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4.0 

The One True Barbecue

By Rien Fertel
The One True Barbecue by Rien Fertel digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

“For anyone interested in the origins, history, methods and spectacle of whole-hog barbecue, this book is essential reading...Fertel leaves readers hungry not only for barbecue but also for the barbecue country he so engagingly maps” (The Wall Street Journal).

In the spirit of the oral historians who tracked down and told the stories of America’s original bluesmen, this is a journey into the southern heartland to discover the last of the great roadside whole hog pitmasters who hold onto the heritage and the secrets of America’s traditional barbecue.

In The One True Barbecue, Rien Fertel chronicles the uniquely southern art of whole hog barbecue—America’s original barbecue—through the professional pitmasters who make a living firing, smoking, flipping, and cooking 200-plus pound pigs.

More than one hundred years have passed since a small group of families in the Carolinas and Tennessee started roasting a whole pig over a smoky, fiery pit. Descendants of these original pitmasters are still cooking, passing down the recipes and traditions across generations to those willing to take on the grueling, dangerous task. This isn’t your typical backyard pig roast, and it’s definitely not for the faint of heart. This is barbecue at its most primitive and tasty.

Fertel finds the gatekeepers of real southern barbecue-including those we tend the fire at legendary spots like Bum’s, Wilber’s, Sweatman’s, Grady’s, the Skylight Inn, and three different places named Scott’s-to tell their stories and pay homage to the diversity and beauty of this culinary tradition. These pitmasters are now influencing a new breed of chefs and barbecue enthusiasts from Nashville to Brooklyn.

To quote Serious Eats: The One True Barbecue isOne damn good book about American barbecue.”

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1 Review

4.0
“At first I thought this was on barbecue in general, but was corrected very quickly when reading that this was whole hog, a rare but truly delicious subspecies of the barbecue world. As it should, Fertel focuses primarily on North Carolina, specifically eastern North Carolina's pepper-and-vinegar variety though he does visit Tennessee and South Carolina pits. I personally favor South Carolina's mustard sauce (which Fertel calls the "David Bowie" of barbecue), and have only found one adequate barbecue place here (which relies heavily on tomato-based sauce)... The One True Barbecue reminds me that it's unlikely I'll see one out here, unless some hipster decides to artisanally do some farm-to-table whatever in the northwest.”

About Rien Fertel

Rien Fertel is a Louisiana-born and based writer, historian, and teacher. He grew up in his family’s chain of restaurants across the country, and, after graduating from college, ran a grocery-deli in downtown New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina exiled him to New York, where he started writing about food. His work has appeared in Oxford American, Garden & Gun, Southern Living, Spirit, Saveur, The Local Palate, and many other publications. He holds a PhD in History, teaches in New Orleans, and divides his time between the banks of the Mississippi River and a 100-plus year old church in St. Martinville, Louisiana.

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