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Marcelle Bienvenu

Slice of Life ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Barbecue fans can be funny. Gather a few true believers together from different parts of the country, and you’ll get spirited conversations (read “border line arguments”) over a wide range of topics. Loyalists from across the South will argue the virtues of different cuts (St. Louis-style ribs versus baby backs), smoking woods (hickory, oak, mesquite), cooking times (the longer the better? Depends …), sauce recipes (sweet or spicy?) or any other nuance that makes their regional variation on the style absolutely superior to any other. But ask about what bread goes with their ’cue, and there’s a near-universal consensus: sliced white bread. Period. It’s the one area where BBQ partisans can find consistent common ground. With the exception of South Texas (where saltine BARBECUED SHRIMP ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Barbecued shrimp isn’t barbecue, actually. You make it in a skillet on the stove, in a sauce that is mostly butter and black pepper, which isn’t even close to American barbecue sauce. Barbecued chicken isn’t barbecue, either — well, not technically. Instead of surrounding it with lower, indirect heat, you cook it on the grill, with the lid up, with direct heat on the bottom. The sauce, at least, is barbecue. You can baste the chicken with sauce or add it at the end. SMOKED PAPRIKA ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Smoked paprika, also known as Spanish paprika — its real Spanish name is Pimentón De La Vera Dulce — is made by slowly smoking and drying pimentón peppers over an oak fire, then grinding them into a fine powder. This process imparts a deep smoky, spicy flavor and aroma, which is why smoked paprika is so popular for barbecue and marinades.

'Ques You In Summer is in the air, and so are the aromas of barbecue, grilling

and smoking. The weather is ideal for cooking and dining alfresco — on the patio, in the backyard, or around the pool. J ust so we are all on the same page, grilling is fast food — burgers, steaks, wieners, sausages, vegetables, and yes, sometimes fruit. Barbecue is slow food — cooked gently on a grill frame over a wood or charcoal fire. When I was a youngster, our family barbecued chicken halves just about every weekend during the summer, but pork is the king of barbecue in other Southern states — except in Texas, where beef reigns.

crackers and tortilla culture come into play) and parts of the Appalachian South (where cornbread variations rule supreme), white bread is the undisputed King of Barbecue Baked Goods.

- P. Johnson, Rouses Magazine , March-April 2017. Read more at www.rouses.com.

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