For the past few months I’ve been pondering my return to blogging. As I plotted my re-entry into this cyber media, I contemplated whether I should provide a summary of the 10 months that have elapsed since my last post. Perhaps I should provide a bulleted list of the concerts I’ve attended and restaurants I’ve frequented during my blogging hiatus. For each item listed I could provide a brief two or three sentence description or maybe assign a thumbs up/thumbs down rating indicating whether the event was favorable. Maybe I should include excerpts from the two or three blog posts that I started, but unfortunately never completed during the past 10 months. Or maybe I should go back and complete these half written reviews and move on from there. This strategizing started to become too consuming and at the rate I was going, I’d probably never post again.
Then I began to remember the reasons why I haven’t posted in almost a year. It started to become overwhelming trying to document every concert and dining experience. I had a hard time determining where to draw the line…was every lunch at a White Plains bar worthy of a post? How about when my wife and I revisited restaurants that I already blogged about? Did I need to post a follow-up blog? How about when I attended Gov’t Mule shows on consecutive nights last August? Did each show require its own review or could these two very different concerts be combined into one post? Then I recently went back and read my initial post “Why Blog?” and things became much clearer – this is my blog and the only rule here is that I make the rules and the only opinion that matters in my opinion. Sure, I missed out on sharing some good (and some mediocre) experiences, but that’s too bad. The time to document that stuff has past and now all that remains are my blurry, romanticized memories. It’s time to move on and what better way to do it than with the 9th Annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party!
There are a few traditions that my wife and I honor with religious-like zeal – summer vacations on Block Island, St. Patrick’s Day at Sherwoods and the Big Apple BBQ. I like to think we uphold these traditions for the right reasons. For us, these aren’t simply ritualistic exercises or traditions for tradition’s sake. We’re not trying to recapture the glory of the past and theses are more than just trips down memory lane. In a lot of cases, these time-honored traditions get better with each passing year. For example, this year was my favorite St. Patrick’s Day celebration (probably because it was our first with our son, the cutest boy in the world) and last summer may have been the best Block Island trip ever, although I say that almost every year we go to Block Island. Needless to say, I was very much looking forward to our 6th Big Apple BBQ.
Unfortunately, life is sometimes dependent on externally circumstances and sadly the stars don’t always align. This year, the weather forecast for the BBQ was not promising and, for the first time I can remember, the organizers did not post the event map on their web site. This may seem like a minor detail, but I typically like to plot out my strategy in advance so I know exactly what pitmasters I’ll be visiting. This pre-planning, which sometimes borders on obsessive, adds to the anticipation of the event. Facing the possibility of bad weather and without an event map in hand, this year we were flying by the seat of our pants. The eagerness and excitement we typically feel was somewhat tempered and this was just the beginning. To make matters worse, there was an accident on the Bruckner Expressway that caused us to arrive 30 minutes later than scheduled. Now 30 minutes may not seem like a lot since this is a 7 hour event, but regardless I was disappointed. However, the death blow to the entire day was the fact that when we did finally arrive at Madison Square Park, I had a terribly upset stomach.
Now I’m a trooper, especially when it comes to eating, and although I tried my damnedest it was tough making it through the day. In the end, I did sample 7 different plates of food (same as last year), but the experience as a whole wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as in the past due to my illness. Honestly, could 4 trips to the Porta John be enjoyable for anyone?!? Now that you have that wonderful mental image in your head, here is a summary of the food (in order it was sample):
Big Bob Gibson (Alabama) – Pulled Pork Shoulder: There is a reason why Chris Lilly and company have won countless world titles for their pulled pork – it is quintessential! Was it the best pulled pork I’ve ever had? Probably not, but it was damn good. I also really liked the mustard based slaw (served on the side), which had a nice little kick.
Baker’s Ribs (Texas) – St. Louis Style Ribs: For me, this takes the award for most improved. I didn’t really dig these ribs last year, but this year I thought they were very good. I know my wife and brother-in-law would have preferred more sauce, but I thought they were just fine. The spicy slaw that accompanied the ribs was by far by favorite side of the BBQ, in addition to being the spiciest thing I ate all day.
Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint (Tennessee) – Western-Tennessee-Style Whole Hog: I’ll admit, whole hog isn’t usually my favorite. Depending on what meat you get, it can be on the tough side and it never really seems to compare to the flavor of a pork shoulder. Well this whole hog was an exception. The pork was tender and juicy and the combination of pork, sauce and creamy slaw made for a perfect sandwich that was unexpectedly one of the lighter plates I sampled.
Jim ‘n Nicks Bar-B-Q (Alabama) – Homemade Smoked Sausage with Pimento Cheese and Saltines: One of my favorites last year, one of my favorites once again this year. How can you go wrong with a spicy sausage? I think I’ve decided that conceptually and texturally pimento cheese may be one of the foulest things I’ve put in my month (thinking about it almost makes me want to gag), but it works so unbelievable well combined with sausage and saltines.
Blue Smoke (New York) – Texas Salt and Pepper Beef Ribs: On my scorecard, Blue Smoke is the runner up to Baker’s in the most improved category. The meat (and fat) on these ribs was delicious. Unfortunately, these two bones yield much less meat than the competitors plates, but what they lacked in quantity, they made up for in flavor. The side (something with snap peas) was a throw away.
Dinosaur Bar-B-Que (New York) – Pulled Pork Shoulder: Dinosaur is an institution and it’s easy to see why. This sandwich was very good. The side of baked beans was just ok for me, but at this point I was getting full and given my ailments, beans were probably the last thing I needed.
Pappy Smokehouse (Missouri) – St. Louis Style Ribs: Last year I thought Pappy’s ribs were tough, but I may need to take that back. Everyone has their own opinion on the proper doneness of ribs. I think that they should not be “fall of the bone”, but should come off the bone easily with a tender pull. These ribs required a slightly heavier tug in order to rip the meat from the bones, but the flavor was definitely there. I also like how the flavor came from a good dry rub and not from being over-sauced.
