North Carolina is the number two producer of pigs in America, and barbeque is by most accounts the state’s food. But historian Rien Fertel argues that most barbecue writing is hyperbole.
In his new book “The One True Barbecue: Fire, Smoke, and the Pitmasters Who Cook The Whole Hog,” (Touchstone/2016) he examines the history of the southern barbecue art, and the wide range of mythology surrounding the meat and those who tend to it.
Host Frank Stasio talks to Fertel about his book, and is also joined by Wyatt Dickson, the co-owner of the new Durham barbecue joint Picnic. Fertel reads at Malaprop’s Bookstore in Asheville tonight at 7 p.m., at The Regulator Bookshop in Durham Friday at 7 p.m. and at McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro Saturday at 11 a.m.
