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Gwen Fowler

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  • Chef Robert Stehling
    Chef Robert Stehling
    Robert Stehling is the chef at chef and owner of Hominy Grill in Charleston, SC and the 2008 James Beard winner for Best Chef in the Southeast.
 

S.C. barbecue takes center stage in NYC

Posted 6/19/2010 8:25:00 AM

South Carolina barbecue got a lot of attention in New York June 12-13 during the 8th annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, which was in Madison Square Park.

In fact, South Carolina barbecue was the topic of one of a panel discussion on Saturday afternoon. According to the schedule: “The customary barbecue dialogue defines four Southern styles: Carolina, Memphis, Texas, and Everywhere Else. South Carolina begs to differ. It’s the state where barbecue is defined not by an overarching style, but by the multiplicity of techniques, meats, and sauces.”

Panelists included John T. Edge, director of the Southern Foodways Alliance who writes about food for the New York Times and “Garden & Gun” magazine. He has written a number of books about Southern food and has been nominated for five James Beard Foundation writing awards. Joining him were authors Jack Hitt, an author and frequent contributor to a number of national magazines, and Lolis Eric Elie of New Orleans, author of “Smokestack Lightning: Adventures in the Heart of Barbecue Country.”

Another highlight was a screening of “Cut, Chop, Cook,” a documentary about Scott’s Bar-B-Que in Hemingway, and an appearance by Rodney Scott. Ella and Roosevelt “Rosie” Scott opened Scott’s in 1972, and now their son, Rodney, is pitmaster. At Scott’s the whole hog is cooked overnight on wood-burning pits. For more information, visit www.thescottsbbq.com. The documentary is by Joe York and is a project of the Southern Foodways Alliance.

Robert Stehling, chef and owner of the Hominy Grill in Charleston, led a seminar on the importance of rice in the South and how to prepare grits. And one of 18 pitmasters preparing barbecue for the crowd was Jimmy Hagood of Charleston, owner of Tidewater Catering and BlackJack Barbecue.