Tummyrumble

Pitt Cue Co. - Finger licking good BBQ from a truck

UPDATE: The guys behind Pitt Cue Co are starting a restaurant! That's right, from Monday the 16th of January 2012 you can get your pulled pork and beef brisket fixes sitting at a proper table, being served cocktails and picklebacks like there's no tomorrow. I was lucky enough to get invited to the soft opening, and I think this place will be packed with people, queues out the door from the day they open. Check out their website for more information.

As has happened before, I was so blown away by the food (St Louis Ribs are to die for, the deep fried shiitake mushrooms are a must try, and so is the mash with burned ends, genius...) that I entirely forgot to take photos and notes. See my therefore brief review here, with links to reviews by less greedy people.

Back to normal programming. My post about the Pitt Cue Co food truck below. Keep in mind that this was a temporary truck, under Hungerford Bridge on South Bank. If you want to try their food, and you know you do, you need to visit the restaurant in Soho, London.

My friends know that I love barbecued meat. Racks of ribs smothered in tangy, sweet sauce (check these babies from last week out); grilled chicken wings so tender the bones pop out when you pick them up; pork belly with crispy crackling... 

While there are restaurants in London dishing up decent barbecue nosh, this is typically food that I would prefer to cook myself (this smokin' hot red eye ribs recipe from @eatlikeagirl is at the top of my "to cook" recipe list right now!) or be served in the back yard at one of my grill master friends'.

Quite often, the home cooked variety far surpasses commercially available options. Besides, Oak Smoked Whisky Injected Chateaubriand is a dish I have never seen on a restaurant menu.

If you like me have this passion, you need to know that since a couple of weeks and for another few months a slice of heaven is parked under Hungerford Bridge on South Bank (map).

Named "Pitt Cue Co." (@PittCueCo), this purpose built food truck is dedicated to slow cooked and grilled meat. With a hint of smoke thrown at even the veg for good measure, you have to try the smoked spring onions and their amazing corn on the cob.

Delicious corn on the cob. Don't know what they do to it, but it works so well...
Originally uploaded by Manne.

The style is decidedly American, deep southern drawl kind of American. Dry rubbed and smoked for hours ribs, pulled pork (from the shoulders of Gloucester Old Spots), salt beef brisket, rotisserie chicken... It is a barbecue lovers dream come true. Brings back memories from when I lived in Orlando, Florida, and the grubby looking barbecue joint we used to go to for the most amazing pulled pork and freezing cold Coronas.

Gloucester Old Spot king ribs barbecued to perfection...
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Having visited Pitt Cue Co. four times (I work right across the road, it's not like I'm a mental stalker or anything, promise) since they opened, each time has been different. What meat and sides are on order varies from day to day, but I can say that so far every single morsel of food I have tried has been utterly delicious.

Fighting Cock whisky makes for fiery pickle backs!
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Their "pickle backs" must get a special mention. A pickle back is the nastiest sounding shot you can imagine: one glass of rye whisky (their FIghting Cock is a good recommendation), one glass of pickle juice (they have several on offer), gulped down in quick succession. Sounds ick? It's delicious. Heat from the whisky spreading throughout your body while the flavour punching pickle surprises your taste buds. So good. Get drunk AND nourished! I can only assume this was "invented" somewhere (the docks in New York, allegedly) with kerosene like moon shine as the pickle completely removes the alcohol hit in your mouth.

Jar of crackling, crispy as.
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Served with "skin", crackling from the roast pork, a few pickle backs really are great enjoyed in the setting sun on South Bank.

Tom Adams, previously at Blueprint Cafe.
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Tom Adams, a chef who has previously done time at The Ledbury and Blueprint Cafe, and Jamie Berger, UK's first importer of Cobra beer, clearly have a deep love for all things barbecue, meat and pickles. Through skilled experimentation Tom concocts things like smoked spring onion and chilli cucumber pickles, which combined with home made smokey baked beans and fresh slaw create perfect food marriages in their brown cardboard boxes used for plates.

