smoke dreams; Jeffrey Steingarten goes in search of real Southern barbecue-and finds it right in his own backyard.

Byline: Jeffrey Steingarten

For ten years now, it seems that my chief goal in life has been to cook real barbecue in my own backyard. Home is Manhattan and real barbecue is Southern (American) barbecue, also known as pit barbecue, although the use of a hole in the ground these days is both rare and unnecessary. I say "seems" because only by adding up the wrenching sacrifices I've made for this project do I realize how important it must be to me. In that time, I could have become fluent in Mandarin with a minor in Cantonese. But what ensnared me was barbecue.

Real Southern barbecue is without doubt the most original and delectable American cooking ...