BBQ & Orthodoxy

by Michael Sean Winters

View Author Profile

Join the Conversation

Send your thoughts to Letters to the Editor. Learn more

I was delighted to see such heartfelt comments on my post last week about BBQ. To be clear, and to repeat, I do not consider BBQ preferences to be the stuff of orthodoxy. Kansas City style BBQ may be the "official" BBQ of the National Catholic Reporter, but I am just as happy with North Carolina BBQ, east or west, when I am served it. Beef or pork is another instance where what the Holy Father calls the "great et, et" comes into play: Why choose between them when you can enjoy both! Protestant theology is classically defined by its penchant for "either/or" constructions. We RCs prefer "both/and."
There is, however, one point that requires the culinary equivalent of a CDF statement. It happens every so often that you get invited over to someone's home for a BBQ and they serve burgers and hot dogs. That is a cookout. That is grilling. That is not BBQ. BBQ is the slow cooking at a low temperature of a tough piece of meat to break down the muscles and tendons so that they melt into the meat and tenderize it. Low & Slow. When I do a pernil or a beef brisket, if we want to eat at 8 p.m., I get up at 4 a.m. to take the pork butt or beef out of the fridge to let it come to room temperature. At 6 a.m. it goes on the grill or in the oven. 14 hours later, it is ready. That is BBQ. I love burgers and I like hot dogs but they are not BBQ. On this point, BBQ fans of all stripes and from all regions can agree.

Latest News

Advertisement

1x per dayDaily Newsletters
1x per weekWeekly Newsletters
2x WeeklyBiweekly Newsletters