'Barbecue," says Jim Early, the founder of the North Carolina Barbecue Society, "is a noun, not a verb. It's not grilling and you don't barbecue something. Barbecue is pork cooked slowly over live coals."
It is the sternness of Early's tone as much as his terminological rigidity that conveys just how seriously this southern state takes its culinary tradition. A former trial lawyer, Early has devoted his retirement to the appreciation and history of the North Carolina barbecue, wrote the pre-eminent text on the subject, The Best Tar Heel Barbecue (tarheel-bbq.com) in 2002 and founded the society (ncbbqsociety.com) three years later.
There are thousands of barbecue joints and places in North Carolina, ("We don't have barbecue restaurants," says Early. "If it's small, it's a joint. If it's big, it's a place.") divided into two regions, each with a distinct style. All points east of Raleigh, the state capital, serve what is called Eastern NC style; all points west serve Lexington or Western NC. The Eastern uses the whole hog, or "everything but the squeal" chopped up and eaten with a tangy vinegar sauce. Western NC pitmasters, centred in Lexington, the self-proclaimed "Barbecue Capital of the World", only use meat from the shoulders and the Boston butts, a misleadingly named cut of meat above the shoulder, which is dark, stringy and flavourful. Their "dip" has tomato mixed with the vinegar.
The differences extend to the extras such as coleslaw and hush puppies (fried balls of cornmeal). In Eastern NC the slaw is finely chopped cabbage, with a touch of vinegar and some sugar; west of Raleigh it is infused with barbecue sauce, so it's spicy and reddish. Though the differences might seem minor, to North Carolinians this division is all-important.
Early travelled to all 100 North Carolina counties and visited more than 200 barbecue joints before whittling down his selection to 140. His criteria was simple. "I was only looking for barbecue done the traditional way. Thameans with wood, either hickory or oak. If you cook hog with gas," he says, "it's just roast pork."
In 2007, Early launched the Historic Barbecue Trail, a route that links about 25 joints and places across the state and which changes annually. Here are some of the best, from east to west.
Eastern NC
Skylight Inn, Ayden
The Jones family have been in the barbecue business since 1811 when the current owners' great-great-great-great grandfather started selling pork from a mule-drawn cart. Much has stayed the same. The Joneses still barbecue with a mix of oak and hickory. They still rise well before dawn to preside over the day's hogs, as each takes about 15 hours to cook. The dense cornbread that comes with a chopped barbecue platter is from a recipe dating back to 1830. There's not much to order: a barbecue sandwich or a tray of pork with slaw and cornbread. The kitchen is bare except for a wooden block where an old man stands chopping a hunk of hog - everything but the ears and the hooves.
• 4618 Lee Street (001 252 746 4113).
B's Barbecue, Greenville
It's good sign when a joint has no phone and erratic hours. It suggests the food is so good they don't need your business. This is true of B's Barbecue, a few miles north of Ayden, which has no phone, no website, opens at 10am and often closes around noon. B's starts each day with eight whole hogs; when they've gone they close and tack up an "Out of Food" sign. Run by the three daughters of founders William and Peggy McLawhorn with the help of a hefty man with a Superman tattoo named Dexter Sherrod, B's is a tiny joint under the shade of a tree with a big smoke pit out back. As he chops, Sherrod removes the gristle, veins and so on. What's left is soft and succulent and lightly smoky, flecked with burnt bits. B's chicken is almost as popular as the pork. It's spiced and smoky and, even better, doesn't run out so fast.
• 751 B's Barbecue Road (no telephone).
Wilber's Barbecue, East Goldsboro
Wilber's does spicy 'cue and great service. After lunch, we were brought through the kitchen to the squat, building where they barbecue their pigs. It billowed rich, fragrant smoke from the dried oak. "We put them in here for 12 hours," our guide Gary Price told us, lifting a metal sheet to reveal a crispy brown hog. The chicken is worth a try, too. It comes in a light creamy sauce but still has that smokey tang.
• 4172 US Highway 70 (+919-778-5218, wilbersbarbecue.com).
The Pit, Raleigh
The Pit, in an old meat-packing building in Raleigh, straddles eastern and western styles and merges upscale and home dining. Pitmaster Ed Mitchell uses whole hogs, but there's a hostess here, and carpet. It's a restaurant, not a place nor a joint, but don't let that worry you. The menu is more inclusive than most - it's probably the only place a vegetarian can have a meal on the trail - but the barbecue is still top-notch. Aside from moist mild pork there is excellent beef brisket and hickory-smoked chicken wings, dry rubbed with spice.
• 328 West Davie St (+919 890-4500, thepit-raleigh.com).
Western NC
Deano's Barbecue, Mocksville
Barbecue is an oral tradition. There are no manuals, just doing and learning from the master. Dean Allen learned from Buck Miller in 1961 and Odell Hendricks in 1981, two godfathers of Carolina 'cue. Dean does it the old-fashioned way from a log cabin-like restaurant in the tiny town of Mocksville. He uses only shoulders and Boston butts which he barbecues for six hours over a hickory fire. The meat is moist and dark and very smoky, but the dark horse of Deano's is the pimiento cheeseburger.
• 140 North Clement St (+336 751 5820, deanosbarbecue.com).
Allen & Son, Chapel Hill
The closest real joint to Chapel Hill, home of the University of North Carolina, Allen is filled with students tucking into trays of coarse-chopped barbecue and scoops of creamy slaw. The Allens chop their own wood - great mounds of hickory are laid up against the back of the building - and are a gruff bunch. But their slaw is milky sweet and their chopped meat is moister than most. Ask for the "outside brown" cuts for added flavour and texture.
• 6203 Millhouse Rd (+919 942 7576).
Hill's Lexington BBQ, Winston-Salem
Glenn Hill is the third generation of of his family to preside over the pit. He also turns out excellent banana pudding - a staple of most barbecue joints but done especially well here. Mushy bananas with tufts of meringue and ladyfinger biscuits served in a small bowl are a sweet finale after a tray of chopped pork.
• 4005 North Patterson Avenue (+336 767 2184).
Little Richard's Bar-B-Que, Winston-Salem
It's all red-and-white check tablecloths and cigarette advertisements on the walls at this roadside joint. The place - a large shack in an industrial parking lot - looks modest, but the coarsely chopped barbecue with a tomato-and-vinegar sauce and slaw is legendary. Pitmaster Richard Berrier ensures the slaw is vinegary, the meat brown and the iced tea so sweet that one sip is enough to keep you up all night.
• 4885 Country Club Road (+336 760 3457).
Lexington Barbecue, Lexington
Founded in 1962, Lexington is always packed with townsfolk, cops and bikers who come from many miles around to slide into faux-wooden booths, lean their elbows on the Formica tables and dig into the chopped trays and scoops of vinegary slaw. In the kitchen, a row of pork shoulders are turning honey brown over a hickory fire. The restaurant is so busy the chopping block where the shoulders are cut gets worn down twice a year.
• 10 Highway 29-70 (+336 249 9814).
Way to go
Getting there
American Airlines (020-7365 0777, aa.com) flies daily to Raleigh/Durham International Airport from Heathrow from £455.70 pp return.
Where to stay
Brooks Town Inn in Winston-Salem NC (00 336 725 1120, brookstowninn.com), has doubles from $94.99 per night, inc breakfast. The Cameron Park Inn in Raleigh NC (00 1 888 257 2171, cameronparkinn.com) has doubles from $88 per night inc breakfast.
