Not that this is my Superbowl choice, but I wish it was!
I’ve had a few of things called this, but only one really blew up my dress. It was from a weirdly unambitious local 'cue joint, that seemed to be most interested in community outreach and addiction support. I should have paid more attention, but I was busy INHALING the sundaes.
Here’s what I know. In layers in a large clear Solar cup, there was: burnt-end brisket, baked beans, slaw, a killer sauce, and maybe some extra mustard. I think there was more than 1 layer of each. But each layer of the archeological dig was pretty distinct. And a very cool feature was you could customize your bites by varying where you spooned from. I sure miss that place.
Anyway, does anyone here have a favorite BBQ Sundae prep or hack to offer up? I got the Jones…
You must know more about this dish than I do, but the one pictured seems to require that all (or substantially all) the meat be eaten before you can get at the lower layer (s). I recall thinking that, with thin layers, the eater can sample, mix, eat in compartments, etc.
How big were the pieces of meat? The size of a bean? Spoonable or forkable? Chunky? No pickles or onions? For some reason, I was assuming the meat would be on bottom???
The meat was coarsely chopped, bigger that pintos. Either fork or spoon would work. No pickles or onions, unless some were already in the beans. The slaw was sorta creamy, too.
I don’t get the appeal of the presentation so will try to make one (just for testing and educational purposes).
Burnt ends are not common here and I’m not sure exactly what they are, so I’ll have to substitute local offerings. Baked beans are not common either but I can buy a can; coleslaw either but sounds better than potato salad. So maybe I’m making 2 or 3 versions???
Re: Presentation… It appears mostly a mess in a clear plastic cup. The only visually interesting thing about it is being able to see the layers through the cup.
Don’t sweat the meat, either. Pulled pork works great. I’d suggest 2-3 thin alternating layers of each ingredient. Don’t forget the sauce!
Burnt ends in the old days were the scraps of crust that sat next to the meat slicer since the pit guys wouldn’t put the end pieces in a sandwich.
Free for the taking in the cafeteria line but one had to know that custom.
We’d get a whole extra sandwich out of those.
Nowadays they cube brisket and brown it as the demand far outweighs the supply.
As far as beans, in KC the kettle of beans is in the smoker underneath the meats dripping their nectar into pot along with scamps of meat.
Potato salad almost unheard of as french fries were standard.
Maybe that’s why the idea of this sundae seems particularly unattractive. I’m one who usually prefers my plate’s contents neatly separated.
I’m a committed compartment eater, myself. But digging down through the layers here, mixing and matching seems to work for me, especially when sharing. You’re always free to just scrape off one layer at a time, too.
Thanks for the history. The idea of professionally and deliberately producing the item is odd … but I’ve never had any so what do I know?
Different sides - pulled pork sandwiches with cole slaw are a thing in Memphis, I think, maybe in other Tennessee and some Carolina places? I’ve had it at three different spots run by TN expats here and it’s good. I like a good creamy slaw for that.
I am remembering Shanghai Jimmy’s Chili Rice discussions from Roadfood. A popular purveyor of chili in Dallas around the middle of the last century served chili in a cup with layers. The layers I remember offhand were chili, rice, celery and pickle relish of some sort, but there may have been a couple more. I’ve never gotten around to making it to try but maybe someday I will.
