but Texas offers brisket, beef ribs, pork ribs, sausage, and virtually any other meat you can smoke. How is just plain old pulled pork, even if it's wonderful, going to stack up to that?
Also...sauce is bascially a requirement for Georgia cue (and the rest of the SE for that matter) but only optional for Texas cue.
TEXAS baby!
Casey summed it up perfectly with his comment 'sauce is a requirement for GA bbq, but merely an option for Texas bbq'!
I couldn't agree more. I don't really care for the sauce, the meat should be able to stand on it's own.
:)
This is somewhat a one sided post since I have not had the glorious experience of Texas BBQ other than in the Dallas airport (which I actually blogged about). However, I do live in Georgia and therefore may be able to contribute to the conversation.
It is true that Georgia does not offer the same variety as your Texas joints. Really the only thing here is the pork. Moreover, I had never even heard of Brunswick Stew until I moved to Georgia and still I don't really like it.
I guess I have not gotten out enough to the good ole joints the were mentioned in an earlier post. I have had BBQ from the original Shane's Rib Shack which is now a chain all over the country. I have a BBQ joint about two miles down from my house that I can smell if the wind is just right. I must say the sauce on those ribs or the pulled pork is mighty good.
However, when all is said and done, probably the best thing on the menu at most BBQ joints in Georgia is the peach cobbler with ice cream. Some places throw in blackberry cobbler or apple pie as well, but I don't think it is really fair to hold Georgia up to Texas when it comes to the main course.
Now if you were going to compare the ribs in Tuscaloosa, AL to those anywhere else, I might have to really get into the fray. Even though Dreamland gets all the press, Archibalds takes the proverbial cake hands down. Just the thought of standing in Mr. Archibald's back yard outside his four seat at a bar unpainted cinder-block hut makes me salivate like Pavlov's puppies.
Y'all are all wrong. The best BBQ comes from the upper midlands of SC - Hemingway and Kingstree to be precise. The pork is cooked whole hog for 14 or so hours - slow cooked and if done right there is no need for sauce. However, since we are talking BBQ and not simply grilling meat; we need to talk sauce. From the Midlands and East of there, the sauce is a red vinegar based sauce and CAN be distinguished by the family that makes it. To the West and slightly north into NC, the sauce is a yellow, mustard based sauce. While I prefer the red sauce over the yellow, they are both far superior to the thick "St. Louis" style sauces you Texans tend to use. Nasty and far too Molasses based sweet for this true BBQ officiando. So sugar up your beef and keep it in Texas. Pork belongs to the REAL south and the great States of SC, GA, and god forbid, NC.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/10/dining/10United.html?pagewanted=all
http://thescottsbbq.com/
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