It feels these days that we are in a constant state of hurry. Almost every facet of our culture has an expedited version of it. We can buy shoes online and they arrive next day. Download a book instantaneously. Bills can be viewed and paid (or ignored) with the click of a button. Order a cheeseburger from a person on the other side of a machine and it’s ready in under two minutes (if the line is short enough). There are few aspects of our lives that have been untouched by this ever-present supply of immediate gratification.
So it is no great mystery that BBQ, the ritual of cooking with fire and smoke, is such a highly sought-after prize. It is the driving source of endless competitions, timeless arguments over what is right and what is wrong, and innumerable quests to find the “very best version.” It is a simple matter, putting a metal box or grate over some fire and letting smoke do its work. But there is more to bbq than just cooking meat. Wherever one finds it, behind that pulled pork, sliced brisket, and blistered sausages is a preparation that requires time, patience, and a tremendous amount of love. BBQ is untouched by the hurry of the world. Since the discovery of fire from our ancestors on down, very little has been touched and, as is the case with the best of it, the tradition has not been touched at all. What was once necessity has become the ultimate luxury. One can sit down at a bar or outside a shack or in their very own homes and enjoy a feast that took half a day to cook, a week to prepare, and a millennium to perfect.
Combining fire and smoke with the very best ingredients the vast American landscape has to offer is time well spent. We believe that true hospitality begins with inviting strangers to sit around a fire, true cooking requires love, and the truest and very best things in life are still worth waiting for.
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