Friday, December 01, 2006
A rendezvous with some barbecue
I always envisioned my first visit to Tennessee would take me to the Jack Daniels distillery, or at least that of George Dickle. But I’m thrilled to be in Memphis, since in addition to enjoying the brown liquors, I also happen to be a compulsive music collector, and am thus equally honored to find myself in the home of Stax, Sun, and Goldwax records, all of which I revere. Now if I can just score some barbecue before I leave town it I’ll have no regrets whatsoever...
And then I got on with my talk.
Later, after the proceedings were over, I realized that my feeble attempt at humor had not been taken lightly. When he found out I was leaving for Chicago first thing in the morning, my host, a financial executive at Federal Express, insisted on taking me out for Memphis barbecue that very night. Out of courtesy I offered a feeble "oh, that's very kind of you but I'd hate to put you to any trouble," but he no doubt sensed the insincerity in my voice and insisted, at which point I gleefully accepted.
He took me to the nearest place, Corky's, which he warned was not the very best barbecue in Memphis, but it was pretty damn good. Memphis is known for "dry rub" ribs, but the lady who waited on us insisted that the "wet" ribs were also first rate, so I ordered half a slab of each. My host ordered a basket of biscuits, which seemed superfluous to me, but he said you need the biscuits for the "whole Corky's experience." I didn't want to fill up on bread with ribs coming, but reconsidered when the basket of deep fried biscuits arrived at the table. Dipping those babies in bbq sauce was a real treat. The ribs arrived and were terrific, and all told, I was very pleased with my Memphis BBQ experience. Corky's, by the way, has taken full advantage of its location in the Fed Ex hub, and apparently does enough mail order business to have its own Fed Ex depot that does nothing but send shipments of Corky's barbecue all over the world overnight. If you want to order some for yourself, you can do so here.
7 Comments:
By 
GreenmanTim, at
Fri Dec 01, 03:15:00 PM:
But which, would you say, was superior: the wet or the dry? And are you prepared for the partisan dischord your answer may prompt?
Barbeque has such broad appeal, and ambassadors of the craft are so well established outside the Carolina-Kansas "smoke belt", that you can now get the genuine article in the most unlikely places - Redbones off of Davis Square in Somerville, MA is a personal favorite.
The same cannot be said for many other regional delicacies. I've never found a good low country boil outside Georgia and the Carolinas, nor a crab house of distinction beyond the Chesapeake and Delaware Basins.
Though I would welcome news to the contrary.
By Charlottesvillain, at
Fri Dec 01, 04:20:00 PM:
I'm actually kind of partial to the wet, and while I enjoyed the flavor of the dry rub, I found myself generously annoiting them with sauce served on the side.
Thank goodness good barbecue can be had in many places, including Charlottesville Virginia (although curiously it was still impossible to get passable ribs in NYC last time I tried). I tend to agree with you on the regional delicasies. There is only one garbage plate, for example:
http://tigerhawk.blogspot.com/2006/02/garbage-plate.html
By Charlottesvillain, at
Fri Dec 01, 04:27:00 PM:
GMT, I forgot to mention that I've been to Redbones as well and consider it excellent. I remember a wonderful spicy bbq sauce of orange juice and chipotle, among other things.
By Fabio, at
Fri Dec 01, 05:40:00 PM:
Hmmm, ribs...
They look good, definitely worth a try. Anyway, it's difficult to go wrong with pork. Add a few beers, and you cannot possibly go wrong.
Now, in the pic: I can see an aluminium tray underneath the ribs. Is it there as a flame-breaker perhaps?
By Counter Trey, at
Sat Dec 02, 08:32:00 PM:
FedEx? Memphis? I hope you saw the T-man. I had dinner with him the other night at the Witherspoon Grill.
By TigerHawk, at
Sat Dec 02, 09:38:00 PM:
Counter Trey, I had dinner tonight at the Witherspoon Grill. First time there -- pretty good filet mignon.
By Charlottesvillain, at
Mon Dec 04, 09:24:00 AM:
CT, I did not see the T-Man. I wouldn't know how to reach him in Memphis.
