Chef Chatter
Chef Chatter: It's more than just barbecue for Mighty Quinn's founder
Hugh Mangum, co-founder and pitmaster of Mighty Quinn’s BBQ, describes the authenticity of barbecue and how barbecue is "home" for him.
May 30, 2019
By Hugh Mangum, co-founder and pitmaster of Mighty Quinn's BBQ
Editor's note: Chef Chatter is a series featuring chef-authored blogs. If you'd like to write a Chef Chatter blog, send your idea to Cherryh Cansler at editor@fastcasual.com.
Barbecue is home. Barbecue is your favorite place in Texas, Tennessee or North Carolina. Barbecue is a shack on the side of the road or your local firehouse fundraiser. Barbecue is a shop on the corner of 6th Street and 2nd Avenue in New York City. Barbecue is all of those things and so much more.
Barbecue is equally at home in New York City's East Village as it is in Austin, Texas. It does not discriminate, it is all inclusive — it is truly American and it is also truly democratic. It is our history and it is our present. It is a shared memory with friends and family. It is gathering among loved ones sharing stories and connecting. It is a sense of community. It is synonymous with a good time. It cannot be faked and it is one of the few things we have left that is, at its essence, analog.
I would like to write a piece about how barbecue has come into its own, but that would be disingenuous. It's always been here; we were all just convinced that we needed to go to one of a few particular locations in the Bible Belt to get great barbecue. That may have been true for quite a long time, but a groundswell began many years ago as daughters, sons and apprentices of legendary pitmasters traveled to places like Los Angeles, New York and beyond.
They (I am one) began to plant seeds, thus a larger barbecue community began to grow, and as it's grown, the chances of finding amazing barbecue in places where it may once have been unheard of, like NYC, is now becoming...wait for it...expected. It has also, for us, proved to slot in quite well within the fast casual and QSR markets. It takes skill and many hours to properly smoke our meats, however, we are capable of serving our food with friendly, efficient and quick service.
Authenticity is a key buzz word in barbecue circles. Is it authentic? So, as I have been asked to answer that question many times, I have become more clear on the importance of authenticity and distilled it down to how it most meaningfully resonates with me.
It's about honor and tradition.
It's about cooking with a sense of purpose and meaning with reverence of where the food and techniques came from — your family, a mentor, or in my case, my father. It's about paying tribute to those mentors and the lessons they taught us, but it is most certainly also about putting our personal life experiences and twists on said cuisine. It's about honoring the past while being present and using our generations' influences and voices as well.
Cooking authentically does not mean you need to be a carbon copy of the originals. Don't be afraid to sing your own song and follow your own path; be authentic in simply honoring where the food came from and the core techniques that make it slow smoked barbecue.
Our core commitment at Mighty Quinn's, and what we base every decision on, is we believe in serving the best quality, honorably authentic food in the business, whether it's fast casual, QSR or a full service restaurant...period. Barbeque is in my blood and close to my heart and ultimately it's about honoring the traditions of the past whilst putting our own signature on things — wood, time and lots of love
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