Jamie Berger, UK's first importer of Cobra beers.
Originally uploaded by Manne.

With many of their ingredients coming in from sellers at Maltby Street, you know that as much care goes into the procurement as in the cooking.

From a perspective of low carbing, and consuming healthy levels of animal fat, barbecue obviously and easily can be consumed on the right side of the spectrum.

The pulled pork with pickles, or the lovely fatty king ribs, served with a good serving of slaw and perhaps some of the baked beans will fill you up and keep you going for hours. Just stay away from the (delicious) bread, the (amazing) corn on the cob, and the (slow roasted in dripping) "confit" potatoes...

But do so keeping in mind that temptations are there to sometimes give in to. ;)

Thanks to Pitt Cue Co. for lending me some photos as every time I go I find myself too busy stuffing my face with food (and too greasy fingers) to take any myself...

Also see eye witness accounts from:

• Zeren Wilson, Bitten & Written
• Helen Graves, Food Stories
• Lizzie, Hollow Legs
• Hot Dinners

Demand leads to price hikes. Price hikes lead to greed. Greed leads to... Exploding watermelons?!?

This sounds like a joke, but a so bizarre one it has to be true.

"Fields of watermelons have been exploding in China after farmers gave them overdoses of growth chemicals during wet weather." ... "Prices over the past year prompted many farmers to jump into the watermelon market. All of those with exploding melons were first-time users of the growth accelerator forchlorfenuron, although it has been widely available for some time, said China Central Television."

Water-mess-lons
Originally uploaded by sfllaw, thanks for sharing using Creative Commons!

My mind reels. There are chemicals that makes veg grow uncontrollably? What happens if you feed it to cats, do we get sabre toothed tigers?

Hang on... What about insects in the fields? Attack of the giant spiders? This is going to freak me out all day.

On a more serious note, I would love to know if this chemical (when used as it is supposed to) produces vegetables with the same nutritional "density" as without. If something grows to a larger size than it normally does, in the same time (I can't believe commercial farmers would wait a few weeks longer for the added size...), is it as nutritious or is it just the vegetable equivalent of water retention.

Check out a news report video with English voiceovers here.

Wheat and its potentially ill effects on your well being

The Independent today has a great article about tennis star Novak Djokovic and how staying away from wheat (and barley and rye) not only made him feel better but much upped his game.

There are lots of interesting facts in the article, but what really surprised me to see is just how many people go about their daily lives with wheat intolerance and just don't know about it.

As many as 600,000 people in the UK don't take well to wheat, about 1 in 10. With a mere 15% actually diagnosed for it, there must be so many who feel queasy, bloated and confused about why their stomach sometimes completely lets them down.

Probably fuels a whole off the shelf pharmacy industry segment with antacid pills, liquids, fibre additives and coal tablets.

I used to be one of them. In reality, the only action that has any chance of remedying a wheat intolerance is a change of diet.

One of the biggest benefits to me of trying out the Low Carb High Fat approach to eating was the realisation that I am likely to have a wheat intolerance. For about 10 years I didn't have the first clue, and never did a doctor even hint in this direction. "IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, try this, try that, yes, the completely conflicting symptoms and ensuing advice are perfectly natural."

When I switched to LCHF, and stuck to it, my stomach took on a changed personality and I suddenly didn't need to fear being further away from a toilet than 2minutes. Socializing, plane rides, movie visits and going to the theatre took on a hole new meaning.

Coeliac UK is an organisation trying to spread the word about wheat intolerance and its effects, and with wheat present in so many things these days (not just pasta, pizza and bread...) information is key to helping the hundred of thousands of people who may not even realise their lives could be much happier.

I am doing my bit by where I can, trying to push more restaurants to understand the potential market of having (and advertising!) gluten free options on their menus. But now I am off to eat my breakfast of fried eggs topped with a bit of cheese. Yum.