Mike Mills, David Klose and myself in Memphis this past May. Photo Frank Boyer

I´ve been wanting to let out some steam about barbecue. Two recent incidents have given me the push I need to at least let off a bit of steam.

Last week our team (The Norwegian National Barbecue Team) received their first gold medal, though this particular gold medal is in the form of a trophy with a pig on top. The category was People´s Choice and the meat was Boston butt. The reason for mentioning this is twofold. First I´m marketing the team, and the second is to in a way give myself the cred I need to comment on the barbecue situation back home.

I grew up in Oklahoma, and since pretty much day one I´ve been eating barbecue. The fact that I´ve lived in Norway for the last 30 years has not diminished my body´s being able to appreciate good barbecue. And my nearly 30 years in the restaurant business has also put me in touch with the technical side of the restaurant industry.

The definition of good barbecue

The “best” barbecue is usually cooked in people´s back yards. Competition barbecue has to look beautiful to impress the judges. Sure, the flavor and texture also have to be there, but in competition the barbecue cook is cooking for judges, and not for “just eatin´”. Backyard barbecue has no ambitions about beauty. It´s just got to taste great.

Restaurant barbecue is an entirely different story. The food must be ready to eat and is hopefully at its best over a fairly long period of time. One of the dangers of restaurant barbecue is being served food after the restaurant´s quiet period of the day, or even worse, near closing time. There can be some scary meat served in the last hour before closing time.

Restaurant barbecue also faces other challenges. One of the signs of a less-than-perfect barbecue restaurant is its side dishes. The brisket might be great, possibly the ribs or the chopped pork, but the beans or the potato salad or even the sauce, are just not up to par. It is my experience that most barbecue restaurants fall short when it comes to product. The sides or sauces are weak, and possibly some of the meats. Throw in a dose of irregular quality ingredients-wise and you´ll quickly see that running a barbecue restaurant isn´t an easy job. This blog is not about competition barbecue or backyard barbecue cooking. It´s about the restaurants.

St. Louis, Kansas City, Memphis and, uh, any old town in Oklahoma

I´ve always hated the fact that Oklahoma has never been considered one of the great barbecue spots in the South. Some of the best barbecue I´ve ever eaten has been in Oklahoma: Bob´s in Ada, Slick´s in Muskogee, Leo´s in Oklahoma City. I can also tell you that not all the barbecue served in the “important” barbecue capitols is really up to par.

It´s one thing that Memphis and Kansas City are famous for their barbecue, but even more irritating that even Lockhart Texas is more famous for its (beef) BBQ than any town in Oklahoma. And in Lockhart they hardly know what a pig looks like (They claim that even their sausages are all beef, but we know better …).

OK, incident #1: a recent trip to Oklahoma City to eat lunch at burger-meister Nic´s on North Penn. My wife and I were as usual waiting outside to get one of the thirteen coveted seats at Nic´s Grill. The gentleman in line behind us told about being a Nic´s regular since the very day they opened, and as is usual in places where people care about good food, the conversation centered around local eating establishments from “way back when” to the current day. We talked Mexican, and we talked barbecue. The sad news, which was also confirmed by several of the others waiting in line, was that there really isn´t any great barbecue to be found here anymore.

All those years in Norway haven´t given me a chance to follow the barbecue situation in Oklahoma closely, but I have also had the feeling that the times have been a changin´.

If this is the case I just have to ask “Why?”. Can it be blamed on all the crappy chain restaurants that are – well, pretty much everywhere? Is it the focus on eating “healthy” (whatever that is)? Or are there other factors? Every time I´m in Norman visiting my mother, there is a huge line at Chick Fil-A. God knows why (and I suspect that He might just be the reason …), but the lines are long before lunch, during lunch and even late afternoon when everyone is supposedly at work.

There is a new Whataburger across the street from Chick Fil-A on Main Street. The other day there was a long line of cars waiting for the chicken sandwich cows love to promote. At Whataburger there were two cars. Figure that one out.

Last fall we tried everything barbecue in Norman and found the quality generally pretty good. None of the restaurants were mind-bogglingly-fantastic and none were terrible. I could eat at any of them again, but there is only one of them that I have to eat at.

And this brings me to incident number two. My wife and I ate a late dinner at Van´s Pig Stand. I have always liked Van´s and I´ve eaten there several times. The quality is nearly always good. They are consistent (and consistency is pretty damn important) and I can easily order any of  their sides. Van´s is an outstanding barbecue restaurant that delivers the goods. If I´m going to be picky I can say that I´d prefer a slightly heavier hand when rubbing the ribs, but when I can march in there on a weekday, right before closing time, I´m plenty impressed by ribs that are juicy and with a consistency any judge could appreciate.

So maybe there is hope. In the mean time I´m stuck here in the barbecue-Sahara. I love Norway, but please: not a single restaurant serving real barbecue, including Friday´s and Hard Rock, who though they advertise serving barbecue, absolutely do NOT.

I think I´ll go now. Gotta fire up the smoker!