BAR-B-CURIOS: Pulled Pork Slyderz

Those of ya'll who live in Middle Tennessee know that you can't swing a dead cat around here without hitting a barbecue restaurant - they're everywhere. And we aim to talk about a lot of 'em here on this blog. But to begin with, I'd like to start smaller. And squarer. As I was sitting in traffic in front of the White Castle on Broadway, imagine my surprise to see a sign advertising a pulled pork sandwich!

This struck me as odd for a couple of reasons. Usually, when fast food places try to do barbecue, they just throw some BBQ sauce on a chicken sandwich or a burger. Or they fashion a piece of "pork" into the shape of a miniature rack of ribs and serve it on a sandwich. This may just be the first attempt at a pulled pork sandwich by a fast food restaurant. And it comes from...White Castle? How did Krystal - the southern, non-buddy version of White Castle - allow this to happen on their home turf?

Anyway, seeing as this might be culinary history in the making and also seeing as I am a pulled pork junkie, I decided to give it a shot.

As you can see from the sign in the drive-thru line, they are pushing this sandwich hard. They are also calling it "slow cooked." I proceeded to order this slow cooked barbecue sandwich from a fast food restaurant.

As you can see in the picture, the sauce dominates. The meat itself, not really contributing any flavor, just serves as a vehicle to get more of the ketchupy sweet sauce between the buns. It was so saturated with the stuff that I have to think the meat has just been sitting in a crock pot full of sauce all day.

When it comes to pulled pork, dear reader, barbecue sauce is kind of like cologne. A little bit can complement what you've already got and make a good thing even better. But when there's way too much of it, you have to wonder what somebody's trying to cover up.

Until next time...