Barbecue and certainly pig pickings are synonymous with the word party. Fans of barbecue eat it in barbecue restaurants and also take it out to eat at home, but generally a big barbecue means gathering a group of people.
             A person who does not like barbecue or does not have a tremendous capacity to consume it might by some stretch of the imagination get elected governor of North Carolina, but it is highly unlikely. Politicians joke about the need to like barbecue; in fact, the setting in which it is served makes for good casual conversation that often includes political talk.
             Barbecue is a food we grew up on, along with pimento cheese and tomato sandwiches, fried chicken, and baked beans. People who live in or near Lexington, North Carolina eat Lexington barbecue. If you live in Goldsboro, you go to Scott's. If you live in Rocky Mount, you go to Bob Melton's. In Wilson, you go to Parker's. When a woman who lives in Raleigh is having company, she calls up Bob Melton's and says: "Ride me a party." That means Melton's will put barbecue and fixings on the bus for her.
             Our barbecue gained new status at the summit of world leaders in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1983. Craig Claiborne, the New York Times food critic, selected barbecue king Wayne Monk of Lexington to prepare the Saturday night meal for President Ronald Reagan and his guests-among them, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and French President Francois Mitterand.
             In the New York Times for February 14, 1983, columnist Tom Wicker wrote:
             We North Carolinians, of course, know-we are not taught, we are
             born knowing that barbecue consists of pork cooked over hickory coals
             seasoned with vinegar and red pepper pods. No serious Tar Heel
             barbecue chef would disclose his or her preferred proportions of the
             latter ingredients; "season of taste" is the proper commandment.
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