Critic
It’s Official: Barbecue Is No Longer Easy
A new wave of cookbooks argues that the fine Southern art requires commitment and complexity.
Photo Illustration: 731; Pig: Getty Images
It used to be simple. At least that’s what food TV and culinary magazines would have had you believe about barbecue. With a few simple steps (5! 4! 3!), you could prepare best-ever ribs, chicken, pulled pork, and so on.
Not that Americans haven’t always taken barbecue seriously. The debate over tomato vs. vinegar in the universe of sauces (essentially Memphis vs. the Carolinas) is decades old and worthy of a Netflix miniseries. Meanwhile, the vaunted title of “pitmaster” has been around for 80 years, according to expert John Edge. But the true craft was something few tried to master in their home kitchen.