"Barbecue" Rymes with "Argue"

Though mostly good natured arguing. Because at the heart of the matter, we are talking about sharing food with family, community, and culture,. Sauce and style have become more of a team effort in the internet age. Wear your Eastern Carolina jersey proudly, y'all, I'll be over here onboard the Southern Soul train reppin' Island City barbecue 'till I die.

Where I grew up in Georgia, we had a lot of barbecue at a lot of different places. Some was pork, some was beef, some was chicken or sausage or venison cooked over the same coals. Because if you've already got the coals working, what's the harm in more meat over the fire?

There was usually a selection of sauces: vinegar based, tomato based, mustard based. There were even flavors: hot, sweet, and regular. And you could order it chopped or pulled.

Now that I live in New Orleans, there is cochon-de-lait. Which is either very similar or entirely different from "barbecue" depending on who you are talking to. And, of course, barbecue shrimp - which is its own culinary category altogether.

For some folks, "barbecue" is a noun: the pork and/or beef that is cooked for a long time at "low" heat over a pit of coals. Chicken or sausage or venison didn't count as "barbecue," but were just the sauce covered side-items to the "barbecue."

For others "barbecue" is the verb of cooking any or all meats at "low" heat over a pit of coals. As someone who grew up in Coastal Georgia, this is the closest to my cultural upbringing.

Though there is one line I draw with my inclusiveness: grillin' is not barbecue.

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Dead Malls & Bad Pizza

Or, Sbarro's.

I remember eating at Sbarro's once upon a time long ago. I remember eating various foods in malls long ago.

Hell, when I grew up even into my college years, a trip to the mall was the highlight of the weekend. You left your air conditioned home, got in an air conditioned car, drove several miles to a giant air conditioned building surrounded by a parking lot big enough to host a traveling county fair.

Though, as this unsustainable economic model has been proven unsustainable, it is no surprise that the businesses that depend on the mall-based, captive audience for their economic success are suffering.

Maybe they'll just blame the President for their economic woes, instead of the fact that their customers are taking their dollars elsewhere for different products in different locations.

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Angelo Brocato's In Athens?

Now I'm hearing that Sisters' Creole Market in Athens, Georgia not only gets their bread from New Orleans, but they serve Angelo Brocato's spumoni.

This is sounding less like a New Orleans-themed restaurant somewhere other than the Crescent City and more like a little piece of Mid-City landed on Barnett Shoals Road.

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Too Many Judges in the Kitchen

My brother relentlessly chastises me when I have an opinion on matters of law, judges, and things like that. He likes to remind folks how I never went to law school, because that should reduce my credibility, even if I link to the opinions of individuals who did go to law school.

As if all lawyers and judges agree with each other about the law 100% of the time, and as if us folks down here in the service industry caste aren't allowed to have opinions on decisions of the many courts.

Well, now the truth comes to light! Based on a new study that finds food breaks sway the decisions of judges, I demand equal merit for the legal opinions of food service workers.

Because, apparently, lunch has just as much to do with making up a judge's mind as the law they are reading.

Though what this means for the criminal justice system here in New Orleans is anyone's guess.

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Sister's Creole Market

Hey look, Athens, Georgia has a new "creole" restaurant, and it seems to be getting good reviews from the local folks. Except, of course, those Athenians who lose their minds because the po'boy bread comes from New Orleans.

Maybe we can work out a trade deal where they get their bread and send us some Terrapin...
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All About Progression

"Recognize the romanticism of history but do not be fooled by it."

Even when it comes to the food.

Sentimentality is a powerful emotion. You remember "good times" from the past and want to try and recreate them over and over. Couple that with the natural human trait to replicate those behaviors that brought them success or accolades, as if the situation or circumstances never change, and you've got a recipie for stagnation. We spend so much time trying to replicate past success that we forfeit new successes we could acheive.

And that truth can be applied to so many things.

