The Australian's Global Gourmet Tony Perrottet recounts his visit to Arthur Bryant's and Jack Stack Fiorella's in a piece about his recent visit to Kansas City, Missouri. While Perrottet seems hellbent on placing the barbecue joints he visits in the state of Kansas, the rest of his research is a delightful road map into how a barbecue ingenue experiences a visit to the meat mecca that is this city.
Here's my favorite passage of the piece:
Every barbecue joint in the West has its own sauce, and Bryant's, mixing paprika and vinegar, is zingy, to say the least. Then comes the intense smokiness of the meat, crisp and delicious.No wonder burned ends are commonly referred to by locals as meat marshmallows or nuggets of barbecue gold. They're addictive. I finish the plate and find the chef looking at me through the serving window. He nods, without changing expression. I feel like I've passed some arcane test.
Some things I didn't know: We apparently call burnt ends "meat marshmallows," and zingy is a great adjective for vinegar. The rest of the commentary is similarly complimentary and a fascinating look at how someone with no real frame of reference sees Kansas City barbecue. As for the continuing trope that Perrottet is getting true insight into "the real Kansas thing," I'll just say I love Foster's beer; it's so genuinely Australian.
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@abe- agree .. i have never faulted anybody (from u.s. but especially foreigners) for not knowing our state & city borders.. & yes, it would be confusing if there was, for example, an arkansas city, texas & arkansas city, arkansas both right on the state line..
W.C. Fields, "Is this Kansas City, Kansas or Kansas City, Missouri?"
Franklin Pangborn, "You're lost."
Fields, "I'm not lost, Kansas City is lost."
I always quote Clint Eastwood's character Josey Wales when folks mistake Mo for KS.
Agree on the geographic impairment. I've been on flights arriving at KCI with flight attendants welcoming us to Kansas, making Oz jokes, etc. Re Burned vs Burnt, look here http://www.grammarist.com/usage/burned-burnt/ if you give a burnt shit.
I doubt there's a KCMO resident who hasn't had to explain which side of the state line they reside. My favorite was in an antique sore in Virginia. Store owner asked where I was from, which prompted him to show me something I had to have. An old pull down map of Kansas.
Mmmm...burnt ends!!!
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