BBQ Road Trip: Tennessee

my barbecue road trip started in the streets of East London and I'm continuing the journey out here in the deep south I'm road tripping from Nashville Tennessee and headed west of Memphis and searched some of the finest most authentic barbecue joints in the country the barbecue influence we see in London and around the world all originates right here so I've jumped the pond to check out the real deal my first port of call is at peg leg porker I'm here to meet Carey Bringle an award-winning pitmaster my first real taste of American barbecue hey Kerry how you doing hey how's it going so nice to meet you John nice to meet you it's your place this is my place center block walls concrete floor and good barbecue so your full flight already I see yeah we seem to have a little bit of a crowd my family settled in Tennessee in 1827 so barbecue is kind of in our blood these are two and a quarter to two and a half pound loin back ribs we've already peeled the membrane off the back of that rib we're gonna cook these at 275 for a little over three hours you know we want them to get a good application of salt on there and what does that do for it it's gonna allow that smoke to penetrate it go open up those cells a little bit to where that smoke settles down into that meat we want a little bit of that savoriness underlying and then the smoke and then that dry season so this all this our Hickory this is where the flavor comes from to us is important as every other ingredient yeah it is do you go to Texas it's a mesquite you know you go up into Missouri or Illinois it's gonna be Apple you know you go in the Carolinas they're gonna use oak and some Hickory it just depends and so we use what's native to us what's readily available and this is what's always defined Tennessee barbecue because we do so many ribs we use this smoker so we can really do the volume when they come off they're gonna get our dry seasoning at the end and it's not a rub it's a seasoning so it goes on at the end of the process you're getting the full flavor of the pork with the Hickory on it and then you're getting the full flavor of the seasoning that's a beautiful plate of ribs so this is it this is what you serve up 98 percent of the ribs that we serve are that rib left side oh look at this side ah that's what we hear alright let's do it yeah I learned barbecue from my uncle Bruce who learned it from his father who learned it from his father the name that comes from the fact that I've got one leg right yes I literally am the peg leg porker yeah so at age 17 to get bone cancer was not fun but we decide to cook barbecue and have a goodbye leg party yeah yeah and it gave you a name that's right absolutely yeah that's my god look at that pulls apart beautifully nice and juicy so you think in there the smoke causes are mm-hmm we'll chat about dry rub the wet that people do like how serious is that debate yeah I like all kinds of ribs so I've got some friends that cook some great wet ribs for us our preference is dry a lot of restaurants will pre rub them smoke them and they'll serve them without sauce and call that a dry rib it may be a good rib it may be great but it's not a true West Tennessee dry rib I like to dip mine and sauce there's no better sweetness in there as well love it not my too nice but they got that nice pink smoke ring in there dry ribs are not dry you see how juicy that is come on club Kerry thanks a lot for your hospitality hey thank you for coming well we're glad you're here you're gonna eat a lot of great food but Gracie hand on it hey it's alright cheers thanks so much yeah I'm leaving the bright lights of Nashville and headed deep into rural Tennessee to check out one of the most unique barbecue joints in the state I'm in Lexington Tennessee it's 5:30 in the morning I am heading to Scott's Parker's barbecue now one of the only places in the world that still cook whole hog they literally split it down the middle we can start cooking it Wow Sam to know someone's hanging about exactly they're under on it nice to meet you something what's the story every morning we come in here and we get a fire built we get our pigs flip we'll put new ones on for the next day and by the time we get them on this has got to be pretty close to being burnt down yeah it's that way we could get started - it's been on since about 7:00 yesterday morning so it's a 23 to 24 hour process oh wow here we go here we go see this is why he's got the muscles that's right we strive on how tender it can be bones just pulling off like that right there so this technique is just never changed it's never changed so before they went on the fire do you do anything else to them nothing is this a secret sauce so it is in a part of this place since 62 so Wow it's in here a long time it's a vinegar-based sauce it's got some cayenne peppers in it some black peppers what does this do to the meat and it really don't affect it a whole lot if anything it might preserve it a little bit throughout the day and keep its flavor it's all about your hickory wood your coals your temperature you really want to pay attention to the details of the way your pigs look throughout the day this place has been here since 62 my dad bought it in 89 and it worked here since early in the seventies I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that uses cardboard and block pits and there's not many people doing whole hogs in the mill a little bit harder work and you got a lot of waste in a whole hog but that's what my dad strived on and I do a lot of things based on the way he would do them he tried to keep it old fashioned that's what this area grew up on and that's why I want to keep it if I had to quit doing old hogs I'd quit in general its whole hog or nothing it's not a job to me it's a art I get to pour all of my love and heart and blood and sweat into it that's ready to go simply son what do you offer customers head offer a puller chop meat I got dark meat white meat flank Wow what's our tender and juicy it is and here is everybody's favorite part which we don't ever have much of it's the