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The Panic Diet

Leaving Egypt to the Egyptians for a moment, why don't we extend the spirit of introspection and consider some of the more troublesome traits affecting our own culture?

After all, we have plenty of "political, economic, ethical, legal, and chemical" questions of our own to address. Starting with what the hell that is we're putting in our mouths. Do you really know where your food has been?

Now don't get me wrong, I ain't going vegetarian. Meat is too tasty. But I don't eat as much meat as I used to. Especially from fast-food establishments. I haven't eaten at Taco Bell in years, and my long-past experience with their food makes me wonder why anyone else still does. I mean, after one bite, even years ago, did anyone need a lawsuit's publicity to tell us that wasn't really meat in their products?

It is times like these that I realize that there are a lot of folks I share a country with that don't give a passing thought to the food they put in their mouths, where it came from, or what it does to their bodies. What are their motivations causing them to fill their bellies with some artificially flavored protien paste? Response to advertising? Convenience? The food looks tastier in the commericals for a reason. The locations are set up where they are for a reason. Branding works for a reason. But doesn't reality set in once you open the bag you recieve from the drive-thru? Doesn't the whole sham come undone when you taste the blandness and chew? How about later, when you can't sleep and are taking prescription antacids for heartburn? When, in the course of the consequences, do you learn?

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Delicious Target

Pop-Up restaurants? While I love the concept, I'll have to get me some food before the City decides to shut this kind of innovation down.

After the food trucks and street musicians, I may not have much time.

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Making Groceries (Continued)

In 2009, the USDA found that 9.26 percent of New Orleans' population did not have a car, and lived more than a mile from the nearest supermarket.

Jefferson Parish has less than 2 percent of residents who fit that description, despite having a larger population.

Looking at the map, you can see that areas with comparable statistics include the Lowland South (former cotton belt), the Appalachain coal belt, and Native American reservations. New Orleans also appears to be one of a few 300,000+ population cities (in major metropolitan areas) with statistics of this nature.

It is high time to stop repeating this "Third World and Proud of It" foolishness.

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When Government Kills Commerce

Two examples from New Orleans.

In one case, we have planned government subsidization of a single private development actually keeping all economic development out of New Orleans East.

In another case, we have the byzantine maze of city permits and contracts stifling a burgeoning and dynamic homegrown industry.

In the first case, city government wants to help direct development to an underserved community. They promise tax breaks and public investment in a private enterprise. A successful deal would bring jobs and businesses to a specific area, but an incredible return on investment will be seen by the primary developers. Those developers will be insulated from market factors by the city and state governments' subsidization. Those developers' competition will have a weaker hand, and are less likely to invest in that area, because they do not have the same insulation from market disadvantages.

(Though I'm sure they qualify for continuation of the Bush tax cuts, as they existentially "create jobs"....)

Knowing the government will be willing to offer more robust insulation the longer the citizens of the area go unserved, the developer is free to postpone and renegotiate deals for the property for as long as they choose. It is only natural to get the most out of a deal as possible, and there is no reason to factor in the needs or desires of others. The developer owns the most valuable property - the property where the government would like development to happen - so they set the terms of the negotiation. Competition will wait on this deal before moving.

In this instance, government behavior stifles competition, freezes out economic development, and subsidizes one private enterprise with tax dollars collected from citizens who may not patronize this private enterprise AND this private enterprise's competitors. That is not the way a free-market behaves.

The second case is how well intentioned government regulation can stifle economic dynamism and the creation of new industries. Part of this is unintended consequences and part of this is a cover charge for access.

Food trucks make sense in New Orleans. You have an all-night city with a lack of all-night eateries, high cost of property, high walkability, a high number of ad hoc neighborhood festivals and events, a high number of spontaneous events, and a local population with intricate palates. Food trucks are the very definition of the "movable feast" that means so much to New Orleanians. They create commerce and jobs and sales tax with a kind of flexibility necessary to maximize return on investment in a economically and geographically risky city with a dynamic event calendar.

