Monday, January 14, 2008

Good Ole Fashioned Carolina Pork BBQ

by Erin Carr

This week's posting is by my pork contributor, Erin Carr. She went down south this past weekend for an opera competition and was able to sample the local cuisine.

I have to say as a lover of good pork I was happy to make a trip to South Carolina to taste what they are famous for, pork BBQ. Crossing over into South Carolina I saw many places that boasted the “best BBQ in South Carolina.” But which one should I believe?

Here are a couple rules: always look for the smoker on the side of the road, if you can smell it when you drive by, it is going to be good. So we found our place, the Kickin Pig in Rock Hill, a div-ish looking place with a smoker outside the front door. When my friend and I walked in, you couldn't help but notice people at lunch playing pool and drinking some Pabst. This totally makes the experience more authentic. The menu is very basic, chopped pork platter, pork sandwich, a few sides, and pecan pie. The limited menu made my decision easy; pork platter with a side of fries and a corona. A few minutes later I had my pork on a paper plate. It smelled great, no sign of burns and it looked and tasted incredibly moist. I decided to add some hot Carolina BBQ sauce, a vinegar-based topping. Awesome! It is some of the best pork I have ever had. I am totally in love with this place. On a scale from 1 to 5 pigs, I give this a 4 ½ on the pigometer.

No comments: