Did you grow up in a barbecue family? What prompted you to write this book? Why now? I know you’re a certified barbecue judge and great barbecue enthusiast. The recipes, like Old Arthurs’s Pork Belly Burnt Ends are pretty awesome, too. Black Smoke is a must read for anyone who cares about this distinctly American culinary art. His stories are mouthwatering, sometimes heartbreaking, and always inspiring. Lawyer, public policy adviser, and soul food scholar Adrian Miller has done just that in his fascinating book, and in the process, has rewritten the history of American barbecue. But I was never quite able to put names and faces to these legions of “barbecue kings” (as pit masters were called in the 19th century) who laid the foundation for modern American barbecue. I’ve acknowledged the enormous Black contribution to American barbecue in previous books, of course, and have written about African American pit masters in newspaper articles and blogs. Such a book is the new Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue by Adrian Miller. Every once in a while, you come across a book so startling, so original, it makes you rethink your understanding of a subject you’ve studied for 25 years.
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