Pork Sandwich Showdown: Nouveau Yankee Que vs. Classic Southern Sandwiches

Check out these pics from the Boston Globe of the barbecue sandwiches at the Beantown barbecue joint called Tremont 467. Then, head over to Garden & Gun and peruse their photo lineup of the Top 21 BBQ Sandwiches in the South.  Notice any differences between North and South? (Ignore that one G&G pic of the Korean pork sandwich: it's "fusion" to begin with and comes from Atlanta, no less.)

Now, don't get me wrong. Those Boston boys probably cook up some pretty tasty barbecue. But what's up with the massive haystack of meat, the groaning bun, and drizzles of sauce on the plate.  And is that slaw or kimchi cascading out of the bun? It looks like someone might have dropped the damn thing.

Some time ago I weighed in on how to create a great barbecue sandwich, noting that it's "an exercise in balance, with just the right ratio of meat to sauce to bun."  And, you have to add in a little slaw or pickle to add crunch and tang. The picks from Garden & Gun are bear this out. Check out the spartan simplicity of Jackie Hite's entry from Leesville, SC; the balance of bun, meat, pickle, and onion from the Old Hickory Pitt Bar-B-Q in Owensboro, KY; and, the controlled heft of the sandwich from Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge in Shelby, NC.

There's a reason these are classics.

Contrary to Rumors, I Do NOT Have Gout

Two months ago I wrote an article for the City Paper about fresh local asparagus. One of my interviewees told me that he loved asparagus but had to stop eating it because it aggravated his gout. I didn't know asparagus aggravated the gout . . . in fact, I knew almost nothing about the gout at all. So I did a little Googling to educate myself. (Turns out asparagus does stir it up, by the way.)

Now, anytime I visit a site that has ads on it, I'm inundated by ads for gout remedy and gout studies and all things gout-related on every site I visit--including my own damn blog.

Let's clear this up once and for all. I DO NOT HAVE THE GOUT!

But, jeez, aren't those Google ads creepy? Careful what you search for.

And, yes, asparagus, it turns out, makes everyone's pee stinky, too. In fact, those people who think it doesn't have that effect on them simply, for some unknown reason, can't smell it. I would post a link to supporting information on this, but Lord only knows what ads that would unleash on my browser.  Google it yourself if you don't believe me.