The Extraordinary Story: Of meat and men

From: The Economist IE Sep-15-2024 11:19:am

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August 14th 2022

The Extraordinary Story

Long reads and life from 1843 magazine, delivered every Sunday

Barbecues

Of meat and men

Why the American barbecue is about friendship not food

You can smell the contest long before you can see it. Acres of slowly smoking meat produce a savoury haze over south-west Tennessee. The 2022 Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest drew more than 200 teams from around the world to compete for a share of $145,000 in prize money. Spectators could see glistening whole hogs, smoked until they’re the colour of a desert sunset. They could smell burnished mahogany slabs of ribs and shoulders, blackened by smoke on the outside but juicy within.

It is easy to mock barbecue culture, at least the version on display in Memphis, for its excess and the seriousness with which it takes itself. Teams cook entire pork shoulders, enough meat to feed a dozen hungry people, so a single judge can take a bite or two. The costs of competing far exceed the prize money on offer to anyone bar the winning team. Is it, as the kids say, “problematic”? Maybe. I guess my friends and I are too: a bunch of suburban dads standing around a grill, living up to a stereotype. Perhaps we all should eat lentils and think on our many sins.

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