Smoke & Mirror: How Barbecue Reflects America

Beyond the personalities, the contests, and the endless regional debates, there’s a fascinating, complex story that isn’t being told. Barbecue’s historic and continuing role in American culture is profound. Barbecue has always brought people together, but everywhere we look there are controversies big and small. What is and isn’t barbecue? What are its origins? And there are plenty of conflicts about race, cultural disagreements over meat, food production and where our barbecue comes from. Smoke and Mirror: How Barbecue Reflects America explores the origins of barbecue, our food culture, and the conflicted modern society we’ve become.