The Meatwave

So it worked, I went to bed and by the time I woke up, it was time for more bbq (not that it isn't always time for bbq)! Sadly my friends couldn't make it today, but that didn't stop me from sampling a few more items that were being served up at this year's party.

Kris and I both started our morning with some nutritious brisket and sausage from Southside Market & BBQ. This was actually better than the same plate from The Salt Lick yesterday, even though this hadn't been the case in years past. The brisket was extremely tender and each piece that touched my tongue had a little piece of a delicious bark with enough spice to it to really make a difference. Then, each bite of their sausage was an explosion of juiciness that filled my mouth with a wonderful meaty/smokey/spicy flavor that made me very happy that the portion I got was about twice as large as The Salt Licks. The meats were accompanied by pickled onions and a couple slices of cheese that went very nicely.

The large portion at Southside left Kristin full, but I was still ready for more. I decided to try something new to the Block Party this year and went for some pulled pork at Blackjack BBQ from Charleston, South Carolina. I've read much about the famed Carolina BBQ and the vinegar vs. mustard sauce battles that go on down there, it was about time I got a taste first hand. The pulled pork was about what I expect pulled pork to be, delicious, although not theirs was not remarkable, but add some spicy vinegar sauce and it's something completely different. I'm a tomato based sauce man myself, but they made a strong argument on me today to switch over to vinegar.

There are some helpful observations about Day 1 vs. 2 I saw that are worth mentioning. Almost all the pitmasters seemed to be serving larger portions on the second. I've seen them run out early in the previous years, so maybe there was more portion control on day 1, and then when they knew they had more than enough by day 2, the plate sizes swelled. We marveled at how much more Southside gave us over The Salt Lick, only to realize later that Salt Lick was also giving out larger portions on day 2. There also seemed to be much less of a crowd on Day 2. This might have been weather related, seeing as today was cloudy and little chilly, but I do think more people came to get their 'cue and use their fast passes day 1, leaving shorter lines and more sitting areas on day 2.

As much as I would have loved to stick around and wait until I was ready for more 'cue, I had a busy day ahead of me and I had to take off and leave more eating until next year, which I can live with, since there's no doubt I will be there next year. Until then, here's some Big Apple Barbecue Block Party Day 2 scenes:

Massive amounts of cheese at Southside Market.

Ribs awaiting finishing at Jake's Boss.

Carving chickens at Blue Smoke.

Pitmaster Mike Mills.

Pitmaster Ed Mitchell.

Published on Sun Jun 10, 2007 by Joshua Bousel

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