Moulton, Lawrence County
I love those episodes from Star Trek and its spin-offs,
where the crew is somehow trapped in a parallel universe, usually on the wrong
side of a revolution or as members of an enslaved society. Sometimes, the
notorious Q has his fingers in the pie, playing dirty tricks with Picard and
the others. I sometimes ask myself the question, do parallel universes really exist,
and if so, how would they look like? And would there be any good BBQ? And would
I even like BBQ?
Well, I like it in this universe, and that is the reason why
I drive around and visit so many different BBQ restaurants – not only to find
the best there is, but also to enjoy the food and the atmosphere.
And when I read the words “John's Log Cabin Bar-B-Que, with
two convenient locations in Moulton,
Alabama is the best Bar B Que in
the entire universe” on the website of a BBQ place, I definitely have to check
this out.
So, I drove to Moulton today, found the place and had some
Q.
In a very lovely atmosphere, I must say. The building is
actually a log cabin, with separate small rooms, ancient patriotic decoration
on the walls, the ubiquitous flat screen TV in the corner, and the usual functional
wooden furniture. The place is spot clean and the staff is extremely nice and
caring.
I ordered the two meat plate with pulled pork and chicken,
with potato salad and a somewhat weird concoction that is called “Jailhouse
Slaw”.
But the first food that arrived at my table was five
hushpuppies. Yeah! I love hushpuppies, and these were just excellent. Not too
sweet, crunchy on the outside, a bit flaky on the inside and just to die for in
combination with the white sauce.
Oh, yes, the white sauce. Another quote from their website
says “If you haven't ever tried John's world famous Alabama White Sauce, then you are in for a
culinary treat. John's world famous Alabama White Sauce makes chicken simply
taste beyond irresistible !”
They are certainly not shy with superlatives there, but I
can vouch for the special culinary quality of the white sauce. It is sour and
peppery as it should be, and very fresh tasting. Top notch, one of the best I
ever had.
The other sauces, a boring mild sauce and a mildly spicy red
vinegar and pepper sauce, are nothing to write home about. Together with some ketchup,
the hot sauce was acceptable for the pork.
But they clearly missed an opportunity here for something
special – just bottle the sauce the Jailhouse Slaw swims in and let the people
use it for the pork. This slaw comes drenched in a mustard based sauce with
enough spiciness to give you a recognizable kick in the pants. I actually used
it on the pork and it was just sublime. This was clearly the most unusual slaw
I ever had, but also one of the best. And it can double as BBQ sauce.
The pork itself was very tender and lean, with a nice smoke
aroma, and although I would clearly rank it near the top, it is also clearly
not the best I ever had.
Same goes for the chicken, which was a bit dry and with a
lesser smoke aroma, which is not that big of a deal because it was just great
together with the white sauce, that’s for sure.
The potato salad tasted a little weird, with a hint of
cinnamon in it. First time I had that in a potato salad, and quite frankly I
could live without it.
So, on the plus side we now have the slaw and the white
sauce, on the minus side the pork sauces and the potato salad, and somewhere in
between the pork and the chicken.
In summary, that still makes exceptional BBQ, but the best
in the universe?
Well, logic dictates that if one claim is wrong, the
opposite must be true. So if this is not the best BBQ in the universe, does
Moulton then not have to be in a different universe?
Since I did not spot any Borg, Klingons or Ferengies, maybe
I actually did not leave this world and the good people at John’s Bar-B-Que
just exaggerated a little bit.
That’s a relief, actually, because for my next visit there I
can leave my phaser at home then. May you live long and prosper!
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