Here's the timeline:
- A 23 year old New Yorker hops in the car with her dad to eat BBQ across the US.
- Over three days in Texas, they visit a total of nine BBQ joints in four towns.
- This morning she's hailed as an expert on the subject of Texas BBQ by the Today Show.
Here's the offending article.
For the record, I don't know Molly Baz, but I like her style. She said 'screw it' to the cooking job in New York and took part in many a BBQ fiend's dream by traveling the country in search of barbecue nirvana in many regions famous for smoked meat. She then kept track of the journey on her blog and was recently profiled by NPR. I like her even more for declaring that Texas has the best barbecue after having tried plenty of other great barbecue along the way. What I do not understand is how she is now an expert on the subject of smoked meat in Texas. I don't blame her, I blame the Today Show and their laziness. Why not call Robb Walsh, Pat Sharpe, Wyatt McSpadden, John Morthland, Patio Palace, The Texas BBQ Posse...? Nope, the expert is the New Yorker who visited Texas for three days.
To all of the probable responses to this rant: Yes, I'm biased. Yes, I'd have rather written the article. Yes, I take this BS too personally, but the Today Show has cheapened the term expert in this case.
- BBQ Snob
Give Audie Cornish a call and tell her what a real barbecue road trip is like.
ReplyDeleteThey don't call it the "fly by media" for nothing.
ReplyDeleteTerry
Well an -ex- is a has been and a -(s)pert- is a drip under pressure.
ReplyDeleteSo by that definition she may very well be an expert.
She has an expensive New York publicist is all it means.
ReplyDeleteBy my scorecard, no one under 70 is a BBQ expert. No offense to present company intended, but much offense is intended to some current companies operating in metro areas. They will be the death of smoked meat.
Here is twitter's answer
ReplyDeleteGreat Minds Quotes @GreatestQuotes Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
"An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a narrow field." - Niels Bohr
First, it's the f'n Today Show. Anyone with a lick of sense avoids a scumbag like Matt Lauer like the plague. It's a bunch of New Yorkers that don't know barbecue from roast beef. F 'em.
ReplyDeleteYeah, a life long New Yorker blogging about BBQ in Texas is like a life long Texan blogging about sushi in Los Angeles...there's just a certain amount of disconnect and ignorance...
ReplyDeleteForgive her Lord, she knows not what she says...in Jesus name, Amen...
The Impulsive Texan