Cooks in Memphis, Tennessee, like to transform all kinds of food into barbecue, not just ribs, Cornish hens, and bologna, but also shrimp, pizza, wings, and—among side dishes on a majority of the city’s smoke-pit eateries—spaghetti. It makes culinary sense. Sharply spiced smoky meat is best appreciated in concert with gently flavored carbs; that is why the bread that traditionally accompanies almost all barbecue is supposed to be bland and uninteresting. An artisan loaf would encroach upon barbecue’s star power. Similarly, you never will find barbecue capellini, tagliatelle, or even linguine, and imported noodles are anathema. It always is spaghetti—thick, commercial-quality product cooked significantly beyond al dente. The quality of barbecue spaghetti has nothing to do with the noodles and everything to do with the sauce. Memphis is a sauce-centric city, which is why barbecue spaghetti thrives—as another handy way to get that sauce from plate to mouth.
Barbecue Spaghetti
Why not? If the barbecue sauce you love isn’t too sweet or too pepper-hot, it just might make the perfect partner for a plate of softcooked spaghetti noodles. That’s the way they do it in Memphis, where barbecue spaghetti is as common a side dish as hushpuppies in the Carolinas.
1 pound spaghetti, cooked and drained
1 pint of your favorite barbecue sauce, heated
Shreds of pulled pork shoulder, heated (optional)
Combine ingredients.
SERVES 4–6