PrintPig Appetizer before The Big 'Cue Fest
In pig eating training for the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, I ordered the porchetta panino at Il Buco 
at lunch yesterday. Just unbelievably deliciouso! Succulent, oh so tasty, and supremely porky.
Tomorrow the Block Party begins. The weather looks like it is going to hold up this year. The lines are long unless you buy the Bubba pass for $125 or get there really early, but it's still a really great hang and the 'cue is sublime.
Do not miss Big Bob Gibson's pulled pork sandwich. Pitmaster Chris Lilly will be there shredding his fabulous pork shoulder with his gloved hands. That's a sight in itself, but wait until you dig into the sandwich.
Chris Lilly photo courtesy of the Gothamist
And of course you cannot leave the fest without sampling Mike Mills' incomparable baby back ribs and Ed Mitchell's whole pig plate.
Pig photo courtesy of the Gothamist.
The barbecue seminars are being held at ICE (50 W. 23rd St.) this year. I am going to be moderating a panel Sunday at 3 p.m. on Making Peace with Barbecue: A Conversation about Food and Culture in the Jewish South. I'm not from the South, but I've eaten a lot of great food south of the Mason Dixon Line, and I'm Jewish and crazy about 'cue, so taken all together, I figure I'm legit enough to moderate this panel. Jack Hitt, Marcie Cohen Ferris, Bill Ferris, and Eli Evans round out the panel, and those are some seriously smart folks. Should be some good jawin' before or after digging into some serious 'cue.
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4 Comments:
Here in central NC, the surest sign of summer isn't the smell of gardenias or temperatures in the 90's. It's spotting those black refurbished oil barrels trundling along down back roads behind battered pickup trucks. How did such an authentic Southern rig wind up on the Upper West Side? I can almost smell the smoke!
TarHeel at 8:54AM on 06/12/06
so Ed, how WAS the 'Q' festival?? i am from the South, would never wait in line for anything , so have not gone to the festival due to the crowds.
oddly, the festival seems to be incredibly popular, which 1 would assume, would allow manhattan to support a real honest-to-goodness "real" southern bbq joint. however the 'Q' places in NYC are either phony (daisy mae's, rub), serve below average bbq (brother jimmy's), or serve fairly mediocre bbq at way over-priced venues (blue smoke). the problem is 'northerners can't really tell the difference, but as usual "think" they can. southerners so desperate (like me) need the 'Q' fix, if not able to fly 'home' for the real stuff, so "we" put up with the mediocre.
it never ceases to amaze me the chasm between "those who know, & those who don't, but proclaim they know"; it is what it is, so be it; c'est la vie
baruch at 7:57PM on 06/13/06
Hey, a lot of us really DO know the difference.
The reason there's no "real" 'cue in Manhattan isn't a lack of demand, it's the difficulty/legality of operating a serious pit in a crowded urban setting. Danny Meyer spent $$$$$ on smoke-scrubbing equipment for Blue Smoke, and Ken Callaghan has knocked himself out learning how to produce a good product with the gear he's got.
Of course it's not going to match what Ed Mitchell or Chris Lilly turn out! Or, she said modestly, what I can do on my little backyard smoker without the city looking over my shoulder. ;-}
Cathy at 9:53AM on 06/14/06
Speaking of Ed Mitchell, here he is on Saturday...
[1]
And here's his hawg...
[2]
Cathy at 11:27AM on 06/14/06