Chomp!

By Ron Aiken
September 27, 2013

Barbecue! Contest! Fried Okra! Canadian Viagra?

Chomp! is an expert on barbecue. I know its history, its deep roots in South Carolina as the only state with three distinct sauceitudinal regions (I make up words, OK? You know what I want to hear about from you? Nilch!) and how to judge it, correctly, without sauce.

In fact, while food&drink editor of yon weekly Free Times, I put together the first and, to date, only expert, blind judging of Columbia’s barbecue eateries by the South Carolina Barbeque Association, of which Chomp!’s late father was a member. (I will not, on very specific grounds, disclose the winner of that competition, in part because the story does not exist anymore on Free Times’ web site, which was hacked a number of years ago by people promoting Canadian Viagra and never repaired, meaning numerous years of award-winning – well, mine, at least  – archived material was let disappear forever. But Chomp!’s not bitter about that.)

So, we’ve established Chomp! knows a thing or two about the beautiful science and delicate artistry that is true barbecue. Having established this as a fact in the world, then, it’s nice to see the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism throw its arms around what absolutely should be a healthy industry of barbecue-related touristry.

Here’s a few pics from S.C. PRT’s web site. Hungry yet?

The campaign, if you haven’t seen it, is called Bite into the Birthplace of BBQ, and you can see the commercial online right here: http://bbq.discoversouthcarolina.com/?from=discoversouthcarolina-overlay. There’s a barbecue trail map, a place to post your pictures and information on our sensational side dishes – hash, fried okra (on which I could write a whole column and maybe will, because I have yet to have any in town to ever match my grandmother’s…if you have suggestions, I welcome them at [email protected]), green beans, mac & cheese, the works.

Additionally, there’s a contest going on RIGHT NOW for you to enter and win the South Carolina First and Foodie Sweepstakes! You, yes you, could win! And maybe take me with you! Here’s the link to enter: http://www.scfirstandfoodie.com/. Here’s what the site says about the contest:

You could win the ultimate tailgate experience, including game tickets and a full South Carolina barbecue spread before your favorite college football game. Win tickets to see your favorite team – USC, Furman, Wofford or Clemson.

The winner gets four game tickets and a face full of barbecue at a hospitality tent. So why not enter? Why not win? Why not eat barbecue?

And I’m serious about this fried okra thing. I’ve had too much soggy, overly breaded okra with no seasoning, no flavor, no life left in it to begin to count, and since I haven’t had my grandmother’s fried okra since about 1985, I’m on kind of a ridiculous drought here. Your help, as always, is appreciated!

Follow Chomp! on Twitter @RonAiken and on Facebook. Email Chomp! at [email protected]. He even answers his phone sometimes: 803-200-8809. Cheers!  

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