Is Brisket Barbecue? Some Say No

One writer, based in Atlanta, claims brisket isn’t barbecue – making smoke come out of the collective ears of all Texans.
 

By Leah ScarpelliJune 23, 2016 12:47 pm,

What is barbecue, really? Not philosophically, but think about how we use the word. In some parts of the country, we say we’re going to have a backyard barbecue and what we really mean is that we’re going to grill hamburgers and hotdogs.

For Texans, barbecue usually refers to smoked meat, but that’s not true everywhere. And even then – does all smoked meat count as barbecue?

An Atlanta-based writer doesn’t think so. He recently penned an op-ed that caught our eye: “Sorry, there’s only one legit kind of American Barbecue.” Huh?

Texas Standard host David Brown asked Daniel Vaughn, barbecue editor for Texas Monthly, what he made of that meaty claim.

Chris Fuhrmeister, an Eater writer,

“Most of North Carolina and South Carolina doesn’t exactly smoke their pork,” he says. “So that was a bit of a misnomer, showing his lack of barbecue education right there.”

What you’ll hear in this segment:

– How Vaughn’s feelings about Texas barbecue have colored his view of this claim

– Whether the writer is a “genuine barbecue bigot” or just he doesn’t know much about barbecue

– The other “war” that Eater started involving breakfast tacos