Bar-B-Pugh (In the King's English)

By: J. Friendly

3/13/04

If there's any kind of culture that Londoners don't claim to dominate,
it's the one we Americans link with barbecue. But like everything else
in life, that too is changing.

(foodies)

According to a February 29 report in The New York Times, "The
English--or at least a certain trendy subset of British foodies--have
gone gaga for it." But some, on the other hand, have just gagged.

When a new rib joint called Bodean's opened in London's Soho section
last year, some of the neighbors politely asked: "How often will it
smell like this?" The answer, as any red-blooded Kansas Citian or North
Carolinian could tell them, is "All the time."

But despite the received nasal insult of hickory smoke and burnt pork
fat, London's enthusiasm is rising sharply for BBQ, soul food and good
old down-home Southern cooking in general--meaning ribs, gumbo, collard
greens, buttermilk biscuits and even grits--as rustled up in a slew of
new eateries.

Where the grits are concerned, my theory is that it's just the hip
element's way of giving the finger to Giles Coren, a girly-boy critic
for The Times of London, who has likened grits to vomit.

But despite their best intentions, there is evidence that the Brits
still don't quite git it. Consider the compelling evidence at hand:

--Bodean's manager Bryan Tyrell estimates that 20% of his customers
don't eat meat. On the presumption that these are girls being dragged in
by their boyfriends, he has added a menu alternative called "goat cheese
ratatouille."

--According to that New York Times story, one of the biggest problems
barbecue joints have to overcome is "the reluctance of the British to
eat their ribs cave-man style--with their hands--as Americans do."
Cave-man style, huh? Well, I have some frightful news for these sissies:
Out in the American hinterlands, we still eat our steaks "cave-man
style," especially the ones with convenient handles, which are known as
T-bones in politer circles!

--Meanwhile, back at the raunch in London (isn't that how they say
"ranch" in the Queen's English?), Ashbell's--a soul-food joint in trendy
Notting Hill--is fetching $28 for a plate of pulled pork and grits.
Twenty-eight dollars?!? If word of this leaks out across the American
South, guys will be pulling up their pits lock, stock and barrel to join
what sounds like a new gold rush across the Atlantic.

Comments

[Harriet]

Ah, but you know its because of all the Australians that we have here working in our bars! Bring on the barbie and the 4X! ;-)