Barbecue American style is all about the rub, the smoking and to some extent the sauce, so I have never been a big fan. The wonderfully charred and simply seasoned Australian BBQ was always my preference. Once in Alabama we found an old corrugated smoke house with wooden tables and a low slung ceiling that served the most delicious ribs I had ever tasted, but the environment was most of the adventure. Then in Chicago on a photo-shoot in the meat packing district we were treated by our host’s dry-rub recipe, and that was OK. In New York there is the annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party but again it’s the atmosphere that draws you in. So, imagine my delight at discovering what all the fuss is about when Mighty Quinn’s Barbecue recently opened their doors in the East Village.

The pit master is Hugh Mangum who created a huge following at the open air markets in Williamsburg over the past summer. His trick is in the rub, but also the slow cooking process which gives the meat that ‘melt in the mouth’ sensation. Unbelievably delicious sweet meat. The smoker runs 24 hours a day and is fueled totally by wood, no gas. Hugh was there stoking the coals when we paused to consider the brisket, the brontosaurus or the rack…? But it’s the brisket that is the signature choice. He told us about the cooking process, about the pink rings created in the meat as it slowly breathes in the smoke. Sounds ominous, but all this is years of developing a ‘Texalina’ taste that fuses the best Texas tradition with Carolina methodology. Hugh said they have many Australian regulars so I’m not the only Aussie on the hunt. Now that Rosella have gone out of business we may have to change our old barbecue model…