Barbeque. If you look it up at dictionary.com, you will find that it can be a noun or a verb. Having lived in North Carolina - the Mecca of All Excellent Barbeque - for sixteen years, it is only a noun to me. It is pig, slow cooked and seasoned and melt in your mouth good. Get me good and started and I will expound on the virtues of Eastern North Carolina barbeque vs. Western North Carolina barbeque.
For the record: I adore both but if forced to make a choice, will choose Eastern North Carolina barbeque every time.
I have heard that other parts of the country make barbeque - Kansas City, Memphis, Texas, South Carolina and Georgia, to name a few - and have even tried a few of them, but none of them even come close to measuring to the goodness that is North Carolina barbeque. 'Nuff said.
So we were intrigued by signs that appeared several weeks ago advertising a "chicken barbeque" at a local Episcopal church. Hmmm. Would the chicken be cooked with vinegar? Or a mustard-based sauce? Or maybe even a tomato-based sauce? We were eager to find out so on Saturday around noon, we headed over to find out.
Much to our surprise, we learned that a chicken barbeque is simply chicken cooked on a grill. As in the verb barbeque, meaning "to broil or roast whole or in large pieces over an open fire." Served with baked beans and salt potatoes, it was tasty, but nothing to get all misty-eyes about...which is exactly the reaction I get remembering good Eastern North Carolina barbeque.
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