Imagine that you’re barbecuing meat directly over a slow fire. What was missing was public acknowledgment of, and appreciation for, African American barbecuers and what they’ve contributed to this hallowed culinary tradition. It showed me that amid all this barbecue abundance, something was missing. Today it may seem naive, but I recall thinking, as I turned off the television, “Is this what Black barbecuers have become? They’re just B-roll footage now?” Maybe I had misread the ads for the show-perhaps it had been promoted as Paula’s Scandinavian Barbecue, Sponsored by Alabama White Sauce? I saw shots of Black people in the background doing the actual work, but they were anonymous and voiceless. By the time the credits rolled, though, my mouth was hanging open-not from an appetite for barbecue but because I was stunned that not one single African American had been interviewed on camera. At the time, I knew much more about barbecue than I did about the host, Paula Deen, and I hoped that Deen would be presenting more of an overview of southern barbecue culture rather than simply a cooking lesson or a cooking competition. In May 2004, I was intrigued by a Food Network promotional commercial for a one-hour special titled Paula’s Southern BBQ. Actually, it’s more about what I didn’t see than what I saw.

It’s because I’ve been radicalized by something that I watched on television. Why do I care about the ups and downs of Black barbecue? Because this goes much deeper than just loving barbecue. This beautifully illustrated chronicle also features 22 barbecue recipes collected just for this book.'Black Smoke' clears air on African-American barbecue influence Close Miller celebrates and restores the faces and stories of the men and women who have influenced this American cuisine. Though often pushed to the margins, African Americans have enriched a barbecue culture that has come to be embraced by all. It's a smoke-filled story of Black perseverance, culinary innovation, and entrepreneurship. In Black Smoke, Miller chronicles how Black barbecuers, pitmasters, and restauranteurs helped develop this cornerstone of American foodways and how they are coming into their own today. But why is it, asks Adrian Miller-admitted 'cuehead and longtime certified barbecue judge-that in today's barbecue culture African Americans don't get much love? And people aren't just eating it they're also reading books and articles and watching TV shows about it. Prepared in one regional style or another, in the South and beyond, barbecue is one of the nation's most distinctive culinary arts. Across America, the pure love and popularity of barbecue cookery have gone through the roof.

Black smoke adrian miller