There's a new gold standard for gluttony in Middle Tennessee, and it's the Franklin Food & Spirits Festival, which lured several hundred patrons to the Franklin Square in 90-degree heat last Saturday for some of the best BBQ this area has ever experienced. Granted, some of it can be sampled here round the clock—like pitmaster Patrick Martin's redneck tacos, crisp Frisbee-sized corncakes heaped with slow-smoked pork and cool, sweet slaw. You can find those at Martin's, well worth the drive to Nolensville.
But oh my God, the brisket! The Kansas City Barbeque Society was on hand with a truck ladling out huge hunks of crusted beef dredged through a vinegary dip. (It looked even better than the picture here, an image I swiped off the Commercial Appeal's BBQ blog.) I took a bite, and my knees buckled. I've had the heralded beef brisket at the Kreuz Market in Lockhart, Texas, and I can tell you that this was better. I'm so used to the dry, crumbly brisket in these parts that I'd forgotten how juicy and melt-in-your-mouth tender it can be. Even the large pieces of fat, which normally disgust me, were buttery soft and velvety with a wonderful caramelized crust.
This pit-masterpiece was the handiwork of Tony Stone, a Cookeville chef who deserves a statue erected in his honor wherever beef brisket is worshipped. Many thanks to Wayne Lohman, the KCBS's man from Memphis, who has convinced me I need to attend the next KCBS training class for judges when it's offered in Middle Tennessee.
What else was there? More after the jump.
