The only thing that may be more quintessentially
American than barbecue is a road trip. Combining their interest in both,
author, Lolis Eric Elie, and photographer, Frank Stewart, packed camera
gear, pad and pencil, then jumped into an old Volvo and went in search
of barbecue. Traveling through the regions known for barbecue, they
made note of the sights -rodeos, a neon pig in top hat with a twirling
cane- and the sounds -a lot of gospel singing- that so loudly proclaim
'American." While Stewart's camera clicked, Elie interviewed the
wide range of people devoted to barbecue - the ones who make it, serve
it, or just plain thrive on it. They profile devotees throughout the
south, attend an all-night barbecue in Chicago and join the search for
the perfect snoot sandwich in East St. Louis.
When you hit the open road, you automatically
become an armchair anthropologist. Rather than interpret the characters
encountered on their travels, Elie he lets them speak for themselves.
There is Quess, met at the Memphis in May barbecue competition, who
says, "...times are tough. What can we do to entertain ourselves?
There're only two things we can do. We can sit on our buns at home or
we go out in the backyard." There is Rich Tuttle, saying, "It'll
cost me thirty dollars to come to a barbecue contest and I can bring
my wife, my four kids, and we can spend thirty hours together."
Both are speaking from the heart of American. Both statements are resonant
with the history of a land that was once poor and that survived a depression.
The photos peppering the book speak of that world sometimes in its setting
and sometimes in the etched faces caught in close-up
Barbecue people are folksy and like to share.
They generously offered Elie opinions, tips, and some fine recipes.
There are fifty mouthwatering recipes for meats, sauces, and side dishes,
collected from Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, the Carolinas, Kansas and
as far north as Chicago. They give us an overview of how and why we
love our barbecue.
Elie has kindly shared these recipes for
you to sample:
Lolis Eric
Elie is a columnist for
the Times-Picayune. He lives in New Orleans. Frank
Stewart is the photographer of Wynton Marsalis's Sweet
Swing: Blues on the Road. He lives;in New York.
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