The early 1900s produced breakthroughs in music, dance, photography, painting, film, and culinary arts, all all feeding off each other, and all feeding off jazz, born in New Orleans.
The most important early jazz artist was Louis Armstrong, whose career began in the 1920s and lasted 50 glorious years. In 1927 he wrote the iconic "Struttin' with Some Barbecue." A great tune in and of itself (you can buy several versions of it on iTunes), I'm especially fond of it because of my love of barbecue, another southern innovation. I've often wondered how the song got it's name. Who struts down the street with a rib or a pulled pork sandwich?
Today I learned the answer. From Cab Calloway. Calloway was the ultimate hip cat. The band leader and scat singer reigned on the 1930s and 1940s in his signature white zoot suit, pencil mustache, and slick back hair was best known for his unforgettable tune "Minnie the Moocher" famously reprised in the movie "The Blues Brothers" in 1980.
He was also a lexicographer and wrote a "Jive Dictionary" with definitions of the hipster's language. Excerpts ran in today Chicago Tribune. Calloway defines "Jive" as "To kid along, give a girl a line." Right at the top of the list is "Barbecue." It means "The girl friend, a beauty." Armstrong was writing about struttin' with something saucy and delicious alright! But not pork!
Remember: No rules in the bedroom or the kitchen. - Meathead
AmazingRibs.com is all about the Zen of Barbecue, cooking ribs, and all kinds of BBQ recipes and techniques: Baby back ribs, spare ribs, pulled pork, beef brisket, chicken, turkey, steak, lamb, barbecue sauces, rubs, side dishes, with the net's best buying guide to barbecue smokers and cookers.
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