The Q Shack in Raleigh

Visiting my cousins in North Carolina was no joke, in the food department.  I was introduced to a variety of things I had never heard of, let alone tasted.  All of them were delicious.  All of them made me fatter.  First, let's introduce the family:

Cousin John & me...

John's beauteous wife Lynne & daughter Hailey...

...and Harley, the guard dog.

We started with an introduction to "Actual Barbecue", an important lesson for any Northerner, at a lovely little place called The Q Shack, that specializes in local, 100% natural smoked-meats, and homemade side dishes.

 

Apparently friends, BBQ is not:  Hamburgers
                                                   Hot Dogs
                                                   Grilled Chicken + Kraft Barbecue Sauce
                                                    A Kielbasa

I know what you're thinking, Tristate-areans ...of course that is barbecue.  Hello, what else do you eat on Memorial Day and Fourth of July?  DUH.  One can't just go around eating mac salad, baked beans, and corn-on-the-cob.  Or go straight for the roasted marshmallows.  You have to have something to wash down with Coca-Cola!

Wrong, we were so wrong.

Fellow Yankees, let me introduce you to...

BRISKET!

The picture is a little fuzzy, but so was my vision after a few bites.  Um...this stuff is delicious! Honestly, I don't even know what it is...slow cooked cow, or something.  But if you drizzle some Carolina vinegar-based (as opposed to tomato-sweet) BBQ sauce on it - well, just go down there and find out, you will thank me.  With it, you can eat:

Fried OKRA!  (The little balls..it's a vegetable)...COLLARD GREENS!  HUSH PUPPIES (little fried bits of scallion-flavored dough that you dip in butter).  Oh, those hush puppies...

 

And you can wash it all down with:

SWEET TEA!  It's iced tea, only better!

If you haven't keeled over already, you can sample your friends' foods:

 

 

Mmm, what do we have over there?  Homemade pasta salad?  Some sweet-potato fries?  Slow-cooked pulled pork, or chicken, or something?  Don't mind if I do!

It's a little overwhelming, at first.  I understand, kid.

So you see, in the South and such, they slow-cook all sorts of meat cuts.  It's goddam delicious, I tell you.  And we haven't even gotten into frying yet!  To be continued!!

~A