2 kinds of 'cue to tango in Raleigh

Twain shall meet on Fayetteville St

RALEIGH -- The state's oldest, fiercest, most fattening rivalry will end peacefully this October, slathered in Texas Pete.

Organizers announced plans Monday for the Tar Heel Barbecue Classic in downtown Raleigh, lining both sides of newly opened Fayetteville Street and drawing as many as 75,000 people and pork of both eastern and western persuasion.

For too long, organizers said, the state has let eastern and western rivalries dominate barbecue culture while Memphis, Kansas City or Texas lays claim to the title of world barbecue capital. Raleigh is the fitting spot as the neutral ground between two traditions, they said, and for an end to the eternal vinegar- versus tomato-base squabbling.

"We're not here to perpetuate a war," said Jim Early, founder of the N.C. Barbecue Society. "We're here to perform a wedding. We've been shooting ourselves in the foot with this eastern-western thing. No other states fight within the state. Let's stop that. Let's fight somebody else if we have to fight. Let's unite as kin.''

The festival will last all day Oct. 6 and 7. After decades as a pedestrian mall, the street was restored, and Raleigh's four-block main drag opened to cars last summer.

"It really ought to be a big time," Mayor Charles Meeker said. "We've had some big crowds, but this could top them all."

Meeker said the street could play host to visitors from all over North Carolina, even from other states, and introduce a stream of Raleigh newcomers to the state's best-known cuisine. Organizers imagine a food bash on the scale of the annual chili cook-off in Texas, which draws a stampede each year to tiny Terlingua.

"This is going to be a summit of barbecue," said N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, gesturing toward Raleigh's downtown from the state Capitol lawn Monday. "We are truly the cradle of 'cue."

The event should also highlight the importance of pig, one of North Carolina's signature products. The state marketed more than 18 million hogs in 2004, 19 percent of the national total.

"I'm going to lay claim that I've eaten more barbecue than any other politician in the state," state Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said. "It should be part of the job description."

Organizers stressed that barbecue of both North Carolina stripes -- tomato-base and vinegar-base -- will be welcome and judged for a $15,000 cash prize.

Sixteen vendors will line Fayetteville Street, east-siders on the east sidewalk, westerners on the west. You'll see whole hogs and Boston butts. Early kept mum on particular vendors Monday, but promised household names in attendance.

All judging will be blind, performed by two teams of tasters -- six from the east and six from the west, Early said. Some cookers are more colorful than others, so judges won't eat in front of them at the risk of having their taste buds unfairly swayed. Neither will every judge taste every plate of 'cue. After 12 or 15 plates, Early admitted, it gets hard to notice nuances of flavor.

This year, pork will rule. But Early expects a broad-minded expansion of meats -- even beef.

"This will truly be the 'Heavenly Half-Mile,' " he said. "If someone wants to cook some chicken, we'll have chicken. We'll probably have an alligator, an ostrich and a buffalo."