Questions about Memphis Barbecue


 
M

Mac Mayhew

TVWBB Member
I heard someting recently about Memphis barbecue that surprised me a bit.

1) To people actually from the Memphis area, barbecue means pulled pork NOT Ribs. Ribs were something else.

2) Both ribs and pulled pork were traditionally cooked with lump charcoal ONLY -- no added wood smoke. Smoke wasn't added until the 1980s. Also they were both traditionally cooked with direct heat -- although the cookers had a pretty large area between the coals and the meat.

Can someone confirm all of this?
 
Interesting. Having been in Memphis last year on an eating tour, I think the pulled pork part may be a bit of a myth, as there are three rib joints there that are nationally famous, Corky's, Interstate BBQ, and Rendezvous. I ate at all three, and my favorite ribs were at Interstate, Corky's I found to be very salty, and the Rendezvous ones were good, just not as good as interstate. As for the PP, I ate a TON of it from Interstate, and it was good everytime.

As for the smoke wood portion, not sure on that one.
 
I'm from Jackson, TN...about an hour from Memphis.
1)Dunno how to answer that. Barbecue is meat cooked low and slow over coals. I guess if you ask me, "Wanna go out and get some barbecue?", I'd figure you meant pulled pork.
2) Traditionally...? How far back do you wanna go? DeSoto's men saw natives roasting turkey and venison over coals on a raised spit called a 'barbacoa'. On the plantations they dug a deep pit, rolled logs into it, set 'em on fire, waited till the fire died down and roasted hogs over the coals. We didn't start using smoke wood till somebody had a bunch of Hickory they wanted to get rid of.
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I'm talking more about when barbecue restaurants got started in the area.

I guess my main point was that it surprised me -- not being a native or someone that familiar with Memphis barbecue -- that wood was a fairly recent addition, and that barbecue, at least to the Memphis area natives, is pork shoulder first, NOT ribs. At least, that's what I heard.
 
I'm several hours from memphis and don't get to go as often as I'd like but the bbq that got me hooked had a strong memphis influence. To me, I can't imagine that bbq anywhere is "just" ribs. When I think of bbq I think shoulder and ribs. Ribs are great but you can't eat them everyday. The pulled pork sandwich is affordable enough to have frequently, make a lunch out of, be sold at concessions, etc. It has an accessibility that ribs don't have.

As far as wood/direct stuff. Who could say. BBQ places and employees come and go. To me smaller lesser known places like the bbq shop and cozy corner and the even lesser known neighborhood shacks really define the regional style more than anyone else.

Now all that said there is a bunch of great stuff out there on the history of southern food, including memphis bbq. Here some interviews with some popular memphis places http://www.southernfoodways.co.../memphis/index.shtml My case in point is made my little pigs bbq. They bought it in 81, didn't know anything about q before then and don't even remember the last name of the guy that taught them the business, just that his first name was ernie. Who is to say just what old ernie was burning pre 81? She also mentions a shop on every corner which goes back to the idea of it being impossible to say what the tradition is when you're talking such a huge number of places.
 
I always thought the Memphis style was about the flavor profiles--sweeter darker sauce compared to say KC or Texas.

But heck as long as some kind of fire is involved its BBQ.
 
I grew up in south Alabama.

"Barbecue" to most folks means pulled, smoked pork.

"Ribs" means spareribs cooked more or less hot and fast with no sauce, but maybe some sorta mop.

"BBQ Chicken" means slow-cooked chicken, either mopped or basted with BBQ sauce.

Never heard nor seen of "Alabama White Sauce" until about 7-8 years ago. It AIN'T "all over Alabama"...I've only had it once, when I made it. I like it, but not on pork. I will make it again to use for a chicken dunk.

I'm all over the map as to what to dress pulled pork with and how I like it cooked...I like it simply smoked 'naked' with hickory. No rub, no pecan, no cherry, and NO MESQUITE. I like it without sauce, with sweet tomato based sauce, slightly spicy and sweet tomato based sauce, with SC mustard sauce, and I've even had a mixture of tomato based sauce and "chicken sauce" with it...
 
Mac,
I grew up in Texas but my Dad grew up in Memphis (still have alot of family there), and I have spent many holidays there.

As far as your 1st question goes, that's a new one to me and I would lean towards disagreeing with whoever made that claim. Every time I've been there and we've either cooked or eaten out bbq, ribs and pulled pork were on the menu.

For your 2nd question, based on purely what I've seen I might agree with that. To this day my Dad still does a slow cooked pulled pork that is out of this world, and he only uses a weber kettle that's about a hundred years old and cooks it over a small handful of lit coals indirect. No smoke wood, and he throws a few unlit coals on top once every couple hours. It's about a 12 hour cook the way he does it, and it's honestly great every single time. It's a very basic recipe with no rub, only a mop that is pretty much ketchup, worcesteshire, vinegar, lemon juice, s&p, and maybe some tabasco. I know he learned this recipe from his Dad (who most likely learned it from his Dad) growing up in Memphis. Also I think I've seen something on the food network before profiling Memphis bbq (specifically Rendezvous) and it talked about how they cook their ribs with only charcoal. I could be getting that wrong and I'm sure someone will correct me if that's the case.

Anyway, that's my two cents. Not sure if it helps or not!

Pat
 
I've only lived here three years, but I eat a lot of BBQ
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I tend to agree with Chris E, I think it's more about the flavor profiles than it is about one particular kind of meat, but it's also more than that. It's a philosophy.

First, when you say BBQ in Memphis, you immediately think pork. I work for the Navy and there are a lot of Sailors who come here and are a little disappointed that beef and chicken take such a back seat to pork (but we have plenty of good chicken and brisket around here, y'all - it's just that pork is king). And when we think pig, we think THE PIG. Not just PP, but ribs too. Just look at Memphis in May - they cook the whole hog - that's part of Memphis heritage as well.

Second - the flavor profiles here tend to run sweet, but it's pretty common to have a lot of options at a Memphis BBQ joint. It's also common to have the option of dry or wet ribs (or muddy - sauced with rub added on top, soooo gooood).

Third - the philosophy. Low and slow is a way of life here, man. Other cities have a burger joint on every corner, we've got a barbecue restaurant on every corner.

That's my two cents, anyway.
 
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