Midland that's why the special better people love it yes they want grace to be running now the corners of their mouth and what I'm doing here is I've got a greasy rag that I put on top of it to ensure that it stays greasy next I'll pull out what I'm going to chop which will be every bit of this the shoulder meets a little bit more it's got a little more fat to it so what you do is you chop that up so that way you get your juicy tender meat and it'll just melt in your mouth what texture you're trying to achieve it oh you want a real fine texture because you want people once this is chopping on a sandwich they don't really have to chew I have some older people that come in and get chopping meat they prefer that because sometimes I don't have any teeth Scott's has got it right we live in the south so everybody says they're an expert when you say on barbecue yeah they think they are Scots barbecue is a tradition this history eating a good sandwich but they got it down to an art to realize how sort of unique this whole place is yes it's a it's very unique and that's one of the reasons we've never updated it because it's almost what people want in this time and they want to see this stay the exact same y'all ready yeah so spent all morning seeing how the foods prepared and now it's time to eat something and here comes the big man himself yes yes look at this one first is that's Medellin Wow I mean is soft but it's got that bite too isn't it yeah the outside of the pig is what's going to have a little bit of crispy on it this down here in both of these that's a dark part of the ham and that's your wider part of that it's gonna be a little bit drier meat but still delicious mmm I'm also equally comes for as well Wow are you trying to be the sauce it's just a basic vinegar-based sauce with some red pepper black pepper a little bit of lemon juice you see some barbecue places that will have a ketchup-based but now the vinegar base is pretty much around Tennessee clap just fooling apologize falls into pieces melts in the mouth but as long as you got that tender meat and it's falling off the bone and it's got that Hickory flavor that's all you need personally this is my favorite thing right that's one of our sought-after dishes because there's not much of it out of every hog he might have three pounds of it it's got more flavoring into it because that's where the belly fat is and that's why it's the softest - and most of the time we have it on reserve two days ahead of time exactly thank you so much for your time what an amazing place you got here I appreciate you stopping by John this apron back I've got a pretty amazing thing going on there you know it's a pretty small town and they're doing something very unique even within Tennessee let alone America you know this whole hog barbecue now we're heading west are we gonna go and see a lady called Helen aka the queen of barbecue another early start we're in Brownsville and we are heading to see Helen place Helens just arriving at the same time as Helens husband easier every morning 6:00 a.m. start the fire here is Oh hurry yeah I'm good thanks I'm Tom a radio Turner from Helens barbecue right lovely to me oh yeah nice meeting you guys yeah this is it hadn't public 8 Wow I met her back in 1978 and nothing has changed everybody likes her and I love her you know she's a warrior you know her cooking her making of her songs some of the thing that really captured me and she would tell me that you know my singing was what sort of kind of captured her you know that's am i he said I thought we should have that all day come on oh good morning I'm Tom hi I'm Helen lovely to meet you dear been hanging out with your lovely husband all morning my sweet husband he has been making this far for 19 years before he go to his job every morning every morning so you just kick him out of bed 5 o'clock go start the fire gonna be honest with you when he get up I don't know you go oh go good man there yeah I'm now so what's the first thing we gotta do this morning then ah the first thing we're gonna do this morning it's get these shoulders out there and put them on that pit would you all me today I mean if you wanted you can pick the head showed up it's kind of heavy I'll pick up ice well you take one and I'll take one let's do it yes I kind of like you tough how'd you want it it's less straight like that how many shoulders do you want to get on there this morning this morning 12 12 12 jeez Helen I've been in there three seconds and the smoke turmoil is already it's good right now yeah but then a little bit it's gonna have you cryin n me what preparations you do to this me I don't put it in his kind of sauce or no season I know nothing on his meat the charcoal do all the season for me a lot of people don't even eat sauce or slaw on a sandwich they just eat meat Maria I said taste it taste away from it that flavor from me hickory smoked bottom up in the pool is top up I'm gonna use these coals start from the back you don't throw it because you get the ashes all over your shoulders and you want them still to be pretty when you get there cooking them it's so it's what you think you're so touched this this style of barbecue well I think it made my meat taste better my shoulders taste better I don't think I would know how to cook another way I think I would cook like this until my health failed me so more always a streaming right I live bend in and walk five minutes five minutes and I've been out here for 19 years I got tears in mind it's okay uh-huh that's good that's no good we go gal valid I'm a cus fresh air we both cry Andy I feel good not crying by myself yeah yeah well hello every time I got cameras you show up hey I want the school to be a cosmetologist to be a beauty store and end up smoking Buffy smile soon okay in a lot of slop I'm glad I'm not a beautician I'm glad I'm smoking Barbie here every day I got here and start making sandwiches and working I was probably about 27 fry over March time I was making sauce I was making slaw I was doing everything homemade thank you you have a good day when it comes to the