PLANET CHOCKO – art/music/movies/beyond

(The calm before the smoke at 10:00am at the Big Apple BBQ block party on Saturday)

(my accomplices at the BBQ fest – no forks – no problem!)

(Shake Shack who?)

The 13th annual Big Apple BBQ Block party at Madison Square Park came and went last weekend. About 17 BBQ pitmasters came as far as from Texas & Mississipi and some like Hill Country and Blue Smoke as close as just a few blocks away from the Park. We made no fuss no muss about it as our raggamuffin foodie crew with a non-foodie attitude grabbed 4 plates of ‘Cue from 4 different vendors, poked & probed it with our chopsticks until finally making it disappear. We usually get there early, around 10.30am – parse the crew to the different vendors to get on the queue for the ‘Cue – wait till the opening cow bell opening at 11am & we’re off in slow smoked whole hog heaven! This year we made sure that we covered the big three proteins: lamb,beef,& pork! We tried 2 newcomers to the block party or at least new to us. The Jamaican Jerk St. Louis Ribs with Caribbean Slaw from Hometown Bar-B-Cue located in nearby Red Hook, Brooklyn was just another victim! I prefer the smaller & fattier pork ribs but the bigger beef counterpart in that well smoked Hometown BBQ state with that tingly-spicy jerk marinade had me attempting to talk like a rastafarian – mon! Definitely left me wanting to reach for a bottle of Ting! The caribbean slaw also had a nice & refreshing bite that talked back to me! Hometown BBQ – Red Hook, Brooklyn – expect a few neon glowing residents from NJ to make a trek out to Crooklyn sometime this summer!

(Hometown BBQ – Jamaican Jerk St. Louis Ribs with Caribbean Slaw)

(Canopies made of golden,mirror-polished discs above the walkways at Madison Square Park)

The 2nd new BBQ we tried was the Lamb brisket & borracho beans from The Woodshed Smokehouse from Dallas. I’m usually not a big fan of beans but the consistency from these were light & flavorful – almost like a soup.
The Lamb brisket was quite tasty, fatty, tender, & charred up to my liking though a bit salty if anything. The lamb brisket had that slight kickback of taste to let you know that it was uniquely lamb indeed! If given some rice with this Lamb brisket with the burnt ends – I might still be chowing down on this till no end! You can hold the borracho beans.

(The Woodshed Smokehouse – Lamb brisket & borracho beans)

Now for some replays – we couldn’t help but to get back at Salt Lick with their Beef Brisket,Sausage, & slaw combination. No burnt ends in sight with the brisket but the meat was well seasoned, silky & tender to the mouth. A nice simple brisket done right. Dip that brisket with some of Salt Lick’s champion barbecue sauce and Bang bang Bang..Hmmmm…Hmmmm good! The sausage had the attitude that I was looking for with that snap when my fangs met casing. The peppery mix in the sausage was noticible & delightful especially chasing it down with some of the tangy slaw!

(The Salt Lick crew working hard to get those briskets out!)

(Salt Lick – Beef Brisket,Sausage, & Cole slaw)

There’s no secret here that we are big fans of Big Bob Gibson from Decatur,Alabama with his hickory smoked pulled pork shoulder sandwich. I’m guessing the consistency of how they smoke the shoulder since it’s the same part of the pig is more predictable than when constructing a whole hog sandwich with the meat pulled from all over the carcass? Either way, I really enjoy Big Bob’s pulled pork because the meat is so succulent and tasty. The natural juices from the meat and the rough chop/pull from the pork as opposed to finer chopped pieces of meat really does the trick for me as the less you mess with the meat, I find it more appealing to the eyes & palate. For the icing on the cake, dab & jab some of that spicy mustard cole slaw in the sandwich and dang – get the heavy artillery out so I can show my gratitude!

(Big Bob Gibson’s – pulled pork shoulder sandwich + spicy mustard cole slaw)

(Jim n Nicks Smoked Sausage – photo by Mondocurry)

(We even tried a veggie burger made from beans and other mealy ingredients & textures? Not bad but not great either)