North Alabama BBQ

I never knew North Alabama was known for their BBQ!* Yet, I walked into the local Blue Rock BBQ here in San Jose, CA and read on the menu that this is "North Alabama" bar-b-que. Is this a special style of BBQ? Does it taste different from, say, Memphis or Kansas City BBQ? I was born and raised in Georgia, have family in Alabama, went to school in Tennessee, just a stone's throw from North Alabama, but never heard about the famous BBQ from this region until I visit the San Jose, CA restaurant that advertises such a delicacy.

It was good BBQ. You could get a pulled pork sandwich, ribs or chicken, and they came with slaw, beans and bread. Yummy. I'd go back. But I'm still puzzled about the North Alabama reference.

Wikipedia has a bit about North Alabama, and even that page doesn't refer to the famous BBQ.

Well, it remains a mystery to me, but the food was pretty good. I'd be happy to go back again. Sho' nuff.



* to clarify, in the South, and other states in the US, "BBQ" is a specific food -- usually pulled pork, slow cooked on a grill, slathered with sauce and served on a bun. In California, "BBQ" is an activity, where you get together with friends, fire up a grill, and cook hamburgers and hotdogs. Californians are missing out, I think.