On barbecue

"So what exactly had happened in the night, to transform these more or less odorless, flaccid hunks of hog flesh into delicious-smelling and -looking meat?

"How was it that some burning coals and a single oak log had turned something you would never think to eat - dead pig - into something you couldn't wait to eat?"

Michael Pollan in "Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation"

Whole hog

"The Skylight Inn does not use a barbecue sauce, that often tomatoey, syrupy, spicy-sweet condiment that most Americans associate with and serve atop and alongside their smoked meats. Here the meat not only speaks for itself but boastfully asserts its historical import and culinary prominence in a stubborn East Carolina drawl...

"Each chopped quarter is sprinkled with a handful of salt, then a fistful of black pepper. There are no written recipes, measuring cups, or calculations; instead the chopper is chef: knowledgeable, trusted, and mostly always right in his apportion of spice.

"Next come splashes of White House brand apple cider vinegar and Texas Pete, a Tabasco-esque cayenne and vinegar hot sauce that, despite its name, hails from North Carolina. Both are poured from plastic gallon jugs, arms held high, the liquids cascading like twin waterfalls into the meat.

"The chopper then (uses) his two blades like paddles to mix the shoulder and ham, spice and sauce... 'The main thing,' (Mike) Parrott believes, 'is to just make the first piece taste like the last piece. You want the whole season to be beautiful.'

"This is the magic hour, when spice meets meat, ambrosia melds with nectar - when smoked and chopped pork becomes barbecue, when barbecue transcends its own simplicity and becomes simply beautiful. When nothing becomes truly something."

Rien Fertel in "The One True Barbecue: Fire, Smoke, and the Pitmasters Who Cook the Whole Hog"

Eating local

"Because barbecue is connected so strongly to place, it has always inspired a certain amount of local chauvinism. Have I engaged in any of this smoky braggadocio myself? Are the beef brisket sandwiches and short ribs I eat in my hometown heavily laced with nostalgia? 

"Was I accurately described by a newspaper reporter and trencherman I'll call Charlie Plum when he referred to me in print as someone who 'has built a career on exaggerating the virtues of his hometown's barbecue'? Well, yes, of course...

"Despite what was implied by Plum, who grew up in Akron at a time when that city was noted for fashioning objects out of rubber in both its tire factories and its restaurants, a little local pride is nothing to be ashamed of."

Calvin Trillin in "Feeding a Yen: Savoring Local Specialties, From Kansas City to Cuzco"

Fair food

Grillin'

"One of the extraordinary things about grilling, it's a public event. It's a theatrical event. It's a social event. People do not gather around a stove to watch a pot of soup simmer, or an oven to watch a cake bake. But when you grill, instantly, you have a crowd."

Steve Raichlen, author of "The Barbecue! Bible," on NPR's "Morning Edition"