We Seek “Authentic” BBQ

It’s barbecue season! But let’s be clear: We aren’t talking about throwing burgers and veggies on a grill. We’re talking about the rich culinary tradition of slow-cooking meat over a dirt pit, a cuisine cultivated by enslaved Africans in the American South. We both live in Brooklyn, where barbecue is gentrifying as quickly as our neighborhoods. To talk through our feelings, we invited two Southern food experts on the show: John Thomas Edge Jr., the author of “The Potlikker Papers,” and Nicole Taylor, a chef and the author of “The Up South Cookbook.” They help us remember the central role that African-Americans played (and continue to play) in establishing one of our country’s most signature styles of eating. Then we venture to a Carolina-style pit in the middle of Bushwick. It's a truly American tale.