re: Why doesn't Louisiana really have it's own barbecue culture?

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EmperorGout

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sorry your family does not know their way around a pit and has messed up your perception

Don't take this the wrong way, because I enjoy barbeque, and tend to gravitate to a more venegar base than tomatoes and tons of sugar, but I think if you look at the places where barbeque is big, you also find a place without much culinary tradition or foundation, so meat grilling is really impressive and its about the only real game in town.

Louisiana on the other Hand has a very strong tradition and foundation in food, both low country Cajun and more traditional technique in French Creole, centered in and around NOLA. Combine that with our geographic location in South Louisiana along the coast, a very plentiful area of the gulf, and as coastal areas all incorporate seafood into their regional cuisine, so does Louisiana. Similar to how Southern Italy and Northern Italy have very different cuisines, so does South Louisiana and Tennessee. That being said, Tennessee is NO Northern Italy in food seriousness, not even by a very very long shot.

Texas hill country BBQ is the best bar none. The guy that BBQs on plank rd out by the airport aint bad. He is there everyday.

Oh I know. My wife is from Scotland. The British can make ANYTHING bland.

I prefer savory and have always though slathering ur food with sugary shite is for children, sorry. I also loathe ketchup, go figure.

You mean Ernie "I would rather go to my momma's funeral than my own"Ladd

Louisiana is known for crawdad and gator.

Outlaw BBQ In Pinevill,La. is about as good as I have had anywhere, and I promise you, I have tried the BBQ all over the U.S.

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Why doesn't Louisiana really have it's own barbecue culture?

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Beats the shite out of me, but, thankfully, I don't give a shite. I like all styles of barbecue if done well.

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NOLA BBQ has stepped up Post-K. The Joint is fiya and the new place on Magazine called McClure's is legit. Saucy's or Walker's is probably third.

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Saucy's is terrible. Nola Smokehouse opening up on Jackson Ave is my favorite BBQ in town. McClures has a New Orleans East sauce which is sweet and spicy. My favorite of their sauces.

Blue Oak also has some tasty BBQ and they guy with the beard over at 12 Mile Limit does some awesome BBQ.

We have a bunch of BBQ places in town now. Even a Texas chain coming to Jefferson Hwy.

There are two questions in the OP:

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1) Why doesn't Louisiana really have it's own barbecue culture?
2) Would a legit barbecue place in BR or NOLA do well?

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My answers:
1) The proliferation of seafood and other cultures (Cajun, Creole) have pretty much cornered the culinary market.
2) IMO, absolutely.

My experience:
- The seafood in south LA (reds on the half-shell, specs, lemon fish, yellow-fin, grouper, snapper and not to mention all the shelf-fish) are without peer. While there is a place for BBQ amongst it all I don't see BBQ making serious in-roads anytime soon. Just too much ground to gain.
- Not sure where the criticism of TX BBQ comes from. Having lived in Katy, TX for just over a year I've only scratched the surface of TX BBQ (usually understood as beef brisket smoked over oak and no sauce needed). Being partial to TX BBQ, I love me some beef brisket.

I'm not a fan of pitting one genre of food against another. If it taste good to you, it's good. And if it don't, it ain't.

If LA wanted to cultivate its own BBQ culture, it could approach it along two paths: 1) traditional Cajun spice or 2) sweet from all the sugar cane grown in LA (my preference).



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