They are nothing short of a win-win-win scenario, but city ordinances are set up and enforced to keep this industry from developing. While operators are free to pay the city for the required permits to operate, they recieve hassle on the enforcement end.

Now, I understand the need for health codes and parking ordinances as much as the next guy - I just wonder why the rules aren't clearly stated when you apply for a mobile food vendor permit. I wonder why enforcement personnel are able to ticket and shut down operations at whim, even if permits have been acquired. I wonder how much of this enforcement originates with fixed-location restaurants unhappy with mobile "competition" (even though they are usually not competing for the same clientele). I wonder how a 1972 law can remain on the books keeping food vendors from our two most high-density neighborhoods.

(Full disclosure - I had an unhappy run-in with "carnival season food vendor inspectors" one year. Despite all three appropriate permits -and- despite setting up on the property where the fixed restaurant is located, the place recieved three or four seperate visits by varied and nebulous enforcement personnel and constabulary authorities who obviously wanted to shut the place down. On the final visit, they were able to cite a yet unheard of fourth permit requirement to justify shutting down the sale of food. I leant a hand as my friends who worked at the place moved the operation inside the physical building of the restaurant - a whole 20 feet away.)

In the second instance, government behavior stifles innovation, adds uncertainty and risk to new enterprises, thus slowing economic development, artificially limits commerce and does not get maximum utility out of civic and cultural infrastructure. That is also NOT how a free market behaves.

We hear a lot about how the Federal government limits our nation's economic liberty or is 'usurping power' or whatever. But the point I make, again and again, is that the governments that control most of your life and taxes - and are the ones you can exert the most control over - are the ones much closer to you than the government in Washington, D.C.

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Making Groceries (Continued)

Oh, the places you'll go and the people you'll meet. I've lived in both Athens and New Orleans for a number of years, and it always amazes me how differently they'll deal with the same issues.

Like grocery stores.

New Orleans has a grocery store problem. First and foremost, there are large swaths of this city without any grocery stores whatsoever. You have to travel to get food. For many of our residents, that means taking the bus or calling up a friend or family member who has a car.

If you are lucky enough to live in neighborhoods that have access to groceries, you still have limited options. Some neighborhoods have small, neighborhood scale shops that do a lot of things. You can walk or bike to them if you live nearby, and while your selection may be smaller and your prices may be a little higher, you can still make groceries without going too far from home. Some neighborhoods have access to large, supermarket-style grocery stores - and most of these are planted firmly within walking distance of large populations.

Living in Mid-City, I have a choice of where to spend money on groceries. On the commute home? On my bike? Do I walk? Which store do I choose? I have options, and this makes my neighborhood a very desirable place to live.

Athens has a different problem in that they have plenty of large, full service grocery stores (about the same number NOLA has, at half the population) but few groceries that are both full service and neighborhood scale. When I lived in Athens, having multiple 24-hour supermarkets was a luxury I absolutely took for granted. But I had to drive to every one. Even when I lived on the East Side, and there were four major supermarkets to choose from, driving to the store was the primary means of getting it done. At the time I lived on campus, walking to the grocery store, or even taking the bus, required long trips through neighborhoods that were less safe for college students. When I lived off the Atlanta Highway, there was simply no effective way to walk or bike to get groceries. Because I spent so much time driving from place to place, I eventually just moved to the country in Oconee County, where at least I could walk around on the acerage.

In comparison, I prefer the New Orleans model despite the disadvantages. Things are set up here, we just need to add more stores. But walkability is one of those things that makes New Orleans special.

Checking out the comments thread to this post on how groceries are important to walkable neighborhoods, it becomes apparent that some folks aren't aware of what "walkability" means. The Boulevard neighborhood is "walkable" if you mean getting home from downtown, going out to eat, or walking your dog (all important things). Hell, if I ever move back to Athens, that's likely the neighborhood I move into for precisely those reasons. But if I'm driving to Epps Bridge or Alps every week to make groceries, it ain't a fully walkable neighborhood.

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