secret sauce that everyone goes on I have any shader with my daughter no now what sort of things you put it what sort of things yeah what do you mean I put a lot of sort of things at me yeah are you Sketchup ketchup and vinegar the rest is my secret okay okay most of the time I work this whole thing by myself from the back to the front my customers all appreciate me every last one of them nobody else a stranger that comes in here anybody can tell you I treat everybody the same I don't care if I got 50 people out there first-come first-serve I don't make a difference can I get the regular barbecue sandwich would you like crackling chopped up in your barbecue or give me the work salad well that's exactly what I'm gonna do is do your special sandwich were you like maldehyde sauce it's gonna be hot Shirley okay oh thank you very much madam thank you you enjoy hey guys how you doing you guys hear a lot the locals she put the crackling in this as well see all that stuff is pulled apart he got the lights caramelization on the top and the crunch of the crackling and then obviously the sweetness and the heat of the sauce the true taste of brownfield Tennessee it can be more polite and nice hello thank you so much for having me I've had an amazing day and it affords come back one day don't you have me I would have you I'll take good my girlfriend's yeah bring it girlfriend yeah the one you gotta marry yeah my LP should be my wife I promise maybe copy house oh I can't afford it well I'll see you next time this is where the road ends for me Memphis the home of Elvis Presley and the birthplace of rock and roll I'm heading to Charlie Vergos rendezvous they've got a lot of history they've been open since 1948 I've been told I cannot leave without trying their dry rub ribs how are you excuse me anyway John is John looking for John is he okay yeah thanks a lot this is pretty different from Helens yeah okay Tom welcome to Memphis don't wanna go thank you so much you've got amazing place here well hey sweet ride all right we're gonna round this the cake right my dad started at 1947-48 when he started it was just 80 seats it was a tavern so now we see 750 people and on a busy Saturday we'll feed 3,000 3,500 people Wow hey there this is Tom time from the UK Avicii original ovens yes you want to walk back here yeah let's go back yeah my father invented what people call dry ribs what we're Greek all the meat that they cook they base it in vinegar or lemon salt pepper oregano garlic you've been to New Orleans I'll have many years ago and you know they have all those great Cajun seasonings of the chili powders and the cayenne peppers and so he took that and mix it with the Greek it wasn't anything that he planned we baste them and then we put a seasoning on last and I said it just pulls a paw yeah easy but you asked me about the history of barbecue most important thing about barbecue is number one it tastes really good number two it realest truly is American and truly a southern what'd you mean by that it's really probably from the slave days an african-american inspired because what would happen in the old days the good cuts of meat would go to the plantation owner and they would be stuck with all the scrap meat you know the chitlins the the sweetbreads the ribs they're the ones that came up with the way to smoke them and cook them and make them make them palatable it really goes back a long long way way before us you want to go eat that's my dad you can tell he's a pretty tough guy Roberts been here fifty-two years I didn't rely it's something you're 30-something years 35 years he's old enough to be at 35 years I started in 10th grade this only job I ever had in my life yeah I think that's this says everything really but how's your boss hello movie operating looking as we have your table reserved for perfect John thank you so much for that pleasure having you here from the UK is wonderful your restaurant is incredible the atmosphere yes I'm glad you came and I'm gonna send Robert Jr over to take your order thank you so much ever great journey back a little how you did very good how about some ribs thank you very much hope you enjoy is this the end of the road for me I'm finishing off here in this legendary place in Memphis rendezvous I've met some incredible people this week I've tried so many different types of food and there's one thing that runs through all of this and that's the hard work and the love of these people put into it this is about their culture their passion and their love for food and it's amazing to think that this style of cooking is spread across the world now when it comes from such humble beginnings as it were I've learned so much and now I'm gonna eat these ribs Joakim Oh too far you're either trigger ready yes come on come on pull it pull the toilet pull it pull it oh wait that's it don't hit the trigger yet Oh what are you doing come on no right there howdy that's home you

Channel: Munchies

Views: 3,637,658

Rating: 4.8726501 out of 5

Keywords: Jack, jack daniels, daniels, jack daniel's, BBQ, meat, pig, pork, Ribs, Whiskey, road trip, bbq road trip, Barbecue, barbeque, Tennessee, nashville, lynchburg, usa, peg leg porker, charlie vergos, helens bbq, scotts parker, how to, cooking, Munchies, Munchiestv, food, eating, chef, restaurant, VICE, chef's night out, interview, interviews, culture, wild, world, travel, vice.com, vice, vice videos, pulled pork, bar be q, whole hog bbq, southern barbeque, vinegar sauce

Id: 6WYR079F0xU

Length: 19min 3sec (1143 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 20 2015

Reddit Comments

[u/raphtze]

helen is a sweetheart! man i need to make myself a trip to the south....

[u/mightyarrow]

Memphian here....looks like I need to make a trip up to Lexington sometime soon.

I also am completely disappointed to see that he chose Rendezvous.

[u/double_e5]

What a great video. Thanks for sharing! Anyone that has an extra 20 minutes should give this a watch.

[u/scag315]

Dat whole hog though....

I love those simple pits. Wish I had somewhere to build one that wouldn't piss off my neighbors