barbecue

I came to the conclusion yesterday that barbecue for me is like a stack of pancakes. The concept is always better than the reality. For most people I'm sure this is a little like saying, "winning the lottery is overrated." Everyone loves barbecue right? I mean there are contests taking up half the Food Network TV programming devoted to covering barbecue contests or barbecue sauce. It must be an important food preparation right? Well we hit Hill Country on Sunday. You wouldn't believe the rave reviews this place has garnered in NY. Claims that it serves smoked barbecue on par with anything in the south. I like barbecue so I was excited to try it. Or at least I thought I would be.

Hill Country was indeed excellent barbecue. Very juicy. Nice smoked flavor. You can see the smoke line penetrates a centimeter into the meat. But much like an outing to get pancakes I find my eating enthusiasm decays quickly after the first few bites. Bite #1 can be amazing. Bite #7 typically becomes monotonous. Hill Country was no different. I could see the same feeling on my wife's face as we made our way through the mountain of food.

I think the main problem is that barbecue seems to be a food system built on quantity. Everything at Hill Country was friggin enormous. The baked beans and mac & cheese came in huge vats that actually created their own undertow. The meat was served Fred Flintstone style. The problem with that is you are never going to get high quality food in that kind of quantity. It's lowest common denominator stuff. That's why rib preparations on the appetizer part of a restaurant menu are always better tasting. Or preparations like kalbi where quantity is not that important. So there. I said it. I'm done with barbecue.