Longleaf Swine, Raleigh, North Carolina, Part 2

I finished my Ride Through Hell Recovery Tour where it began, in Raleigh at the Longleaf Swine. Here. as promised, is Part 2, which addresses the other aspect of Longleaf Swine beyond the admirable whole hog pork we Tanners enjoyed in Part 1. And this visit was with two Gifts to Humanity, John Shelton Reed and Dan Levine, the co-founders of the Campaign for Real Barbecue, the guardians of traditional wood-cooked barbecue. I was so in awe that I neglected to take photographs other than this exterior shot.

You might ask, what’s a longleaf swine, some sort of pig? Well, North Carolina has an official state toast — a drinks-type toast, not wheat toast — The Old North State, which begins,

Here’s to the land of the Long Leaf Pine

and goes on for four stanzas. It’s a nice toast, although people tend to be itching to sip after one stanza, and if it’s given after too many other toasts, the latter stanzas get garbled. “Longleaf Swine”, at any rate, evokes ties to the Tarheel State, to the glory of its barbecue and traditions. The name may not be perfectly suited.

Longleaf Swine is non-traditional. Full credit: They do cook exclusively with wood. But, as you no doubt noted, my initial post never mentioned hushpuppies. The Swine doesn’t serve hushpuppies! Nor do they offer the standard barbecue tray (pork and slaw and hushpuppies) or a plate of barbecue and your choice of two sides! And hushpuppies.

You can, however, put together your own meat and two plate, and you should. I praised their collards in my first post, but the star of the sides, actually the co-star of Longleaf Swine along with their pork, is the Esquites. Esquites is a salad combination of corn, poblano peppers, onion, cilantro, and cojita — Mexican street corn, but off the cob. This is a genius move, right up there with macaroni and queso. It’s delicious, and far easier to eat than street corn. Even better, the corn is not over-cooked, the besetting sin of street corn.

Longleaf Swine also serves brisket, and we ordered some of that invasive species on this visit. That brings me to another departure from traditional barbecue. Unlike our first visit, early on a weekday, where we ordered at the counter, this time, Sunday lunch with a crowd and a busy bar, we had to order electronically. As ordering involved that abomination, a QR code, ordering fell to the youngest by far of our group, Dan. And nowhere on the computer was there a box or space to specify “moist” brisket, the good stuff. The brisket was from the lean end of the brisket and, well, lacked the tenderness and moistness that marks the moist end. Similarly, there was no way to specify that the quarter chicken (only $5!) be dark meat rather than white.

The Longleaf Swine peculiarities are those that come with City Barbecue. But Longleaf Swine also has its genuine delights, including the pork and the collards and that great esquites. That’s the ideal meat and two sides plate at Longleaf Swine. It’s a deconstructed traditional plate, but it sure is good. And you might get some pimiento cheese or fried oyster crackers with Ranch (have you had that?), and you could add their pimiento macaroni and cheese, which we didn’t try, but you should.

Aside from the QR code, we enjoyed our lunch, or at least I did. If you get a chance to spend time with John and Dan, jump at it. And it provided a gentle Ride through Hell Recovery transition from three days of delicious and inexpensive barbecue trays and hushpuppies back to the food and high prices of Washington. So splurge and go try Longleaf Swine. Go for a weekday lunch when you can specify moist brisket, or better, order the pork, the esquites, and some collards. Or go crazy and get the pimiento mac and cheese, too.

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