My partner Sam and I wanted to discover the secret of American barbecue. We gave up our jobs in the UK and busked our way from California to the deep south. The US version of a barbecue is quite different to ours, it’s all about smoking meat in a “pit” for a long time at low temperatures.
Everyone thinks Nashville is a little honky-tonk town in the middle of Tennessee. It’s actually quite a commercial place, the beating heart of all the major record companies – there are cowboys walking around with guitars and Stetsons, but they tend to be commercial artists. And it’s not just country music – Jack White from the White Stripes has his main studio there. Broadway, the main strip, is cheesy and tacky, but great for a laugh. One of the most famous bars is Tootsies, known for craft beer and moonshine. Every bar in Nashville has live bands, and the musicianship is unbelievable, even at the smallest joints.
The Ryman Auditorium is one of my favourite places. It’s where the Grand Ole Opry used to be broadcast from, the famous country and western radio show. Now it’s an amazing venue where you can catch the best up-and-coming artists – the acoustics are fantastic.
On our quest to find the best barbecue in Tennessee, we discovered Puckett’s. This fantastic joint in Leiper’s Fork, just outside Nashville, has a massive custom-built smoker outside, and meat is served off the pit. American barbecue is a male-dominated scene, so as women we were a bit of a novelty. Lots of chefs shared their secrets and recipes. It’s wood smoke that gives the meat flavour, so you might use apple or cherry wood for chicken, oak or hickory for beef. It’s not marinated; you dust it with dry rub, and oil activates the flavour. We fell in love with the side dishes, too: mac’n’cheese, smoky beans, all sorts of salads.
Craft beer is huge in America. In some bars, even on Broadway, you’ll find 200 types. The choice is overwhelming. Prop yourself at the bar and work through them. I recommend Fat Cow, brewed in North Carolina.
Lots of older, retired musicians live in Franklin. In this quaint little town 30 miles from Nashville, you’ll find everyone from Glen Campbell’s drummer to the harmonica player for House of Blues. It’s in the middle of amazing countryside and we hung out there like proper hillbillies.
The Natchez Trace Parkway runs through Tennessee, with breathtaking views. You can stop at a diner in one of the little towns en route for a bite and a beer, then move on. Or it’s about a four-hour drive to Memphis. You really do need a car to explore the US. We fell in love with ribs in Memphis – the best are St Louis pork ribs with Memphis dry shake at the Charlie Vergos Rendezvous restaurant. And there’s so much to do there, from Gracelands to the Martin Luther King museum.
Nashville is the home of the cowboy boot. I bought my first pair of handstitched boots at Tony Lama. You can pay from $200 to $2,000. There are thousands to choose from in all colours, short ones, long ones … Then you’ve got to decide the toe: a classic round C, a winklepicker, or a J, which is somewhere in between.
People from Nashville are super-friendly. Don’t be surprised if you end up staying in people’s houses and making new friends – that’s the kind of hospitality you get in the south. You can go there with a plan, but the plan is subject to change because you meet some amazing people … and they’re likely to pass you around their friends.
Our restaurant, Hang Fire Southern Kitchen is in the old Pumphouse in Barry. We’ve brought a taste of the deep south to the deep south of Wales, giving people the most authentic barbecue experience we can. Beyond that, though, there are no similarities – the two places couldn’t be more different!
The Hang Fire Cookbook (Quadrill, £20) by Samantha Evans and Shauna Guinn is out now. To buy a copy for £16 including UK p&p, go to bookshop. theguardian.com
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