Sometimes a not-so-good experience in barbecue forces one not only to appreciate the quality of the good stuff, but to ponder, what is required to make for good Q – not even great Q, just good Q?

The unfortunate experience of Old Style Bar-B-Que in Olive branch, MS has forced the begging of this question. 

First of all, location really has nothing to do with the quality of barbecue, except that air temperature, humidity and altitude are factors that a good Q man or woman will always take into account.  Where barbecue is cooked is not essential, even a highway exit location like Old Style can not serve as an excuse for mediocrity. 

Likewise, the atmosphere of the restaurant or “joint” is not critical, although most barbecue lovers appreciate an authentic environment and know the difference.  Memorabilia stapled-up on the walls of an otherwise non-descript interior to try to fool the customer with a sense of quaintness is easily detected and ineffective in most cases.  Take the Rendezvous, for example – there’s no way anyone could not feel the historical legacy dripping from the walls there.  In fact, that palpable atmosphere is a prime motivation for many to return.

Barbecue is like art.  In fact it is an art and like art, there really is no such thing as “bad art” or “bad barbecue”.  If something that attempts to be art is bad it looses the privilege of being classified as art.  Something that is represented as “barbecue” and is simply no good, is therefore not really barbecue.  The entry qualification for art or barbecue is that the product must be at least good, and the customer expects to also detect indications that there is an effort toward great.

As a pre-requisite, it all comes down to sincerity about what one is doing.  Consumers of any degree of discernment can tell.  The proprietor either cares about the quality of his product or he doesn’t.

Barbecue is one of those special foods that is very uncomplicated.  The basic requirements are meat (preferably pork) and a fire.   All the sauces and rubs and bastings are just extras that address individual taste preferences.  That part is subjective.  Objectivity comes in the sincere commitment of the barbecuer to the process of cooking as it determines the final result – the Q itself.

Barbecue takes tending – like a child.  It is hours and hours of non-absentee awareness of the stages of development in the slow cooking and critical sustaining of the temperature.  It is a visual monitoring of the surface, edges, and small protrusions of the meat to “read” its progress as it is turning from raw toward done.  It is a finely honed expertise gained through caring personal experience over hours and hours so as to know when to turn or not to turn based on signals and smells that are impossible to define.  It is about an affinity with the meat and the heat.

It is critical to the survival of this ancient tradition that these details and minutia of barbecuing not be let to slip away through lack of care.  It is critical to not, as customers, become complacent and accept any old piece of cooked pork with something resembling sauce and slaw on it as “barbecue”.  To do so is to lie.

All barbecue should be at least good.  It’s the very least that is required in acknowledgement of the little creature that has gone onto the flame for our pleasure and nourishment.  To accept anything less than good barbecue is to begin to eradicate barbecue itself from our world. And, what a tragedy that would be!

To stop the eradication, it is essential to be critical where needed – whether it be Old Style, New Style or No Style.  Join the search for good Q and help raise the bar of excellence.  It’s for our own Q good.