It is May and time for the Charlotte area's monthly barbeque event. We will be gathering Saturday, May 13th, at City Barbeque, out Monroe Road toward Matthews. I must apologize that this restaurant is a chain out of Dublin, Ohio, not a local restaurant as some other well-chosen venues have been. It was the one nearest my home, but acceptable BBQ nevertheless.
For sure, the menu is mainly barbeque. However, if one chooses not to partake of Carolinas' signature cuisine, there are a few other items on the menu.
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Barbeque in America was birthed in North Carolina. Some years ago I was regularly traveling to eastern North Carolina where I passed a church, Barbeque Presbyterian Church. The name intrigued me, certainly the implied theology. One day I stopped by the library in nearby Lillington and inquired about the church. The librarian took me back into the stacks and offered me a small book, the history of Harnett County.
The author told the story of a seventeenth-century explorer who, waking up one morning and seeing mist rising from the nearby stream, was reminded of the smoke of the barbequing with which he was familiar in the West Indies. He named the creek, Barbeque Creek, and it appeared on the maps used by the settlers who later occupied the area. Then there was Barbeque Road, Barbeque Township, etc. And Barbeque Presbyterian Chruch.
Back in those days, when churchgoers traveled from many miles around for Sunday church services, they brought lunch with them and picnicked together after the service. The common term was "dinner on the grounds." Since barbeque was a familiar name it was only a matter of time before there was a barbeque pit dug at the church and that type of cooking was the regular fare. The rest is history.
Smithville, NC, a noted brand name in barbeque is nearby, and Brunswick, NC (Brunswick stew) is not that far away. I would gather that North Carolina has more barbeque restaurants than any other state. Not to disparage the quality of the barbeque in these areas, Texas, Kansas City, South Carolina, etc., barbeque there is nevertheless derivative.
Now, a quick bit of humor: In Columbia, SC, I once noticed a sign touting, "Carolina Bagles." I chuckled and said, "Sure, just like New York Barbeque."