Mike Stafford
Member
- Messages
- 2,359
- Location
- Coastal plain of North Carolina
I grew up in North Carolina and have lived here most of my life. My father was a great lover of barbecue particularly Lexington style barbecue. Lexington barbecue gets it wonderful flavor from slow roasting pork shoulders or even whole hogs over smoldering hickory and oak fires. The meat simmers in its own juices for 6-8 hours and literally falls off the bone. Most purveyors of this type of barbecue slather, i.e. baste, it with a homemade sauce of apple cider vinegar, cayenne pepper and a little salt. Of course there are many variations on this sauce with the addition of various secret ingredients ranging from apple sauce to ketchup. If this sauce contains mustard the maker has committed a mortal sin as that is how barbecue is defiled in South Carolina.
A number of years back I was given a book entitled Holy Smoke which details the history of barbecue in North Carolina and explains the subtle distinctions between the three distinct regions of barbecue in this state. The authors made an in depth study of virtually every barbecue restaurant in North Carolina and reported on them in their book. I have used this book as a reference as I have traveled around the state and have made an effort to visit as many of these restaurants as I could. It has been a very pleasant research project for my wife and I.
My wife grew up in Petersburg, Virginia which has a traditional of barbecue much different than what I was accustomed to eating. The restaurant that her family ate at is King's Barbecue. It smokes shoulders over hickory and oak wood which give it a wonderful flavor just like North Carolina barbecue. The difference is that this restaurant does not apply a basting sauce while it is cooked. The meat falls off the bone just as it should and can be purchased sliced or chopped. As the meat is prepared for serving, sliced or chopped, King's applies its trademark sauce which contains all the ingredients of the basic North Carolina barbecue sauce plus ketchup and mustard. The mustard flavor is subtle and does not overwhelm the delicate smoked flavor of the slow roasted pork.
The first time I ate at the restaurant a bottle of the restaurant's sauce was sitting on each table and I picked it up to read the label. I immediately saw that it contained the dreaded mustard as well as other condiments that are best left out of barbecue sauce. I was hesitant to try it. When our food came I saw that everyone in my wife's family doused the meat with this sauce. I decided to try it and was pleasantly surprised at how delicious it was on the pork. Truly it is a delicious addition to the meat. I still prefer the barbecue from Eastern North Carolina but King's barbecue is a delicious addition to the barbecue aficionado's menu.
Whenever we were in the area of the King's Barbecue restaurant we would stop in and get a pound or two for the freezer to eat at home. Recently we ate the last pound we had.
Last week we learned that King's Barbecue is closing after 77 years of supplying the Petersburg and surrounding communities with their delicious barbecue. We are in mourning at our house. My wife grew up eating King's Barbecue and I learned to enjoy it as much as she did. When the announcement was made the article read that King's would be closing at the end of June. Not that we were happy about it closing but we were glad that it was not going to close before we could go north and pick up a few pounds of barbecue for our freezer. But this morning we read in the online Petersburg paper that because of the outpouring of support from the community they were going to close earlier than planned because they did not have enough supplies to stay open until the end of June. In fact, they are closing the restaurant this Saturday.
We are devastated. We will miss King's Barbecue. We will miss the whole smoked shoulders we would buy on the way to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's house. We have shared many a fine smoked shoulder with them at their house and at our house as they passed through on their way to Nags Head. It was always great fun to have a miniature pig pickin' with them. The meat was always delicious.
How sad it is to see the end of a tradition. As I said we are in mourning. Not only are we sad about losing this wonderful food we are also sad that this family owned business is closing because there are no members of the King family that wish to continue the hard work that made the restaurant successful for 77 years.
A number of years back I was given a book entitled Holy Smoke which details the history of barbecue in North Carolina and explains the subtle distinctions between the three distinct regions of barbecue in this state. The authors made an in depth study of virtually every barbecue restaurant in North Carolina and reported on them in their book. I have used this book as a reference as I have traveled around the state and have made an effort to visit as many of these restaurants as I could. It has been a very pleasant research project for my wife and I.
My wife grew up in Petersburg, Virginia which has a traditional of barbecue much different than what I was accustomed to eating. The restaurant that her family ate at is King's Barbecue. It smokes shoulders over hickory and oak wood which give it a wonderful flavor just like North Carolina barbecue. The difference is that this restaurant does not apply a basting sauce while it is cooked. The meat falls off the bone just as it should and can be purchased sliced or chopped. As the meat is prepared for serving, sliced or chopped, King's applies its trademark sauce which contains all the ingredients of the basic North Carolina barbecue sauce plus ketchup and mustard. The mustard flavor is subtle and does not overwhelm the delicate smoked flavor of the slow roasted pork.
The first time I ate at the restaurant a bottle of the restaurant's sauce was sitting on each table and I picked it up to read the label. I immediately saw that it contained the dreaded mustard as well as other condiments that are best left out of barbecue sauce. I was hesitant to try it. When our food came I saw that everyone in my wife's family doused the meat with this sauce. I decided to try it and was pleasantly surprised at how delicious it was on the pork. Truly it is a delicious addition to the meat. I still prefer the barbecue from Eastern North Carolina but King's barbecue is a delicious addition to the barbecue aficionado's menu.
Whenever we were in the area of the King's Barbecue restaurant we would stop in and get a pound or two for the freezer to eat at home. Recently we ate the last pound we had.
Last week we learned that King's Barbecue is closing after 77 years of supplying the Petersburg and surrounding communities with their delicious barbecue. We are in mourning at our house. My wife grew up eating King's Barbecue and I learned to enjoy it as much as she did. When the announcement was made the article read that King's would be closing at the end of June. Not that we were happy about it closing but we were glad that it was not going to close before we could go north and pick up a few pounds of barbecue for our freezer. But this morning we read in the online Petersburg paper that because of the outpouring of support from the community they were going to close earlier than planned because they did not have enough supplies to stay open until the end of June. In fact, they are closing the restaurant this Saturday.
We are devastated. We will miss King's Barbecue. We will miss the whole smoked shoulders we would buy on the way to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's house. We have shared many a fine smoked shoulder with them at their house and at our house as they passed through on their way to Nags Head. It was always great fun to have a miniature pig pickin' with them. The meat was always delicious.
How sad it is to see the end of a tradition. As I said we are in mourning. Not only are we sad about losing this wonderful food we are also sad that this family owned business is closing because there are no members of the King family that wish to continue the hard work that made the restaurant successful for 77 years.
