Apotheosis of pork*

Magnet #727 - Wildwood BBQ

In case ya'll haven't heard, I grew up in North Carolina. In case ya'll haven't heard, they're kinda known for their barbecue down there.

That's why I hesitate to go to any BBQ places here in town, because inevitably, I compare it to a couple of local places at home.

Wildwood BBQ, a BRGuest restaurant billed as one of the first organic BBQ restaurants, is across the street from us at work - which makes like the 4th BBQ place within a 10-15 block radius of me. I'm definitely not lacking up here in BBQ joints. Wildwood has a great space, and usually, the food's pretty good.

Mind you, I wasn't the biggest connoisseur of BBQ growing up. We didn't have it in the house, growing up - so the only time I ever had it was for school lunches. Indeed, it wasn't until I got to college, and maybe even beyond, that I learned there was even a difference between Eastern NC and Western NC BBQ.

Seriously. I don't think I went to the famous Lexington Barbecue* restaurant until college - and I live like 20 minutes away from it. And, if there's any place you should try BBQ in North Carolina, it's in Lexington. Damned good, that stuff. Plus, it's family owned!

I know. It's weird. I promise you, my mother's the best cook for miles, so we weren't wanting for good recipes to knock your socks off. But when it came to the traditional American fare like green bean casserole, tuna fish sandwiches, or sloppy joes, nothing could have been more foreign from our kitchen table.

But to her credit, anytime we'd run home and say, can we have X? She'd find the recipe and go to town. Still does.

Well, except one thing she refuses to make. There's a family we go to for holiday dinners every once in a while, and there's this lady who always makes that green fluffy dish that sits on the dessert table, circumspectly avoided by the Filipinos. Except me, because it's totally the Pistachio Ambrosia stuff we learned how to make in Home Ec. In fact, the (Filipino) lady of the house always knows I can be counted on to take it home. Heh.

Anyway, I picked this magnet today, because yesterday, I discovered that I've been missing out. I just learned about this odd (apparently Southern!) concoction of crockpot meatballs smothered in some sort of chili and grape jelly sauce. Never heard of it before. But the funny part is that everywhere I turned - online and offline - people are like, what do you mean you've never had that? And I'm like, what do you mean, what do you mean? I've never even heard of it!

Part of me wants to try it. The other part of me? Never wants to mention it to my mother, because otherwise, we'll be have it until she perfects the recipe. Hahaha.