KC BBQ

When you think of Kansas City, you think of barbeque. On a previous visit TPP tried one of the classic and legendary BBQ places, and it had a lot of grotty old ambience, and OK BBQ, but it was just OK.  Some exploration, and some TV promotion, got us to the WoodYard BBQ.  The down home, out-of-town, almost back-woodsie atmosphere gives you the immediate impression of some place authentic, the real deal, and it was the real deal. The big old smoker spreads the smoky aroma around pretty well, so everyone you meet for hours afterwards will know you've been doing BBQ somewhere.  The baby back ribs were simply succulent, perfect.  The F1 is quite the affectionado of pulled pork, and she was most pleased by her sandwich.  And it's only about 10 min drive from downtown KC.  You meal will be put on your table within minutes of ordering. 

Barbie - Australian for Barbecue

Some of my best times, best friends, and best field research have taken place in Australia, so while quite fond of the people and place, one item does divide us. Barbecue. In Australia a "barbie" is a device for cooking, not actually a grill, in our sense, but more of a hot plate or griddle. Otherwise barbecue is used as a verb down under, something that you do to cook food. Until the Phactor got this figured out it caused some confusion because as all right thinking people know barbecue is something that you eat. Without arguing about all the various types of barbecue, Australia just never got this part of speech right. It was very difficult to attempt to set those in my acquaintance right. You had to get a butcher to get you the right cut of meat. And then you had to get the makings for a decent rub, and as Australian food runs to the milder end of the spectrum, this was no where as easy as in the USA. Then it was necessary to concoct a replica of a BBQ sauce for the full effect, and in this case leaning toward the vinegary North Carolina type. Quite a bit of modification to a "barbie" was required to get a couple of slabs of ribs cooked properly, and while not perfect, they were acceptable. While they didn't like the BBQ ribs at all, somehow it all got eaten. As for corn bread and beans, let's not go there.