So you like BBQ. But have you had thin-sliced, hot-smoked, and sauce-dipped Monroe County pork shoulder? How about Monroe County shoulder in Monroe County, Kentucky itself? Our goal was to track down this delicacy in its native habitat.
There are plenty of regional variations in American barbecue. But there might not be a stranger style — or one that’s more difficult to make — than Monroe County Pork Shoulder from Monroe County, Kentucky.
Henry Harrison, owner of The International Rock-a-Billy Hall of Fame Museum, wants you to know Elvis, Carl, and Johnny as people, not as mythic titans of music and history.
It was well past sundown when the Ford Ranger rolled up to us in the shadows behind Roy’s. All the employees were gone, and we definitely weren’t supposed to be there. The headlights turned off & the truck crawled closer, like a predator stalking prey.
The best description of Craig Meek’s Memphis Barbecue came around 2 a.m.: “You wrote a book about your city through [freaking] barbecue. How cool is that?!”
