barbecue diaries

I was out at the Albatross Bar last night, working on a super secret culture jamming program. At some point the topic of alcohol based social bonding was raised. What are the elements? Certainly, late night eating is one of them. Sure enough, we found ourselves ducking into Everette & Jones BBQ at 9:58, 2 minutes before closing.

Quality Barbecue is hard to find. The family owned and operated, brick oven places are few and far between. Everette & Jones provides a typical western US BBQ. Spice rubbed meat is slow-cooked at low heat in a large brick oven. This is a key distinction. Slow cooked meat is barbecue, fast cooked meat is grilled. Needless to say, BBQ doesn't lend itself to the 3-ring binder eateries so common from coast to coast. Meaning, just because Chili's offers baby back ribs, doesn't mean it's good barbecue.

Meanwhile, as today is the 4th of July, my landlady is using an entire city block's worth of carbon credits to get her grill going with lighter fluid. I wish I'd seen her setting up, so that I could close all the windows. The house smells like a toxic waste dump. At least the fumes will evaporate quickly.